He achieved wide fame after the publication of Serhii Loiko’s photo that shows him in military gear, with an assault rifle, among other ATO soldiers. Asher Joseph Cherkaskyi left Crimea immediately after the occupation. Then he decided to go to the front and became a volunteer. Cherkaskyi is now a member of the Dnipro City Council. Another photo has also aroused interest – he, an orthodox Hasid, stands next to Amina Okuieva, a Muslim woman. “Ukraine unites,” Asher Joseph admits. What made him take up arms rather than migrate to Israel? And what kind of relations should there be inside the country to neutralize the aggression of the Russian armada and propaganda?
“THE UKRAINIANS ARE SINCERE AND KIND PEOPLE, AND THIS DOES NOT HINDER THEIR ABILITY TO FIGHT”
Asher, the photograph of you with the well-known Amina Okuieva has gone viral in the Web. People of different faiths not only find mutual understanding in Ukraine, but also fight for this country. From the very beginning of its aggression, Russia has been talking on and on about the so-called Banderaites, hinting that fascism and, hence, racism, anti-Semitism, etc. are raging in Ukraine. What is your vision of this situation and your attitude to the question of a titular nation and the institution of Ukrainian citizenship?
“You know, before March 2014, when my family and I left Crimea, this information had been creating a strong impression. So I planned to leave altogether. What scared me most of all was propaganda about anti-Semitism in Ukraine. The rumors about ‘Banderaites,’ the Right Sector, and Yarosh, now a friend of mine, established a certain informational background. There was the so-called referendum in Crimea on March 19, and we arrived in Dnipro on March 27. When I saw the Ukrainian patriotic zeal, it was obvious that the attitude of people to one another had changed at the moment of Russian aggression. It was absolutely clear that Ukrainians were rallying together on the basis of not only blood, but also the presumption of having a common state and a common enemy. It didn’t matter what your ethnicity was. There was a common country, a common woe, and a common danger. Now, too, wherever I go in Ukraine, particularly in Kyiv, I never see anybody give me a dirty look. Of course, there are morons who can write something in Facebook, but they are an exception. There can be grassroots anti-Semitism anywhere, but it is in no way a mass-scale phenomenon in Ukraine. Note also that Ukraine is the world’s fourth country by the number of the Righteous among the Nations. This is the sign of the mentality of Ukrainians who are essentially tolerant and kindhearted.”
DNIPRO CITY COUNCILOR AND DNIPRO-1 BATTALION VOLUNTEER ASHER JOSEPH CHERKASKYI AND KYIV-2 BATTALION VOLUNTEER AMINA OKUIEVA / Photo from Asher Joseph CHERKASKYI’s Facebook page
The enemy has often taken advantage of our romanticism.
“Moreover, the enemy keeps creating myths about wicked Ukrainians for whom Europe is no place.”
The idea is: leave them alone, the Kremlin will sort it out.
“Yes. We didn’t care at the front about who was of what ethnicity. Thank God, the Ukrainians are sincere and kind people, and this does not hinder their ability to fight. This was one of the factors that helped us unite at a critical moment. Ukrainians do not look for a lightning rod but take on responsibility. Now all of us, including those of Jewish origin, are Ukrainians. But I will still point out that Ukrainians are undoubtedly the titular ethnic group in Ukraine. Our Ukraine is a nation state. It would be unfair to ignore this fact in a country that has a titular ethnic group. My attitude is as follows: all paperwork and documents should be in Ukrainian. The Ukrainian language must also prevail in the mass media. Some are trying to portray this as suppression of the rights of the Russian-speaking people and other ethnic groups. Nothing of the sort! It is a normal practice. And the war has proved that the enemy prepares an offensive in the places where Ukrainian identity is fostered too slowly. And one must begin with the language. All the citizens of Ukraine must know the Ukrainian language. And they are free to speak any in everyday life.”
“TO SPECULATE ON ETHNIC ISSUES MEANS TO PLAY WITH FIRE”
A telling example in this case is Hebrew. It was a dead language, but the Jews revived it. In particular, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda devoted his whole life to the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language. His aim was to get rid of the languages the Jews used under a foreign authority.
“That’s right. But, unfortunately, some politicians are taking an irresponsible approach to this. In my view, to speculate on ethnic issues means to play with fire. It should be made clear to people that it is necessary to know the Ukrainian language, to rename streets, etc. This should be done systemically and competently. We are now in such an economic situation that you never know when and where there will be an explosion. This is why systemic resoluteness should be accompanied by tact. For a neighboring state is watching us to see that we will wrongly implement the right intentions. In this case there will be an opposite result. And the aggressor will never miss the opportunity to take advantage of this and undermine Ukraine from inside.”
Moreover, the occupier attaches special importance to the Jewish issue.
“Exactly. To this end, they use fakes and quote the past centuries’ literature about the relations between Ukrainians and Jews. Nobody is saying there were no difficult moments in our relationship. And is there any country that didn’t have any? We must remember those moments in order to draw conclusions. And it is not only about the Ukrainian and Jewish people. The Kremlin has always been taking advantage of domestic, including ethnic, problems in the neighboring countries. The empire is bent on finding reminiscences of misunderstandings in history and cultivating them in the present day. If we fall for this, we’ll be living in the past, not in the future. Only enemies, fools, or very irresponsible and unscrupulous people can do so. It is the giddy limit to speculate on people’s ethnic feelings.”
You come from Crimea and are very well aware of the problem of relations with Crimean Tatars. After all, if we look deep into history, we will see that Ukrainians fought both against and in alliance with Crimean Tatars. It finally turned out that we had a common enemy. I wish the Poles, who also suffered at the hands of Moscow, also remembered this. What formula of coexistence with neighbors do you think should be proposed to make Russian propaganda break to pieces?
“The Soviet Union managed to create a myth about the so-called Soviet people. And, unfortunately, many believed in this. It may have been a good idea had it not been for the imperial essence of Russian mentality and the fact that the idea of a Soviet nation was based on lies and blood. How could one nation be built if some peoples were deported and oppressed? It is impossible to form a great nation, like in the US, trying to erase the identity of certain peoples. Ukraine must, taking into account the identity of all the ethnic groups that live here, do its utmost to integrate people inside the country.”
It’s national synergy.
“Exactly. Practical patriotism. For true patriotism proceeds not from slogans but from the aspiration to create, combine, build, and protect what is yours. Patriotism proceeds from the awareness of the objective need of normal coexistence. All the rest is, as a rule, a shady enterprise based on juvenile maximalism or imperial chauvinism. But one should also remember that the dead have no pockets. You can take nothing but your soul to the other world. We came to this world for a short time, and we only lease our body and benefits. All the material things will be left for our children and the coming generations. Therefore, we should think in the categories of creation and take a solicitous attitude to the world we are handing down to the next generations. It is ruinous to think in terms of robbery and looting.”
“IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA WANTS TO SEIZE NOT JUST A TERRITORY – IT WANTS TO APPROPRIATE THE HISTORY OF RUS’”
Did your philosophic and religious thinking help you understand the causes of the war, and did it play a role in motivating you to take part in it? For war and sin stand side by side.
“War does not go side by side with sin. War is a sin. One who kills his like commits the deadliest sin in this world. The ongoing war in Ukraine was provoked by the Kremlin’s ambitions under the guise of the so-called ‘Russian World.’ They are absorbed in the past and, therefore, will do nothing good and constructive which could inspire the development of generations. On the contrary, they are generating evil. If we allow this evil to spread, the next generations will have no place to live in. This must be understood. Can you imagine that Nazi Germany would still exist? How many new woes would Hitler have brought? In what realities would the world exist now? Therefore, while we are in the situation of being attacked, we must defend ourselves. It is our right and duty to our descendants not to let evil multiply and spread. It is normal to defend one’s life, family, people, and territory. I decided to go to war for the sake of protection. Over there, at the front, people perform exploits daily and sacrifice their life so that we can live in peace here, in Kyiv or Dnipro. When you come to the ATO zone, you can see clearly that there’s a war going on and people live in the conditions of war. When you compare the life there and here, you become still more aware of the necessity to defend peace. I must also say that the war-torn regions require a particularly attentive and careful attitude. Like it or not, people go through checkpoints to the occupied territory and tell there about what they saw in free Ukraine.”
Does it seem to you that Ukraine is only a stage in the aggression the Kremlin wants to spread worldwide?
“Russia has long been planting its agents all over the world, especially in Europe. What is more, it helps radical groups, particularly the ones that profess warped radicalized religions, to spread over Europe. Let us not forget a phrase now popular in Russia: ‘We learned French – and reached Paris, we learned German – and reached Berlin, and now we are learning English…’ In Ukraine, Russia wants to seize not just a territory – it wants to appropriate the history of Rus’ in order to position itself as a very old state. But the world must remember that Muscovy poses a threat to all, not only to Ukraine. The Kremlin is striving to establish two fronts – internal and external – in Europe. Then it will have to choose between tackling Ukraine’s problems and addressing its own ones, such as refugees, economic challenges, and regular terrorist acts. It is NATO that should deal with this threat, for it has an enormous potential. For too much time has been lost.”
