Conservative commentator Candace Owens has weighed in on the Russia/Ukraine conflict, claiming Ukraine 'wasn’t a thing until 1989'.
Owens has since been mocked by numerous people for her insights, including by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Anne Applebaum.
During her recent episode of the Candace show on The Daily Wire, in which she delves into current political and cultural issues, the commentator responded to a tweet that describes Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine as 'genocide colonisation'.
"Wow, "genocidal colonization" is interesting," she said. "Again, going back to my point about people being stupid, you know, he's not trying to commit a genocide of the Ukrainians. That obviously makes no sense because there is no difference, ethnically, between Ukrainians and Russians, obviously."
Advert
Owens continued: "Ukraine wasn't a thing until 1989. Ukraine was created by the Russians. It was, you know, they speak Russian. So, it's absolutely ridiculous. And, again, this entire episode has been exposing to you how ignorant people are about the goals of Vladimir Putin. He has goals. The goal is not just to get rid of Ukrainians. That makes entirely no sense. It would not be helpful for him."
Anne Applebaum, staff writer for The Atlantic and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for her non-fiction book Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps, responded to Owens' comments on Twitter yesterday (18 March), writing: "Behold the face of pure ignorance. This is what happens when you know no history."
Advert
Meanwhile, Julia Davis, columnist for The Daily Beast and the creator of the Russian Media Monitor, wrote: "Meanwhile on Russian state TV: Candace Owens spewing astonishingly ignorant commentary about Ukraine, which they aired without correcting. Kremlin-funded media never encountered a useful idiot they wouldn't care to amplify. In military slang, this is “Free Chicken"."
Owens has since responded to the backlash in a 15-minute video shared on her Twitter page where she says she’s 'under attack consistently' for telling her followers that 'the West is engaged in very serious propaganda' about the war.
Describing the 'theatrics' of Western media coverage of the conflict, citing narratives such as the elusive ‘Ghost of Kyiv’, she said: "All of this to elicit emotions to get you to donate and things that you don't really understand that are complex… What they are doing right now is creating a false sense of security in the West by telling you these extraordinary tales."
Advert
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, World News
