MMA fighter-turned-Russian-politician Jeff Monson visited Ukraine during the conflict there in 2016, two years before receiving Russian citizenship
Jeff Monson (center) at the Mausoleum of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin to mark his 146th birth anniversary on Red square in Moscow in 2016 © Nikita Shvetsov / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
US President Joe Biden does not care about Ukrainians and is the powerless leader of a hypocritical, war-mongering country, ex-UFC fighter Jeff Monson, who was given Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin in 2018, has said.
Self-declared anarcho-Communist Monson, who became besotted with Russia after visiting the country for a fight with MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in 2011, accused the US and Europe of overlooking Nazism and supporting fascism, denouncing Biden as a puppet for capitalism, which he said is to blame for the demise of the world.
Monson visited war-torn Ukraine in 2016 to give a series of master-classes and make trips to local schools and orphanages. He later joined the council of deputies of the city district of Krasnogorsk and has spent the last two years in the city of Bashkortostan in Ufa.
“In the weeks leading up to the [start of the attack on February 24], Mr Putin became particularly concerned about the Ukraine issue,” Monson told Gazeta, claiming that the US had agreed not to expand its influence in the east under former President George W Bush.
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“US Vice President Kamala Harris publicly announced her desire to accept Ukraine into NATO. So Russia was provoked to gather troops at the borders.
“What usually happened when Russia tried to negotiate with the West? In 1939, there was a non-aggression pact with Germany. Two years later, Germany attacked, killing 27 million Soviet citizens.
“Then there was the 1990 contract. As a result, NATO included Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania – the former Soviet republics that border Russia.
“This made it possible to place nuclear warheads and military bases a few kilometers from Russia. Let’s remember how, in 1962, the USSR wanted to deploy missiles in Cuba, which was under blockade. This made the USA very worried. The Third World War, a nuclear war, almost started.
It surprises me that some people didn't know I'm a Communist. It's quite evident from the tattoos, at a minimum. pic.twitter.com/HlvcV580Ph
— Jeff Monson (@JeffMonson) April 9, 2016
“The Americans do not want missile systems near their borders. At the same time, with the help of NATO, they themselves are doing just that, surrounding Russia.
“That’s the whole problem. I perfectly understand why this worries Russia so much, which this time has perfectly made it clear that it will not tolerate further expansion of NATO near its borders.
“This war simply could not happen. And it will not end until the US stops the pressure. It would be better if Russia ended the conflict eight years ago, securing the residents of Donbass.”
Minnesota-born Monson said the West had spent eight years ignoring Donetsk and Luhansk being bombed by the Ukrainian army.
“They fired on civilians,” he said. “But now that Russia has entered into a conflict with Ukraine, everyone is talking about it – the media, celebrities, American citizens.
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“[The media in the west] do not provide any alternative point of view. They speak in unison about how Russia occupied Ukraine.
“This is propaganda. They don’t tell you what’s really going on. They will never say that Russia only wanted to protect its borders and achieve recognition by Ukraine of the independence of the [Luhansk People’s Republic] and [Donetsk People’s Republic. It is not true that Russia wants to take over Ukraine.”
The US has repeatedly violated resolutions and human rights and carried out war crimes throughout history, according to Monson, who cited his birth country’s military and financial interventions in Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen and asked why Russia is portrayed as a “villain” on the international stage.
The 51-year-old suggested that media organizations are more likely to support and avoid frankness about their own country but described reporting in the west as “completely false”.
“When I watch RT, I don’t feel like I’m being lied to,” he added. “With Western media, this feeling never leaves me.
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“Russia is a great country. People here are ready to help, share, take care, which surprises me every time.
“In the US, people care more about how much money you have, what car, what house. Russians care much less about such material things. Because of this, I am happy here.
“Biden is just a figure, an image. He has been in government for 47 years and has done nothing during this time.
“He supported [racial] segregation [in 1977, when Biden said integration via mandatory busing would create a ‘racial jungle.’]
“He said it publicly – there is a video. And now he has a black vice president. I don’t know what he really believes. He constantly changes his mind.
“He supports what is popular at the moment. Earlier, he said that the US should be protected by a wall from all wars. But right now, the US is bombing six different countries. Simply breathtaking.
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“Biden does not run the country. It is run by corporations. He just does what he is told.
“I don’t believe in all this pseudo-democracy. It doesn’t matter if he’s healthy or not. Of course, it’s funny when he forgets words and makes mistakes. But he doesn’t make decisions.”
The US carries out dishonest elections, will bomb countries under any President and had no evidence behind blaming Russian hackers for rigging the 2017 presidential election in which Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, said Monson.
He said the wide range of sanctions imposed on Russia were purely designed to “terrify Russian citizens.”
“They did not care about the starving children of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, who were also sanctioned,” he said.
“They were not provided with any humanitarian assistance. But now they have decided to take care of the Ukrainians. Funny.
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“In fact, the US does not care about Ukrainian citizens. They impose sanctions on anyone they don’t like.
“And who imposed sanctions on the United States for the bombing of other countries? Who banned American Paralympic athletes, figure skaters and so on from participating in competitions?
“No consequences. Because the US is a superpower backed by the dollar. Nobody says anything against them, no matter what they do.
“The USA is a country of hypocrisy. It is based on two things: the genocide of the Native Americans, the Indians who lived there for thousands of years – they took away their lands, resources.
“And then there were black slaves who were exploited, bought and sold. That is, the US is based on genocide and slavery.
“And now they are teaching the whole world to live. In fact, they colonize other countries, taking their resources. The US uses people in the same Philippines, Indonesia and many other countries.
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“With Europe, the same thing: Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, at the expense of the colonies, accumulated initial capital. The West is pumping trillions of dollars out of poor countries.
“I adhere to extreme left views, a completely different ideology [to Putin]. But I believe that he loves Russia and that he is doing everything to make Russia better, based on his vision.
“On some points I agree with him but on others I don’t. I also want the best for Russia: I want people to be happy, the borders to be safe and there to be normal relations with other countries. In this, we are similar.”
Monson fought for the UFC in 2000, 2002 and 2006 and lost to Emelianenko’s brother, Alexander, in a fist-fighting tournament in February.
The powerhouse said that his experiences in Ukraine gave him a keen understanding of its history and what was happening there, claiming that Ukrainians welcomed the Nazis during the Second World War, who he said swiftly turned on them to deadly effect.
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“And now it is denied,” he rued. “The USA and Europe support fascism in Ukraine.
“You just need to understand the reasons why monuments are being destroyed. Not because they want a better future for Ukraine, equality. The Nazis want to rewrite history.”
Monson added on Instagram: “We support Ukraine but we do not support the people of Donbass that Ukraine has been bombing for the past eight years without stopping. It is popular right now to support Ukraine.
“We don’t know anything about Ukraine’s genocide against the civilians in Donbass because the media never mentions it. We support only Ukraine because that’s what we are told to do.
“The world only started paying attention to this conflict only two weeks ago because of western media admonishing Russia.”
