The statements
Diego Bianchi to Virginia Libero and Bersani: “Ukraine’s story is one of resistance”
During a debate on Otto e mezzo, the presenter of Propaganda expressed his views on the Russian invasion and the use of weapons in war. “Italy’s history of peace also began with the partisans who went out to shoot Nazis and Fascists.” Joining him in the studio were the secretary of the Young Democrats and a long-standing Democratic Party leader.
Photo: Ansa
“When the conflict broke out, Ukraine’s story was one of resistance, so someone on the left saw it as the story of yet another group of partisans. I was fortunate enough, through my work, to interview some partisans who told me how pleased they were with the airdrops from the Americans and the British supplying them with weapons – to do what? Yes, for peace, but peace came later. First they used those weapons; they went out to shoot Nazis and Fascists. The peaceful history of this country also begins there.” The presenter of Propaganda Live, Diego Bianchi – known as Zoro – explains his viewpoint on the war in Ukraine in this way. The occasion was an episode of Otto e mezzo on La7, during a discussion with the long-standing leader of the Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani, and Virginia Libero, the secretary of the Young Democrats. During the debate, reference was made to Libero’s speech from the stage at the Festa dell’Unità in Reggio Emilia, when the secretary emphasised several points against the war and the increase in military spending. “We will not be the soldiers in your wars,” she said: “If these right-wing parties lead us into an armed conflict, you go and fight it. Because we will organise the deserters.”
Diego Bianchi spoke of two distinct phases of the war. “We are now in a completely different situation, so I don’t know who is winning in Ukraine,” he said. “My impression is that Putin has won in Italy.”
Following this statement, the presenter of Propaganda was criticised on social media by several users. “How dare Diego Bianchi say that Putin has won in Italy? How can he fail to understand that the war in Ukraine is no longer a resistance struggle, but a NATO war which, under the pretext of the EU, has swallowed up almost all the countries bordering Russia in the West?”, reads one comment, amongst others. Among the comments was one from Maurizio Acerbo, secretary of Rifondazione Comunista, who wrote on X: “The ANPI is better than Zoro when it comes to sending arms to Ukraine.” The reference is to the fact that the National Association of Italian Partisans has, from the very start of the conflict, been opposed to military support for Kyiv.