US plan inspires Kremlin propaganda Ukraine will be "divided up like Poland was once divided up"

In an interview, the US envoy for Ukraine talks about a division of Ukraine - along the lines of Berlin after the Second World War. Russian propaganda gratefully takes up the idea.

"What fate awaits Ukraine?" asks presenter Margarita Simonjan in "The Right to Know!" on Russian broadcaster TWZ. Behind the propaganda show is Margarita Zhitnitskaya's company M-Productions, which is also responsible for relevant programs such as "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov".

"Ukraine has no fate awaiting it," continues the 45-year-old. "The territories that were Ukrainian will be divided up, just as Poland was once divided up. We will take any place where they are happy to see us. There will be a buffer zone in between so that those who don't welcome us don't do bad things to those who are happy to have us."

And what about the part that is not Russian and not a buffer zone? "It will [also] be divided up by someone - one way or another," Simonjan explains to her audience. Whether through an official annexation or a cruel protectorate that twists [the Ukrainians'] arm - the way they like to do it in the West."

These are the zones Kellog has in mind

It is no coincidence that Russia's propaganda is focusing on this topic: The template for the violent shot comes from the USA, of all places. Keith Kellog is DJing for the Kremlin: The American is officially the US envoy for Ukraine, although Donald Trump's friend Steve Witkoff conducts all talks with Vladimir Putin.

Former Lieutenant General Kellog set the ball rolling on April 11 in the British Times: In the interview, the 80-year-old suggests a division of Ukraine: "It could almost look like Berlin after the Second World War, when there was a Russian zone, a French zone, a British zone and a US zone."

What could such a Ukraine look like for Kellog? Most of it covers the area west of the Dnipro, where Kiev could be supported by French and British soldiers. To the east of the Dnipro, Ukraine would be solely responsible - and Russia would be given the four regions whose capture is one of the declared war aims.

A demilitarized zone would be declared between the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, extending 29 kilometers on either side of the new border. Kiev would lose the large cities of Kherson and Zaporizhia - and in these two oblasts, the Russians would also have a bridgehead on the western bank of the Dnipro.

"Not provocative at all"

The British and French in the western part would be "not at all provocative" for Moscow, Kellog believes: "You are west of the [Dnipro], which is a major obstacle. And you have a demilitarized zone that you can monitor, and you have this no-fire zone. You can monitor that quite easily."

Does Kellog anticipate violations of this border line? "Probably, because there always are," the ex-military man tells the Times. After the interview, however, Kellog backtracks: he was only talking about the possible responsibilities of allied troops and not about a division of the country, he assures X afterwards.

But the damage has been done: The liberal US website "Daily Kos" calls the move a "war crime","Euromaidan Press" from Kiev believes that Putin himself would have drawn the map in the same way as Kellog - and the Russian state news agency "Tass" also takes up the issue: A division into "control zones" is an option, but also dangerous.

"We have the army, the navy and Medvedev's Telegram channel"

At least that's what Russian special envoy Rodion Miroshnik says with regard to Western troops west of Dnipro. Kiev would rally its troops, analyze the war so far, prepare and "pump up tens of thousands of troops again through Great Britain and send them to the front again", the Russian said on the TV show "Solovyov Live".

This brings us back to "The Right to Know!" with Margarita Simonjan: "It happens again and again, it's so amusing to watch," says the head of the RT channel. She does not believe the promises made by Western politicians that they will make a lasting commitment to Ukraine.

"It's probably because of their education system, which has long been a system of entertainment and psychotherapy for the mentally handicapped," Simonjan explains. "That's why the voters [in the US] have the kind of memory and depth of thought of a goldfish."

In four years' time, no one will remember Ukraine. And the last 30 years have shown that Russia does not do business internationally: instead, we have "the army, the navy and the Telegram channel of [Putin's chain dog] Dmitry Medvedev".