What is the purpose of the shelling of Kharkiv’s public infrastructure by Russian troops, and does this purpose exist at all?
This is the topic of the interview conducted by Petro Pojman with Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the Main Department of the National Police in the Kharkiv region, at the site of the kindergarten fired at by missiles, August 30, 2022. Kharkiv, Ukraine. Videographer – Borys Redin.
The full text of the interview is provided below
VT: I am Tymoshko Volodymyr, the head of the Main Department of the National Police in the Kharkiv region.
PP: I am very pleased to meet you. I’m Petr Pojman, we agreed to do an interview, because we just touched on the topic that I touched on in my last article about deviant behavior, the fascist regime of Russia. You are the person who has been working here for a long time, and you have seen a lot of damage. So you understands the motives behind the behavior of Russia, the behavior of its leadership, society and army, better than many others, especially abroad. How would you clarify such an attack on a civilian object, precisely, on a kindergarten? Do you have any explanation?
VT: Do you feel more comfortable with Russian?
PP: It’s more comfortable with Ukrainian.
[voice-over]: He understands Ukrainian perfectly
PP: I understand, it’s just difficult to talk.
VT: Since February 24, I have been directly in charge of the police of the Kharkiv region, and based on what I know has been happening since the first day of open aggression. I repeat, that’s an open aggression, because the war has been going on since 2014, and we must not forget that, despite some of us forgot. I can conclude that the purpose… the purpose is inherent in people who think something, reason something, have some INTENTIONS.
Intentions – that is, they take some actions in order to get some result.
If we were to say that the Russians had, for example, as their goal a military seizure of the territory, then probably they would not destroy the infrastructure of the city and would not shoot at objects that are critically important for the city. Because how they would actually have to use something in the city, for example, if they could capture it after all.
There is no such thing. We have the facts of the task of strikes on critical infrastructure.
Secondly, if we have in mind military goals, then, apparently, they would hit military objects – with the aim of destroying the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, other units, territorial defense.
However, 80-90% of the strikes are received by Kharkiv residential sectors. These are kindergartens, such as we are here now, these are residential areas where there are
multistory buildings, schools, kindergartens, hospitals. Infrastructure for the life of the civilian population, by no means for the Armed Forces.
Consider an example of the Northern Saltivka, it was almost completely destroyed. Didn’t they know there was no military there? They knew it. Therefore, what is the purpose? In my opinion, there is no purpose in this, because … as is typical of maniacs who cause pain for the sake of pain. That’s it.
That is, any other goal that would have military significance, or political significance, or any, in general, significance – for them it does not bring [any significance]. It causes only pain to Kharkiv, pain to the peaceful population, pain to the people. And that’s all.
This is the behavior of a maniac who does not have a purpose, but only enjoys the pain of others.
That is why I am sure that the Russians are acting with the aim of causing more pain to the Ukrainian people. Precisely because they… Hate gives rise to the desire to inflict pain on the people, the people themselves. To people, children, old people, women. This is where these rapes come from, these thefts, these tortures, this is where comes this abuse of prisoners of war. The infliction of pain. This is pathological hatred. Therefore, I believe that this is a nation that remained somewhere in the 12th and 13th centuries, when cases of cannibalism still occurred.
These are cannibals, in the literal sense of the word. A nation of cannibals that destroys itself, [destroys] others and eats itself.
PP: If I understand you correctly, these are not psychiatric patients, and people are not sick, but this is just society as a whole…
VT: Of course, this is society. We are used to saying that only Putin is to blame. Today, it was not Putin who pulled the trigger, after which a 203-mm rocket from Pion flew here. It was not Putin, it was Ivanov, Petrov or Sidorov. Either a Buryat, or a Kadyrov man, or… some other nations that live in camps, in yurts… Some yurt dweller. That’s what he did today.
Is this name important to us? Yes, it’s important, we will… And the police do their work precisely to make these creatures known. What are they called, what is written in their passport. I cannot say that the last name is the first name, because they have no last name, no first name, no parents, in general – this is my personal opinion.
However, we document it, we record it, and it’s our job, and we do it very professionally and I think that’s very nice.
PP: I am sure that it will be possible to find many criminals and many will be convicted – either by local courts or within the framework of some international tribunal. But I would like to clarify – this is where your colleagues, the military, drew attention to this – that at the same time strikes on civilian objects can be the purpose of a broader military strategy, which should force Ukrainian society to put pressure on the leadership of the country to surrender . Can such a strategy work in Ukraine?
VT: I’m telling you once again. A purpose and a goal can be found in a person, in an intelligent being who has a mind and causes certain actions in order to obtain a certain result. There is no target in the shelling of peaceful infrastructure, not a single one. The only goal is to cause pain. That’s the goal, aimless.
Just for us, as people living in the 21st century, in a united world – Facebook, Instagram, other social networks – in a world where there are no borders, and where everyone communicates in approximately the same language – in different languages, but with the same motive – it is difficult for us to understand: how could it be that in the 21st century still there are beings who do such sort of things.
Well, just like that, I say, like now, it happens that some man will torture a cat or a dog on the street. This is surprising to us. That’s the same. We shouldn’t to look for any purpose in their behavior. There is none.
PP: I tried to explain this to many people in Europe, politicians, people who make decisions – that there is no logic that can be used to explain this behavior.
VT: Logic, we just used to looking for logic. There is no logic in their behavior. And if they will, God forbid, bomb Prague or another European city, there will be no logic in these actions either. In these actions, there will be only one desire – to cause pain, to prove that we should not live better than they do.
That’s what the Russian soldiers whom we capture say. What do they say? You will not live better than us. This is their only goal. That’s it, period.
PP: Thank you very much for a good interview
VT: You too.
PP: I wish you luck, all the best.
[voiceover]: Thank you!
