A quickly deleted article referred to the independence of Belarus and Ukraine as a "terrible catastrophe."
Highlights
- Opinion piece seemingly published by Russian news agency RIA Novosti before being quickly taken down.
- Petr Akopov wrote that Russia is “restoring its unity” and providing a “solution to the Ukrainian question” in its invasion of Ukraine.
- The article was recorded by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine before it was taken offline.
- It referred to the 1991 declarations of independence by Belarus and Ukraine as a “terrible catastrophe” and an “unnatural dislocation” Author theorized that Ukraine’s statehood would not be liquidated if Russia succeeds in its goals, but would instead be “reorganized, re-established and returned to its natural state”