By Aidan Jonah
Belarusian “journalist” Raman Protasevich has come into the news after being arrested by Belarusian police on May 23. Protasevich has been described as a brave journalist fighting for democracy, the typical description of suspicious figures salivated over by mainstream media.
FOIA Research explained that, “Protasevich was part of the Maidan in Kiev 2013/2014, as a picture on Facebook shows, where, clad in a Belarusian People's State flag, he is taking part in the destruction of a Lenin statue.”
The Western backed Maidan coup against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, led by neo-nazi militias, was completed in February 2014.
In June 2014, Ukraine formally integrated extremist far-right militias including the Aidar, Dnipro, Donbass, and Azov battalions which played a crucial role in the Maidan coup, into the National Guard, which is led by Ministry of Internal Affairs.
University of Ottawa Professor Ivan Katchanovski brought Ukrainian media reports to light which reveal that Protasevich served in the press-service of the neo-Nazi-led Azov battalion during the war in Donbass. Verified photos show Protasevich appearing in Azov battalion’s official publication “Black Sun” in 2015.
The Ukrainian initiated war in Donbass begun in April 2014, after Donbass citizens voted en masse to join Russia post-Maidan coup, until a ceasefire was agreed in September 2014.
This means that Protasevich effectively acted as an agent of a ministry of the Ukrainian government during his time serving with the Azov Battalion.
