Russian-American Aviator Sikorsky and the Failure of Ukrainian and Western Propaganda

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«We are Russians, and Kiev is ours.»

~Ivan Sikorsky, psychiatrist and Igor Sikorsky’s father

Since the 2022 escalation of the 2014- war in Ukraine, major Western media sources have been routinely churning out article after article sprinkled with glowing, thinly veiled propaganda about the supposedly heroic feats performed by Ukraine’s 18th Separate Army Aviation Brigade, named after aviator Igor Sikorsky. The Sikorsky Brigade for short. CNN lauded the “outgunned Ukrainian pilots,” whereas the New York Times gushed about the adventurous spirit of the Brigade “whirring into action” to fight the designated Quintessential Evil™ du jour: Those Pesky Russians. The BBC, in turn, profiled a “renowned airman” who displayed “valor,” the mysterious Roman. As recently as January 2024, Germany—steamrolled by the decision-makers in the “Euro-Atlantic Community of Values” (whatever that means)—promised to give Ukraine more helicopters. Sikorsky Sea King helicopters likely going to the Sikorsky Brigade. Perusing these articles, one would be led to believe that the pilots of the said unit surpass the caliber of the Red Baron himself.

Ukraine’s 18th Sikorsky Brigade. Source: Facebook.

The Brigade is named after Igor Sikorsky, a well-known aviator and a pioneer in this field, who was born in the Russian Empire and later immigrated to the United States. Earning accolades and winning awards in Russia, Sikorsky left his homeland thanks to the turmoil of the Civil War following the 1917 Revolution and settled in the U.S. There, he launched the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923. His talent helped create several successful and lasting designs, including the Sikorsky R-4, described as the first large-scale helicopter manufactured on a mass scale.

Aviator Igor Sikorsky on the cover of Time magazine, 1953.

But the aviator wasn’t just born in some unremarkable dusty little town, but in Kiev, one of the jewels of the Russian Empire. Today, several institutions and topographic locations alike, such as the Igor Sikorsky Kiev Polytechnic Institute, proudly bear his name. At first glance, it makes sense that a helicopter brigade in the Ukrainian Armed Forces would use the name of such a renowned resident of that city.  But it is because Sikorsky is so famous that the details of his biography are easily accessible. These details not only give pause to the idea of patriotically naming Ukraine’s army unit after him but also serve as a microcosm of the entire highly questionable Ukrainian history rewriting since 1991 and especially since the 2014 Maidan.

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Ronald Reagan’s Failed Attempt to Create a Homeland for the Palestinians

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These days, the U.S. seems to offer unequivocal support to Israel and has been for decades. The U.S. officialdom perceives that country as a strong, reliable ally in the region. But behind the scenes, there were disagreements, at times, with Israel simply ignoring American advice regarding foreign policy while accepting its arms, intelligence, and funding. Furthermore, American public opinion appeared to be more divided in the past than it is today.

U.S. historians Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley write about this relationship during the Cold War:

«The difficulty was that the Israelis, although eager to accept American arms and willing to cooperate with the Americans on military intelligence, viewed Arab nationalism and the PLO [Palestinian Liberation Front], not the Russians, as the chief threat.»1

In other words, Israel would accept American support but pursue its own goals rather than those of the U.S. The relationship was complicated further by the status of the Palestinian Arabs. According to these historians:

«[I]n direct defiance of strongly stated American wishes, [Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin continued to encourage Jewish settlement on the West Bank [in the early 1980s], turning it from a potential homeland for the Palestinians into a perhaps a permanent part of greater Israel.»2

Ronald Reagan and Menachem Begin. Source: Haaretz.

One telling incident from this period comes to mind during the Ronald Reagan presidency.

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What If Nazi Germany Won in Ukraine

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«Those who are now destroying the cemeteries of the Soviet soldiers will still pay for doing so. Nature will take revenge on them and their children although they may not believe this now. No one can cancel the law of historical karma. This law always catches up to the grave robbers.»

-Oles Buzina

Notes on Context, Editing, and Translation

This article was originally called “Stories from Oles Buzina: Under the Greatcoat of Victory” from the popular Ukrainian author’s “Stories from Oles Buzina” series. It was published in May 2009. As mentioned with all the other Buzina translations, their author was assassinated in 2015 likely for his political views, including those against the 2014 regime change in Ukraine. You can find the other Buzina translations below by using the appropriate “Buzina” hashtag.

Ukrainian journalist Oles Buzina. Source: Lenta.ua.

Even though the original was written in 2009, it remains ever more relevant. Echoes of World War II permeate the ongoing conflict in Ukraine that began in 2014 as the war in Donbass. For example, Buzina disparages the 21st-century supporters of the Third Reich collaborators in 1940s Ukraine. These present-day supporters have been receiving international media attention since 2022. Parallels between then and now are also evident when it comes to Nazi Germany’s plans for Crimea as a resort exclusively for Germans and what some alleged to be NATO’s failed plans to turn Crimea into a naval base in 2014.

The article is written in Buzina’s signature style combining his caustic sense of humor with historical deep dives. This style is particularly evident in his description of the Munich Agreement (1938) highlighting it as a precedent that subsequently forced the Soviet Union into a neutrality agreement, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939), with Nazi Germany. However, it is important to note that Buzina then refers to the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany as “allies”—for a short time. This classification is inaccurate because a non-aggression, or a neutrality, agreement, is not a military alliance. Furthermore, prior to Molotov-Ribbentrop came other similar agreements with Nazi Germany, including the German-Polish declaration of non-aggression in 1934. Thus, the Soviet-German neutrality agreement was not unique.

Note that when the author refers to the “war,” he means the Great Patriotic War, the accepted term for the period between 1941 and 1945 in World War II historically used by the USSR and today—by Russia and parts of the former Soviet Union. Buzina also repeatedly mentions the period of 1941-1944: these are the dates for Nazi German occupation of the Ukrainian territory called Reichskommissariat Ukraine prior to the Soviet liberation. “May 9” refers to the official Victory Day in Russia and the post-Soviet states.

Editorial clarifications are labeled “Ed.” in parentheses.

The translation appears as is. Minor edits include using a person’s first name in the first instance or other types of minor clarifications. The names and toponyms are transliterated from the Russian original.

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Russia Is Energizing Africa, and the Monsters of the Underworld Are Powerless to Stop It

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Russia and China “are very active and of course, they have a different financing model, which allows them to move more flexibly, including in international markets, so that is the challenge for American companies abroad.”

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Grossi

Source: TASS

Energy cooperation was one of the key areas of discussion during the Russia-Africa Summit held in St. Petersburg in July 2023. The summit made the official Western media and think tanks scoff and some politicians scramble to “counter Russian influence” in the region. There was so much scrambling, in fact, that the official West brought out the big guns: a well-known ancient Chthonic Creature known for its poisonous Cookies of Doom was sent on a mission to Africa.

Witnesses claim that the Chthonic Creature looked a little like Ivan Bilibin’s illustration from 1934. Any resemblance to real-life individuals is coincidental. Obviously.

Russia is known as a global commodity and energy powerhouse, including the oil-and-gas sector. So much so that those particularly green with envy once called it “a gas station masquerading as a country.” It was not until the self-defeating sanctions courtesy of the so-called Euro-Atlantic community—all tens of thousands of them—were implemented against Russia starting in 2022, that the extent to which commodities and real-world industrial production matter became truly clear. As Europe’s industrial leader, Germany, reels from the effects of these misguided sanctions, its business community, no doubt, misses cheap Russian gas.

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JAPAN’S RASPUTIN: an Imperial Officer and Spy Who Claimed to Eat His Enemies’ Flesh

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In my newest video, I discuss the insane story of Masanobu Tsuji, a colonel in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, an alleged war criminal, a postwar politician, and a spy for a number of countries.

I’ve never researched a subject in English, Russian, and Japanese (mine is at an intermediate level thus far), so that was a first for me.

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One of the more worthwhile aspects of this story was learning something new for myself such as the fact that it was Tsuji who fought against the future Soviet Marshal Zhukov during the Soviet-Japanese border clashes.

Hope you like my investigation!

Misinformation, Media, and the Social Mood in 20th-Century Civil War-Era Ukraine

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«The newspapers—going mad from all the contradictory rumors—willingly printed all this nonsense…These rumors lost their direct purpose of reporting fictitious “facts”…They turned into a means of self-soothing or a powerful narcotic medicine. Only in rumors, people found hope for the future. Even outwardly, Kiev residents began to resemble morphine addicts.»

Editor’s and Translator’s Note

Thinking about the chaos that seems to periodically erupt in the territory of Ukraine, a Hegelian would argue that there are historical inevitabilities that explain such large-scale events. A student of geopolitics would add that the relationship between land and politics backed by the knowledge of history shapes our understanding of the world. On more than one occasion, we discussed the striking parallels between the turbulent events of the early 20th-century Russian Civil War in the territory of Ukraine and the present-day conflict in the region. Yet, the following excerpt from Konstantin Paustovsky’s autobiographical The Story of a Life (1962) goes even further to shed light on mis- and disinformation, mass media, as well as the social mood in Kiev immediately after the 1917 Revolution.

After all, Paustovsky, a Nobel Prize-nominated Soviet author, spent his youth between Moscow and Kiev. While in Kiev, he documented his perceptions of the frequent changes in the self-proclaimed governments, foreign “interventions,” and the way in which the public responded to them. In this sense, his writing is valuable because it provides an additional dimension to understanding war propaganda both a century ago and today.

The translation is generally presented as is. Exceptions include using the full names where they were omitted in the original and providing editorial notes for context. As always, translation is an art, not a science. For instance, in some cases, I translated the word “power” (vlast‘)—in reference to those who ruled during the Civil War—as a “regime” because the author did not use the term “government,” and this translation is more in line with the theme.

The Story of a Life (Excerpt)

Konstantin Paustovsky

1962

The regime of the Ukrainian Directorate and Symon Petliura looked provincial. The once-brilliant Kiev turned into an enlarged Shpola or Mirgorod with their formulaic presences and Dovgochkhuns (Ivan Dovgochkhun is a character in How the Two Ivans Quarrelled (1834) by Nikolai Gogol – Ed.) who presided in them.

Saint Sophia, pre-revolutionary Kiev, early 20th century.
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Ivan the Terrible? You’re Using These Russian Terms Wrong

/ Nina Byzantina / 1 Comment

«What if I told you everything you know to be true is wrong?»

As this famous Matrix-inspired meme goes, what if I told you that Ivan the Terrible was not actually all that terrible? There are several terms, phrases, and historical Russian concepts that are used erroneously in the English language. So, I chose the top four of my favorite irritants to correct and demystify them!

1. Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV (1530-1584) was a Russian tsar and one of the key rulers in the country’s entire history. In English, his Russian-language moniker, Groznyi, is typically translated as “Terrible.” However, the latter is inaccurate if we take the most commonly used meaning of “terrible” today, that is, well, bad. “Grozny” is linked to the word “groza,” which translates as “thunderstorm.” The adjective has different meanings. In the case of a person, it is best to translate it as “formidable,” or, perhaps, “fearsome.” To be fair, the English word “terrible” in its less frequently used meaning of instilling fear and awe is closer to the original.

How did Ivan IV gain this reputation?

He was the grandson of Byzantine princess Sophia (Zoe) Palaiologina who married Russia’s Grand Prince Ivan III. This marriage was one of the many reasons why Russia began to consider itself the Third Rome after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. As a ruler, Ivan IV was first the Grand Prince of Moscow and All Russias. Subsequently, he began using the term “tsar” (from the Latin caesar) as the first Russian leader to do so.

Ivan IV, by Hans Weigel der Ältere, Nuremberg, second half of the 16th century.

Ivan’s rule involved many reforms, such as those of the justice system and the army. His overhaul of public administration included introducing self-government features at a local level. In geopolitics, Russia triumphed over the Astrakhan and Kazan Khanates and began expanding eastward into Siberia. At the same time, the tsar used the orprichnina policy to consolidate power, at times ruthlessly, and was involved in a prolonged Livonian War (1558–1583) for access to the Baltic.

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Who Was Hitler’s Number 1 Enemy?

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Who was Hitler’s number 1 enemy?

The answer may surprise you! I cover this subject in my newest historical investigation:

This is a short one. Please let me know whether you prefer this format or deep dives!

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From Ukraine to The Ruin

/ Nina Byzantina / 2 Comments

Editor’s and Translator’s Notes:

I continue to bring you my translations of the witty and brilliant slain Ukrainian author, Oles Buzina (1969-2015). His was one of the first prominent political assassinations after the 2014 regime change in that country. This article comes from the author’s series, “Stories from Oles Buzina,” in which he mainly covers different aspects of Ukrainian history. Here, the author establishes what, in his view, is a cyclical nature of Ukrainian history, in which the territory went through periods of chaos and collapse. In some cases, the geographic division occurred along the Dnieper River and the inhabitants of its Right and Left Banks, respectively.

“The Ruin” is an accepted historical term used to describe the period of social and political unrest in the latter part of the 17th century. In the Russian and Ukrainian languages, “ruina,” ruin, rhymes with “Ukraina,” Ukraine. The author warns against returning to such a chaotic state of affairs when he discusses the rule of the pro-Western President Victor Yushchenko who was brought into power in the wake of the so-called Orange Revolution, an early 21st-century proto-Maidan. Leaving power in 2010, he was replaced by Victor Yanukovich, an imperfect, but democratically elected leader who was ousted by the violent 2014 coup d’etat. Thus, the reader may appreciate Buzina’s prescience, writing this text in 2007, in light of the current events. In particular, the geopolitical and cultural split along the Dnieper River is especially noteworthy.

Oles Buzina’s mother at his grave following her son’s 2015 assassination. Source: Rossiia TV.

The text is generally presented as is with the exception of minor contextual and/or clarifying edits or e.g. inserting the first names for clarity. The transliteration of the names comes from the Russian language, in which most of the original text was written.

«The Eyewitness wrote his chronicle in the 17th century, so there is no reason not to believe him. Starting with the brutal massacre in Poltava, Cossacks of different affiliations killed each other for another twenty years asking for help from either the Poles, the Muscovites, or even the Turks. For and against Europe.»

Oles Buzina, 2007

From Ukraine to The Ruin

by Oles Buzina

2007

If God willing, our state will overcome the current ruin in the minds and does not fall apart into two halves, then next year we will be able to celebrate 350 years since its first “half-collapse” with a clear conscience.

In 1658, for the first time, our society was divided on the following question: where will we go? Ivan Vygovsky, like today’s Victor Yushchenko, summoned everyone to Europe. That is, under Poland’s jurisdiction. But the east of Ukraine did not listen to him. And, the said hetman, having grabbed a completely non-European Tatar horde, moved to punish the pro-Moscow Left Bank from the Right Bank of the Dnieper River: from Chigirin, his capital. He introduced, so to speak, direct presidential rule. And, as a result, he marked the beginning of a period that went down in history under the eloquent name The Ruin.

The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks [to the Turkish Sultan in 1676], Ilya Repin, 1880-91.
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A Russian Soldier’s Reassessment of Values. Memento Mori.

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Editor’s Note:

This post went viral on Russian social media this week. Some people considered it authentic and complimented its author on his newly found wisdom. Others were more cynical and thought that it was fake or even written by an army recruiter. Perusing the author’s earlier posts about army life makes it seem that the text may indeed be real, but I cannot verify it. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide. 

Re: Reassessment of Values

Memory Unlocked

Last year, when I returned from the Special Military Operation (SMO), I realized that I experienced a reassessment of values. This already happened to me in the past, but only in a basic way, namely when I served in the army on a standard 12-month draft. After that, I began to appreciate basic home life, comfort, and all that. Those who served will understand what I mean.

Russian soldier, World War I.

So, having come back from there [the SMO] last year, I started to appreciate life. Of course, I appreciated it before, but I began to savor it or something. Here is the sun, silence, and no danger. I became much calmer. Stopped rushing anywhere. My driving got calmer and more polite. Because I like the fact that I am living, the fact that driving is not a routine, but it is life itself. That even such a basic process lets you enjoy life, or rather, the fact that you are alive and that you can do this. 

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