Myroslav Marynovych: War in Ukraine is ‘a fight for freedom’
By Xavier Sartre – Lviv
For Myroslav Marynovych, the war in Ukraine is a fight for freedom. He is one of the last living Soviet dissidents who has tirelessly championed freedom and truth for nearly fifty years.
Currently serving as the vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University of Lviv, Mr. Marynovych believes that the war between Ukraine and Russia transcends a mere territorial conflict. He says it represents a confrontation between Good and Evil that extends beyond Ukraine's borders.
Mr. Marynovych has keen eyes and a perfectly trimmed mustache that is barely grayer than in the 1970s when he was part of the group of Soviet dissidents who founded the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in 1976, passionately advocating for human rights.
His commitment came at a high cost in a totalitarian state allergic to internal criticism. He spent seven years in the Perm VS-389/36-2 labor camp in the heart of Siberia, plus five years of exile in Kazakhstan.
Upon returning to Ukraine, he continued his fight for truth and freedom, founding the first branch of Amnesty International in the soon-to-be-dissolved Soviet Union in 1991.
Today, as the vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University of Lviv, Mr. Marynovych continues to deliver lectures worldwide, sharing his experiences from the Soviet era, his commitment to human rights, and, since February 2022, insights into the war ravaging his country.
He granted the following interview to Pope about the ongoing war.
Q: You spent several years in the Gulag. Today, your country has been invaded by Russia. Would you say that history is repeating itself or, at the very least, stuttering?
Yes, it has repeated itself many times, and we Ukrainians are simply astonished by the similarity of historical waves of violence emanating from Russia. There is only one difference: all current events unfold online, visible to the entire world on smartphones.
Q: Is the meaning of Ukraine's fight today the same as yours during the Soviet Union era?
Some nuances change, but the real significance remains the same. For example, today Vladimir Putin has placed us in a situation where we must fight militarily.
During my struggle as a dissident, our instrument against Soviet totalitarianism was the defense of human rights. Human rights helped us overcome the main cement of the Soviet Union at the time, which was the fear generated by Stalin's dictatorship.
Q: Today, would you say that the military conflict is just, or does it go beyond a simple military conflict for territorial gains?
Yes, in the Christian sense, undoubtedly, it goes beyond a purely military conflict. It would be straightforward if there were only military motivations.
From the beginning, Ukrainians perceive this war as a battle between light and darkness, between good and evil. I know that the same rhetoric is used in Russia. But I still want to believe that the world has not completely lost the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between good and evil.
The war against Ukraine has undermined the international order and principles of international peace. Putin spreads deliberate lies, contributing to people losing the ability to distinguish truth from deception. Therefore, it is not just a conflict between two nations but a challenge posed by Putin to all of human civilization.
Q: You mentioned social networks, the Internet. Do you think the presence and existence of these communication and information tools influence the world's perception of the conflict more than before?
Yes, in previous cases, no one knew that entire villages and Ukrainian civilians had been destroyed by Russian troops. And if, decades later, such news reached the West, "well, Russia is an empire, a powerful country," all of this was perceived as the norm in the world at that time.
Today, thankfully, it is perceived as a violation of the moral foundations of civilization. This difference is crucial for me personally. At the same time, I realize that, in general, social media do not only disseminate correct versions of events, but it is crucial for humanity to be aware of all these crimes.
Q: What can be done so that Russia is no longer ultimately a prisoner of its past demons, so that it can have a much more serene relationship with Ukraine and the West in general and not perceive the West as a threat?
I will answer this question by quoting the words of the Russian dissident Vladimir Bolekhov, who declared in 1978 that the only way to change Russia's position was to disintegrate the Russian Empire and help the Russian people create a nation-state with a completely different concept.
Another Russian figure, Yuri Afanasyev, unfortunately, now deceased, declared in the 2000s that the paradigm of Russia had to change. Without this, Russia will not change. If the Russian Empire remains as it is today, imperial instincts will always return to this country.
The second very important hypothesis is that those responsible for crimes must be brought to justice. Until now, Russia has never had a tradition of bringing criminals to justice because crimes have always been explained by the lofty goals and needs of the state. It would be unfortunate if the world makes peace with Russia today without bringing criminals to justice. This would be a direct way to repeat the crimes in the future.
Q: What would be a just peace today between Ukraine and Russia?
Firstly, bringing to justice the perpetrators of horrific genocidal crimes; "de-Putinization" of Russian society and the realization of the crimes of the Russian Empire by the Russian people themselves; material and moral compensation for the losses suffered by the Ukrainian people; and, perhaps most importantly, the moral repentance of the Russian people, without which we will have vengeful feelings among Russians leading to a new war.
Q: This war is, among other things, a war between Christians who are very close. Despite this, can all Churches contribute to peace? How?
This is a very important question, and I would like to clarify a very important point that poses a challenge for us Ukrainians.
For us, religious freedom has become a great achievement of our democracy, and religious freedom has been accepted by the entire society.
I would like to appeal to Christians worldwide, especially in the Orthodox world: it is crucial that we support the views of the group of Orthodox theologians who condemned the idea of the Russian world as heretical and anti-Orthodox.
Q: Is the Greek Catholic Church best suited to be the link, the bridge between the East and the West?
Firstly, I remember the somewhat ironic view of the former head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, who did not readily accept this definition of being a "bridge between the Christian East and West," stating, "When people walk on a bridge, they trample it. I would not like us to be trampled."
He was more inclined to use the word "mediator," meaning that our Church can serve as a mediator between the two groups. Indeed, we can serve as a mediator because we understand the logic of both groups. But to be an effective mediator, we should have the consensus of both parties, which is not yet the case.
Q: Is the Catholic University of Ukraine, where we are now, somewhat symbolic of this struggle for truth, peace, and justice?
We would like to be such a symbol because this university, despite the term "Catholic" indicating its confessional nature, would like to be open to the whole world and participate in a dialogue with the entire world.
Dialogue presupposes truth; dialogue can only be based on truth. I do not believe in dialogue "at any cost" because that means "at the cost of truth." Furthermore, the Ukrainian Catholic University wants to be a partner in building a peaceful and just world that takes into account the interests of all participants.
All these points already show that our position is in direct contradiction to Putin's position, the position of modern Russia, which wants to build a new world order based on values directly opposed.
Q: How is this university indicative or emblematic of the evolution of Ukrainian society?
When the university was founded in the 2000s, we immediately declared that we wanted to build the educational process on two principles: faith and reason. This was already a challenge for Ukrainian society at the time because it was believed that a university should only provide professional knowledge, and spiritual education was not the university's responsibility.
Today, in times of war, many educational centers emphasize the importance of values, and our experience has been recognized as correct. Secondly, we started in a situation where Ukrainian education was largely corrupt.
We faced a challenge: we cannot allow the slightest sign of corruption if we have the word "Catholic" in our name. So, we launched a university model that fundraises and applies zero tolerance to corruption.
Again, this was a challenge for Ukrainian society. Many of our partners said that we would not survive. But we survived and are now at the forefront of changes in Ukrainian education.
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