[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text
version below transcribed directly from audio]
Hello everybody. And thank you for sharing your
time with me.
I'm sending this message through various different channels to reach my dear
Russian friends, and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine.
I'm speaking to you today because there are things going on in the world that
have been kept from you, terrible things that you should know about. But before
I talk about the harsh realities, let me just tell you about the Russian who
became my hero.
In 1961, when I was 14 years old, a very good friend of mine invited me to come
to Vienna and to watch the
World Weightlifting Championships. I was in the
audience when
Yuri Petrovich Vlasov won the World Championship title, becoming
the first human being to lift 200 kilograms over his head.
And somehow a friend of mine got me backstage.
All of a sudden, there I was, a 14-year-old boy standing in front of the
strongest man in the world. I couldn’t believe it. He reached out to shake my
hand -- I mean, I still had a boy’s hand. He had this powerful man’s hand that
swallowed mine. But he was kind and he smiled at me. I will never forget that
day -- never.
I went home and I put his photo above my bed to inspire me when I started
lifting weights. My father told me to take down that picture and to find a
German or an Austrian hero. He got really angry and we argued back and forth. He
didn’t like Russians, because of his experience in the second World War. You
see, he was injured at Leningrad, where the Nazi army that he was part of did
vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people. But I did not take the
photograph down. No. Because it didn’t matter to me what flag Yuri Vlasov
carried.
My connections to Russia didn’t stop there, by the way. Oh, it actually deepened
when I traveled there, with bodybuilding and for my movies and met all my
Russian fans. And then one of those trips I remember I met Yuri Vlasov once
again. It was in Moscow during the filming of
Red Heat, which was the first
American movie allowed to film in Red Square. Now, he and I spent the day
together. He was so thoughtful, so kind, and so smart. And, of course, very
giving. He gave me this beautiful, blue coffee cup. And ever since then I’ve
been drinking my coffee out of [it] every morning.
Now, the reason why I’m telling you all of those things is that ever since I was
14 years old, I’ve had nothing but affections and respect for the people of
Russia. The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired
me. And that is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war
in the Ukraine and what is happening there.
No one likes to hear something critical of their government -- I understand
that. But, as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear
what I have to say. And may I remind you that I speak with the same heartfelt
concern as I spoke to the American people when there was an attempted
insurrection on January 6th last year -- when a wild crowd was storming the U.S.
Capital, trying to overthrow our government.
You see, there are moments like this that are so wrong -- and then we have to
speak up. This is exactly the same with your government. I know that your
government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine. Denazify
Ukraine? This is not true. Ukraine is a country with a
Jewish President -- a
Jewish President, I might add, whose father’s three brothers were all murdered
by the Nazis.
You see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis.
Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people’s
war -- no. As a matter of fact, let me tell you, what you should know is that a
141 nations at the U.N. voted that Russia was the aggressor. They called for it
to remove its troops immediately.
Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact. See,
the world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Whole
city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a
children’s hospital, and a maternity hospital. Three million Ukrainian refugees
-- mainly women, children, and the elderly -- fled their country, and many more
are trying to seek to get out.
It is a humanitarian crisis.
Because of its brutality, Russia is now isolated from the society of nations.
You’re also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on
Russia itself. I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers that
[sic] have been killed. They have been caught between Ukrainians fighting for
their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest. Massive amounts
of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The destruction that
Russian bombs are raining down upon innocent civilians has so outraged the world
that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on
your country. Those who don’t deserve it on both sides of the war will suffer.
The Russian government has lied not only to the citizens but to its soldiers.
Some of the soldiers were told they were going to fight Nazis. Some were told
that the Ukrainian people would greet them like heroes. And some were told that
they were simply going on exercise[s]. They didn’t even know that they were
going into war. And some were told that they were there to protect ethnic
Russians in Ukraine.
None of this is true.
The fact is that Russian soldiers have faced fierce resistance from the
Ukrainians who want to protect their families and their country. When I see
babies being pulled out of ruins, I think that I am watching a documentary about
the horrors of the Second World War, not the the news of the day.
Now let me tell you, when my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up
on the lies of his government. And when he left Leningrad, he was broken,
physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain -- pain from a
broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible
years, and pain from the guilt that he felt.
To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of
the truth that I’ve been speaking. You have seen it with your own eyes. I don’t
want you to be broken like my father. This is not the war to defend Russia that
your grandfathers or your great-grandfathers fought. This is an illegal war.
Your lives, your lim[b]s, your futures, are being sacrificed for a senseless war
condemned by the entire world.
Now, to those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you: Why would you
sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?
To the soldiers who are listening to this: Remember that 11 million Russians
have family connections to Ukraine. So every bullet you shoot, you shoot a
brother or a sister. Every bomb or every shell that falls, is falling not on an
enemy but on a school, or a hospital, or a home.
I know that the Russian people are not aware of such things [sic] are happening.
So I urge the Russian people and the Russian soldiers in Ukraine to understand
the propaganda and the disinformation that you are being told. I ask you to help
me spread the truth. Let your fellow Russians know the human catastrophe that is
happening in Ukraine.
And to President Putin, I say: You started this war. You are leading this war.
You can stop this war.
Now, let me close with a message to all of the Russians who have been protesting
in the streets against the invasion of Ukraine: The world has seen your bravery.
We know that you have suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been
arrested. You have been jailed. And you have been beaten. You are my new heroes.
You have the strength of Yuri Petrovich Vlasov. You have the true heart of
Russia.
My dear Russian friends, may God bless you all.
Page Updated: 3/23/22
Audio Note: AR-XE = American Rhetoric Extreme Enhancement
Audio Note: Added in deference to the fact
that many who would profit from hearing this address may not otherwise have
access
U.S. Copyright Status:
Text and Audio = Uncertain.
