モスクワで「ＮＡＴＯ 残虐の記録」展　来場者は賛否両論

【モスクワＡＦＰ＝時事】負傷した子どもや嘆き悲しむ女性の絵、スピーカーからは戦闘機の飛来音──。ウクライナへの侵攻を続けるロシアの首都モスクワにあるロシア現代史博物館では現在、北大西洋条約機構（ＮＡＴＯ）の「犯罪」をテーマにした展覧会が開催されている。（写真は「ＮＡＴＯ 残虐の記録」展で展示されている星条旗とウクライナの車両のナンバープレート）
　「ＮＡＴＯ 残虐の記録」と銘打った展覧会は、モスクワで行われる旧ソ連の対独戦勝記念日の軍事パレードを９日に控え盛況で、先月上旬の開幕以来、１万４０００人が来場したという。
　１９４９年に創設されたＮＡＴＯの歴史をテーマにした同展では１９４５年の米国による広島と長崎への原爆投下をはじめ、１９９９年のＮＡＴＯ軍による旧ユーゴスラビア空爆、イラクとアフガニスタンにおける米国主導の戦争、そして現在のウクライナ紛争を「招いた」とするウクライナとＮＡＴＯの協力関係も取り上げられている。
　ロシア大統領府（クレムリン）は、米国主導の軍事同盟であるＮＡＴＯを自国の存亡に関わる脅威と見なしており、ウラジーミル・プーチン大統領は、米国がロシアを紛争に引き込む道具としてウクライナを利用したと非難している。
　ウクライナ侵攻開始以来、ロシアの独立系メディアは閉鎖、または活動停止に追い込まれる一方、テレビ局は反ウクライナ・反欧米のプロパガンダの製作に力を入れてきた。
　博物館側によれば、展覧会の企画は「数週間足らず」でまとめられたという。
　第２次世界大戦における旧ソ連の勝利を祝う黒とオレンジのリボンを胸に着けた来場者の一人、アレクサンドラさんは、いい加減な展示内容だと批判。
　図書館学を教えているというアレクサンドラさんは教え子たちを連れて見学に来たが、今は「時間を無駄にしたことを後悔している」と語り、「ＮＡＴＯが設立された理由やＮＡＴＯの変遷についてなぜ取り上げられていないのか」と指摘。さらに、ベトナム戦争に関するコーナーについて、非難されるべきは「ＮＡＴＯではなく米国だ」と語った。
　博物館に置かれたノートに来場者は自由に感想を書き込める。
　「子どもや若者、そして大勢の大人も、西側の世界がいかに腐っているかを自分の目で確かめるべきだ」として、同展を称賛している書き込みもあった。
　ロシア政府のスパイとして違法に活動した罪で米国の刑務所で１年３月服役していたマリア・ブティナ下院議員は、主催者は「真実」を伝えてくれていると謝意を表していた。
　一方、ロシア政府の主張を非難する来場者もいる。
　「この展覧会は、ソ連流のくだらないプロパガンダ」「政治に白黒はなく、灰色の濃淡しかない」という感想や、「プロパガンダにだまされないで。ウクライナと全世界に平和を。ロシアに自由と知性を！」という書き込みもあった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/10-10:19）

Paintings of wounded children and grieving women line the walls, while loudspeakers spit out the sound of approaching war planes.
Welcome to a Moscow exhibition depicting NATO's crimes amid Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
NATO. A chronicle of cruelty opened at the Museum of Contemporary Russian History in Moscow in early April, over a month after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to the pro-Western country.
According to the museum, the display is dedicated to the history of NATO including the United States' atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, despite the Western military alliance being founded only in 1949.
It also lists the bloc's bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as cooperation between Ukraine and NATO that has led to the current conflict.
Every time it's difficult to talk about the crimes committed by NATO troops, guide Yaroslav Polestrov, 46, said.
The Kremlin considers the US-led military bloc an existential threat to Russia and Putin blames Washington for using Ukraine as an instrument to draw Moscow into a conflict.
Since the start of Moscow's campaign in Ukraine, independent media outlets have been shut down or suspended operations while television channels have ratcheted up production of anti-Ukraine and anti-West propaganda.
Just days before Moscow's annual military parade to mark the Soviet victory in World War II on May 9, the exhibition is well attended.
At the entrance, a group of teenage cadets in uniform pose for a photo before heading inside, which, unusually in the Russian capital, is free of charge.
Lining the walls are photos of anti-NATO demonstrations in Europe and numerous photos of children in conflict zones, some visibly injured.
For the museum's senior researcher Fyodor Kokin, NATO has been playing a crucial role in the Ukraine conflict.
We see that in fact the countries of the alliance are very actively involved in this conflict, Kokin, 28, said.
They are supplying arms, equipment, and ammunition to Ukraine.
Part of the display is an anti-tank missile launcher produced in the United Kingdom and used by the Ukrainian armed forces, Kokin said.
The exhibit was put together in less than a few weeks and has welcomed 14,000 visitors so far, he added.
One of those visitors, Alexandra, who declined to release her last name, said the display was a shoddy job.
This was done in a hurry, said Alexandra, who teaches library science and brought her students to see the exhibition but now regrets wasting time.
Why are we talking about 'cruelty'? Why not talk about the reasons for the creation of the bloc, how it has evolved over time? said the woman, sporting a black and orange ribbon pinned to her chest, a symbol of WWII victory celebrations in Russia.
Pointing to a section dedicated to the Vietnam War, Alexandra said, It is the United States, not NATO, which is to blame.
- 'Soviet-style propaganda' -
Guide Polestrov shows Alexandra's students a jumble of Ukrainian blue and yellow flags displayed next to a Nazi SS helmet and a US flag, with maps illustrating just how far into Russia NATO missiles can reach.
On the 1999 NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, he said: Russia and China did not agree with... the decision made by (Bill) Clinton, President of the United States and criminals like him.
Anyone disagreeing with the organisers' point of view is free to express their thoughts in the visitors' book, Polestrov said.
Some praised the display.
It is necessary that children, adolescents and even many adults see for themselves how rotten the Western world is, two women, who signed their full names, wrote in a message seen by AFP.
Maria Butina, a lower house lawmaker who served 15 months in a US prison for illegally acting as a foreign agent for Russia, thanked the organisers for telling the truth.
Other visitors blasted Moscow's narrative.
This exhibition is Soviet-style propaganda crap, read one entry.
There is no black and white in politics, there are only shades of grey, said another.
Don't let the propaganda fool you. Peace to Ukraine and the whole world, freedom and wisdom to Russia!