Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been branded a threat to Ukraine for his refusal to condemn Russia over its military operation
President of Kazakhstan Kassymzhomart Tokayev. © Sputnik/Press Service of the President of Kazakhstan
Controversial Ukrainian website Mirotvorets, which acts as a database of enemies of Kiev, was updated on Wednesday to include the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
He was added to the list for “publicly refusing to acknowledge Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” and “denying Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2014 and capturing its territory.”
As proof of the offense, the website cites Tokayev’s interview with Deutsche Welle in 2019, in which he said he does not consider Crimea joining Russia in 2014 to have been an ‘annexation’.
“We don’t call what happened in Crimea … an annexation. What happened, happened. Annexation is too strong a word to be applied to Crimea,” Tokayev said, adding that Kazakhstan has “absolutely trusting and good neighborly relations” with Russia and believes in the wisdom and decency of the Russian leadership.
The Mirotvorets website, translated as ‘peacemaker’, was launched in 2014 and positions itself as an independent database run by anonymous moderators to single out threats to Ukrainian national security. The website, which provides personal information, such as names, dates of birth, home addresses, photos and social media pages of people considered to be a threat to Ukraine, claims it is simply helping law enforcement agencies and “special services” apprehend pro-Russian terrorists, separatists and war criminals, among others.
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Some, however, have called the database a ‘kill list’ which is supported by the Ukrainian government, after several people, including writer and historian Oles Buzina, politician Oleg Kalashnikov, and Russian journalist Darya Dugina were assassinated shortly after their profiles appeared on the website. Mirotvorets has also been condemned by EU officials and journalist groups for leaking personal data on more than 4,000 members of the media.
Recently, the website briefly added US billionaire Elon Musk over his threats to cut funding for the Starlink Satellite internet services, and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, who has publicly criticized the Kiev government and opposed Western military meddling in the region.
The list also features information on 327 children, including Faina Savenkova, a 13-year-old girl from the Lugansk People’s Republic, who called on the UN to stop the fighting in her region, which has dragged on since 2014.
