Advisor Igor Novikov Explains What The Media Gets Wrong About Ukraine

The Blast interviewed Igor Novikov, former advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hear his unique perspective on the current crisis in Ukraine. Novikov, who has a degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, brings a unique set of technological, entrepreneurial, and policy perspectives to the dialogue of innovation in Eastern Europe.

In the fourth article in our series about Ukraine, Novikov discussed what the media gets wrong when they report on the Ukraine crisis.

When asked about what information needs to be addressed in the media, he explained that multiple outlets are treating this as a “military conflict, not as a war of genocide.”

“People still think it’s one of those conflicts that we’re used to,” he added. “Multinational companies think it’s okay to stay and do business in Russia. That, for legal reasons, does not get much coverage but the best analogy I have for that is 9/11.”

“I remember that happening very vividly. I was a study at the London School of Economics and I was on holiday in Greece and when we saw it happen, we were shocked, and you know, the first thing we did was find a way to donate money and support and support the American people and the people of New York.”

He explained that the major companies still doing business with Russia is comparable to doing business with Al-Qaeda after 9/11. “That’s exactly the same thing,” he added.

He said that the companies that are pulling out, like Starbucks and Burger King, are doing the “sensible” thing.

“In a democracy, we are responsible towards not only our population but the people of the world as to what our government does,” he continued. “And for a government that would choose to – God forbid – bomb infants and maternity wards, the Ukrainian people, as one, would be the line of that war, the first on the front lines to be fighting our government. We’re not seeing that happen on a major scale in Russia.”

“Putin is acting the way he’s acting because he’s lived with at least ten years of appeasement,” he continued. “It’s not the first war that he’s started. After every single war, the West still took his money, still found it acceptable not to sanction him in a severe and proper way. The West never intervened in those ways, and Putin saw it as weakness. He escalated every single time and that escalation is pretty much peaking.”

He added that this is not just a war about Ukraine, but a war for “the new global system that we all have to live with.”

“It’s a war between democracy and dictatorship. Genocide or dictatorship,” he added. “If Ukraine fully stands for freedom, for liberty, for human rights, and we believe in the people’s rights to choose, that’s what this war is about and we’re defending that right with our lives, not only for us but for the West as well.”

“And if the West supports that system of values, that’s a price to be paid for dignity,” he continued. “It’s paid for with blood and money, unfortunately, so it’s going to be unpleasant, it’s going to be ugly, for everyone in a different way.”

“We have to be prepared to do more than say cute words of support,” he added.

“Ukraine is going to survive this,” he said. “Unless Ukraine is supported, there is definitely going to be a spillover to the Western World.”

“One of the jackpots here for Putin would be to disrupt the American political system domestically,” he said. “That’s a no-brainer because he sees the U.S. as the main enemy. We’re just an irritant to him. We’re just a thorn in his back but [U.S. is] the nemesis.”

He added that, if Ukraine does not receive the support it needs, “you are looking at either a major military conflict in Europe or at a major cancer of corruption infiltrating your politics and your economy further.”

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