Every outrage or atrocity committed by the regime in Moscow, whether it be the seizure of territory from Russia’s neighbors, the shooting down of a civilian aircraft, or the bombing of schools, hospitals and a United Nations aid convoy in Syria, is met first by the Kremlin with denials, and then the cry: “Show us the evidence.”
Yet the body of evidence about the Kremlin’s crimes is growing. The latest piece came in the form of leaked e-mails from Vladislav Surkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adviser on Ukraine and other former Soviet states. Several of the e-mails indicate that Surkov was involved in creating and running the “separatist republics” in eastern Ukraine.
The e-mails, released by a Ukrainian hacker group calling itself “Cyber Hunta,” come from the account [email protected], and seem to be genuine, according to an analysis by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. Crucially, the hackers released the .PST Outlook data file for the e-mail account, which would be difficult to fake convincingly.
One e-mail, in which Surkov is requested to edit a document put out several days later by “local citizens in the Donbas,” backs up claims of high-level Kremlin involvement in managing the conflict in Ukraine.
So does the report to Surkov from Denis Pushilin – the former “separatist” leader, Russian citizen, and Ponzi scheme manager – on the deaths of local and Russian proxy fighters in Ukraine, and the spreadsheet Pushilin sent to Surkov with the expenses of a Donetsk-based press center. Surkov was also sent a list of proposed “separatist” leaders to review – before their appointments were even announced.
These latest revelations only add a few grams to the already existing mass of proof of the Kremlin’s meddling in the Donbas. To those following events in Ukraine, they are minor details in a picture of events that has long been clear.
And it’s unlikely that the ever-growing weight of evidence of its wrongdoing will prove burdensome for the Moscow regime – Kremlin officials divorced themselves from reality some time ago.
But they should reinforce the conclusion among those outside the Kremlin’s bubble of mendacity that Moscow’s denials should not be trusted, its version of events in Ukraine is deceitful and its claim that there is “no evidence” of its crimes is false.
