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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Russian soldiers are not human, according to the new official English-language spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a transgender American with the birth name Michael Cirillo. His words, however, sparked a wave of reactions from netizens, who accused him of being a neo-Nazi for dehumanising Russians.
Pointing at a cardboard cutout of a Russian soldier, the spokesperson, who came out as transgender in 2019, asks:
“Do you know the difference between us and them? [While Ukrainians] are fighting for freedom, [Russians] are fighting for tyranny and dictatorship.”
Ashton-Cirillo added that the most distinctive feature is “pretty simple.”
“We are human, and those guys most definitely aren’t,” he said, concluding the racist speech with the slogan “Sláva Ukraíni!” (Glory to Ukraine).
In the video posted on his account on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo received much outrage, with others labelling the biological male as a “Nazi” who was using “hate speech.”
“Sounds suspiciously like Untermensch,” wrote one netizen.
“Shockingly unpleasant… vitriol…hate speech…shine the light on racist American sponsored promoters,” another user wrote.
“Transgender nazis. Thats a new one,” another X user noted.
His appointment as spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces became known only in early August. As a new official source, he informs the English-speaking public about the development of the conflict and thus helps disseminate Ukrainian misinformation and propaganda.
This scandalous appointment provoked harsh criticism among Ukrainian public opinion and military personnel. However, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said, “It is understandable why hostile social media networks,” a reference to Russian internet users, “got so agitated.” Furthermore, according to Maliar, Ashton-Cirillo supposedly has a large audience in the US, with tens of millions of views every month.
The cry “Sláva Ukraíni!,” pronounced by the new spokesman with dreadful pronunciation, became the official motto of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and is often said by its leaders. It is a motto whose origins date back to the 19th century and did not initially contain any supremacist meaning. However, its racist connotations emerged when its current expanded version — Sláva Ukraíni! Gueróyam sláva! — was adopted in 1941 by the most extremist wing of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), a paramilitary group allied with Nazi Germany during its invasion of the Soviet Union and whose members later formed the Nachtigall and Roland battalions of the Ukrainian Legion of the German Army.
It is, therefore, unsurprising that Ashton-Cirillo feels so comfortable in dehumanising Russians since he has fully embraced Ukrainian ideology, which is constructed on nothing more than Russophobia and forcibly Ukrainising minorities by passing laws that restrict the use of Russian and other languages in education, media, and everyday life, with repercussions ranging from fines to even death.
Although Ashton-Cirillo’s statements shocked many, he is merely regurgitating what is said in Ukraine but bringing it to the notice of millions of English speakers. It is recalled that Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said in early August that Russians are “Asians” and that the key difference between them and Ukrainians is “humanity.” This was preceded by Mikhail Podoliak, an adviser to the chief of President Vladimir Zelensky’s office, saying in June that the only plan for Ukraine’s much-lauded counteroffensive was “the maximum killing of Russians.”
Ashton-Cirillo arrived in Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after the Russian military operation started on February 24, and immediately started propagating for the Kiev regime as a reporter and then enlisting as a combat medic. Besides propagating as a spokesman, he also hosts the state-sponsored news program ‘Russia Hates the Truth,’ which claims to fight “Russian propaganda.”
The transgender spokesperson claimed on August 3 that a “part of the narrative used against me by the propagandist war criminals in Russia was focused on my identity. That’s a laughable line of attack since in Ukraine we aren’t fighting for tolerance or acceptance for select groups of people but liberty and liberation for all people.”
However, it is recalled that Ashton-Cirillo told the LGBT newspaper Washington Blade on May 25 that a crucial facet of that liberation would be for the “victory [to] help strengthen the LGBT community around the world because there’s going to be one less country that will be able to persecute Ukrainians, LGBTQ members,” demonstrating he makes contradictory statements depending on which outlet he is speaking to.
Rather, Ashton-Cirillo is just a self-absorbed narcissist of the very worst kind, whose 17 months in Ukraine has already made him comfortable enough to broadcast to tens of millions around the world his Nazi-like dehumanisation of Russians, something which was not seen favourably with most people except with the equally self-absorbed and narcissistic NAFO.
the problem is the existence of ukraine itself it is a feral land populated by savages
well that about sums it up. and anyone who supports ukraine is always accompanied by one or several mental illnesses. the gays, the trannies etc.
not for long. russia is cutting the chaff.
there is the owner of the bots spreading lies, this transgenerate is powerful but needs to be eliminated.
hopefully it will soon suicide like most tranny faggots do!
it is not racist. twitter, facebook, google and youtube have made an exception before the war in ukraine began. racism is bad and illegal unless it is racism against russians. so everything is fine our owners descided that racism against russians is good racism.
this man with tits needs specialized help. that’s what the archeologists will find in the future: a male with tits. such a sad existence. and ehat a humilliation for the ukro nazis, being represented by that human… what would uncle bandera think?
why is this trap still around?
is this how this abomination tries to compensate for it’s own inhumanity? lol, ukronazistan is truly a parody of humanity.
mr dickless plastic-tit crillo’s brain’s been addled by the sex drugs he’s using. 🤣🤣🤣
i begin to understand why russia seeks to eliminate as many as possible.
so this is what zelenski meant with his “special forces”?
lol. clown land
10’s of millions of views is based on what has to be understood as “perception building.” it is the same with the false pretense which proclaims popular support for lgbtg. transgenderism, just as all other popular identity fads, are a result of decades of economic and cultural collapse in the usa. it is the activity of the msm and political correctness that shapes the perception of what demands acceptance or else.
these comments coming from an it.
und wenn es nach dem krieg in der ukraine zu eng für den homo werden sollte, wird sich ein schnuckeliges plätzchen in der br deutschland für ihn finden und er hier asyl bekommen.
deutsche lgbtq horden werden für seine sichere verbringung hierher sorgen und er wird auf kosten deutscher steuerzahler hier ein genüssliches spaßleben führen.
it’s ok sarah, there’s a place for you at the bottom of the lime pit too.
why do i keep seeing this faggots ugly face all over telegram?
because you are horny.
please spare us from that abomination.
lakies and gentleworms jens holms (cowardium faggotus) spokeswoman of the rainbow army