News broadcasts show Russian troops moving east of Ukraine
donbas region, Russian military helicopters fly above tree level, and sorry-looking Ukrainians lay down arms and sign a promise not to fight. Russia’s First Channel gathered commentators on Wednesday around a clever interactive map it said showed advances by Russian troops and the Russian-backed separatist forces of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
No, the picture on Russian television is largely sterile, with slick handout video from the Defense Ministry and a harsh official briefing by Russia’s chief military spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov. There is little mention of casualties – either Russian military or Ukrainian civilians – and the language is euphemistic. After all, Russia is called a “special military operation” and domestic news outlets are forbidden from calling it a war or an invasion.
But a picture of Russia’s military intentions is becoming clearer. Around Kyiv, its forces are focused on besieging the Ukrainian capital – the president’s goal, in an apparent push to topple the government.
Vladimir PutinIn the words of liars and shameless, “disclaimers”. And in the east and south of the country a kind of crescent of the territory occupied by Russia is emerging.
On Wednesday morning, Russia claimed its troops had taken full control of the southern city of Kherson
Crimean peninsula – The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine disputed something.
But the northward push from Crimea has expanded an area of Russian control that was established in 2014, when Russia occupied the Black Sea peninsula. It has also restored water supplies to Crimea, as has the Russian military.
reopened a canal which supplied up to 85% of the peninsula’s needs before being cut off in the wake of the merger.
More importantly, progress in the region marks the beginning of a potential land bridge that could – in theory – link Ukraine’s port city of Odessa, via Kherson, to areas formerly held by separatists.
A significant part of that potential corridor is the southeastern city.
MariupolHeavy fighting continues there, with Russian and Russian-backed separatist forces besieging the city of about 400,000 people from three sides.
Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko said on Wednesday that the number of injured civilians was “increasing every day.”
North of Mariupol, and near the Russian border, the city of Kharkiv has come under heavy Russian fire. A day after an attack on the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building, a military attack took place in the vicinity of Kharkiv’s city council on Wednesday, killing 10 people and injuring at least 24, according to Ukrainian officials.
No images of this fight are reaching viewers of state television in Russia – although many Russians have access to the Internet, and some international networks can watch.
But the message from Russian officials and state media is terrifyingly reminiscent.
war in syriaThe Kremlin has warned that Ukraine’s “nationalists” plan to use civilians as “human shields”, while Russian forces promise safe routes from the city.
As Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in the morning, Russian military spokesman Konashenkov claimed – without evidence – that Ukraine’s security service was preparing to broadcast fake news about civilian casualties.
According to the Russian State News Agency, Konashenkov claimed, “In Ukrainian cities, staged videos were filmed with alleged ‘mass casualties’ among the civilian population of Ukraine.”
Riya Novosti-,
Such baseless and baseless claims follow Russia’s playbook of defaming Syria
white helmetA volunteer rescue group that has provided the world with some of the most compelling evidence of the Syrian president’s targeting of civilians
Bashar al-AssadSupported by the Russian Air Force.
Russia insists it is not targeting residential neighborhoods in Ukraine, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. But the deliberate repetition of that propaganda is a sober reminder that the default Russian strategy when it comes to evidence of civilian casualties is outright denial.
