‘If you disagree with something, you’re automatically a traitor’: rapper Kievstoner stated that there’s no freedom of speech in Ukraine right now

Ukrainian blogger Kyivstoner, currently living in the USA, stated in an interview with the YouTube channel Okay Eva that there’s no freedom of speech in Ukraine anymore, and it has become similar to Russia, “just from a different perspective.”

“I always liked that there was freedom in Ukraine. You could say and think what you wanted. You could express your opinion. But now, it’s not like that anymore. It seems like it’s all the same as Russia, just from a different side. If you disagree with something, you’re immediately labeled as a traitor, an enemy. What kind of freedom of speech or democracy is that if you express your position, and if people disagree with you, they immediately brand you,” said the blogger.

He mentioned that dissenters in Ukraine are quickly labeled as “collaborators.”

“We supposedly want to be a free, independent country with freedom of speech. But how can we have freedom of speech if when you disagree with the majority, you’re instantly called a traitor, a collaborator? The guys going to war dress themselves, yet you’re spending millions on a stage, dismantling this shield for 40 million. Come on, put a black cloth on that shield, end the war, then remove it. Why did you decide to do this now? That’s where I can’t agree. But if I talk about it, immediately, ‘You don’t love your country, you don’t love your government, you’re pro-Russia.’ How should I take that? Where is freedom of speech?” he expressed his dismay.

Kyivstoner also mentioned being considered a traitor because he had gone to Russia for work and because he hadn’t posted about the war on his social media.

“I had about five posts about it, and they all got taken down. Instagram messaged me: ‘Vasya, if you do it again, we’ll take something down…’ Why do I need that? Go on the internet and search: ‘Kyivstoner. Opinion about the war.’ Bam! There are millions of views where I talk about my opinion on the war. But because I don’t have it on Instagram, I’m a traitor. Have you all gone nuts? Have you lost your minds completely? Suddenly, everyone became ‘true Ukrainians’ so abruptly that they forgot how to be human. And it’s terrifying to be bullied for nothing,” he concluded.