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lunes, 16 de febrero de 2015

Compilation of Russian Propaganda unmasked



Blatant Propaganda Works Better
Russian and Belarusian state media coverage of the events in Ukraine have been notably different. Belarusian state TV pursued its typical tactics, attempting to achieve some level of balance between the two conflicting parties. Thus, coverage of Ukraine was usually bordering on being impartial, with special emphasis only being placed on the horrors of Ukrainian destabilisation. These scenes were meant to have Belarusians appreciate their nation's stability and reject any sentiments of revolution.
At the same time, Russian coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, by many assessments, surpassed even Soviet propaganda with its level of bias, plain lies, its demonisation of its opponents, and even occasional blatant xenophobia towards Ukrainians.
All those who disagree with the Kremlin's policies, including the Ukrainian government, get labelled as being fascists. Opponents of the anti-Ukraine propaganda campaign have launched a special web-site, Stopfake.org, to expose the daily lies eminating out of Russian TV.
In Russia the impact of this propagandistic treatment of the crisis in Ukraine has exceeded all expectations: according to the polls of the leading Russian independent sociological institution Levada Centre, Putin’s support rate has mushroomed to 81% at the beginning of June, with 88% supporting the annexation of Crimea. Sociologists have explained the reason for this significant shift in public opinion: 94% of respondents said they got their news about Ukraine from Russian TV.
In Belarus, its impact was not nearly as impressive but the excessively emotional, anti-western message from Russian TV, especially on the basis of its, sacred to a majority of Belarusians, anti-fascist rhetoric, it appeared to be far more effective than the restrained coverage provided by Belarusian state media.



Russian propaganda must convince the Russian people, the people of Southeast Ukraine, and political and media elites throughout the world that two lies are the truth: 
First Lie: Radical Neo-Nazis and nationalistic extremists have gained control of the Ukrainian government and have embarked on a campaign of brutal repression of innocent ethnic Russians, who live primarily in the east and south of Ukraine. Their fear of Ukrainian radicals has prompted these ethnic Russians to revolt spontaneously against Kiev without any prompting or organizing from Moscow.
Second Lie: Russia has not been and will not be involved in the spontaneous demonstrations and takeovers (by force) of municipal buildings, police stations, and municipal administrations. Although the demonstrations appear coordinated to achieve specific geo-military goals, the patriotic ethnic Russian “self defense forces” are doing this on their own.
My previous blog (Russian TV Propagandists Caught Red-handed) demolished the first lie. It shows an actor, playing three separate characters, in what is cynically referred to in Russia as a “guest role” (Gastrol’). In his three performances, he spins tall tales of Ukrainian violence against innocent local residents. As an experienced thespian, this guy plays his roles – German spy, pediatric surgeon and innocent bystander — to perfection, as his performances were aired on three separate TV stations (and found their way onto You Tube).
The second lie (“no Russians forces here”) is demolished by a major flub that occurred on  live Russian radio today.Two Russian radio hosts were conducting live interviews with a female reporter in the occupied building of the Donetsk Oblast Administration. She mentions that the commander is standing next to her and may consent to an interview. He comes to the microphone and introduces himself as “Paramonov, Pavel Vladimorivich.  When asked if he is from Donetsk, he answers: “Of course not, I am a resident of the city of Efremov of Tula oblast” (Tula is a Russian province).  When asked what he is doing in Donetsk, he answers: “I am helping a brotherly nation to defend its rights.”
The flustered radio hosts understood that a catastrophe had occurred. They quickly interrupted the Russian commander, told him to give the mike back to the reporter, with the excuse that the commander must be very busy, so we must stop the interview.
The second propaganda disaster is a You Tube that captures a “Green Man” military officer in the Ukrainian town of Gorlovska. His uniform bears no insignias as he addresses about 20 local police, identified as having come over to the “side of the people.” Beside the officer stands a silent portly man in his 40s dressed in the black leather jacket attire of local mafia. The uniformed officer introduces himself as a “Podpolkovnik [lieutenant colonel] of the Russian Army.” He does not give his name. He then proceeds to appoint “black leather jacket” to lead the local ministry of interior, e.g. as the local chief of police. The lieutenant colonel then instructs the police officers to maintain order against those “who have not yet come over to the side of the people.” He instructs them to pin St. George ribbons on their uniforms to signify that they are fighting for the pro-Russian forces. One young policeman asks where the ribbons are. The Russian colonel answers dismissively that they are being “arranged.”
Russian colonel appointing new police chief of Ukrainian town of Gorlovska and giving instructions to local police who have come over “to the side of the people.”
Another You Tube  explains why the Gorlovska police went over “to the side of the people.” A pro-Russian activist (surely under the command of the colonel in the previous You Tube)  is seen shouting through a megaphone in front of Golosvka police headquarters, threatening the police inside with a mass execution if they do not join the Russian side. The young men in the video had a choice of “joining the people” or execution!
We could compile a longer list of similar smoking guns that show that Russian forces have invaded Ukraine and are directing the destabilization of Southeast Ukraine. Some border on the amusing:
A French television reporter, covering the takeover of government buildings in Kharkiv, confirms that the armed perpetrators were clearly not from the area: “In Kharkiv, there was an amusing situation yesterday when some pro-Russian activists clearly mistook a theater in the centre of the city for the town hall and were calling for the mayor to come on out,” It would seem that local “self defense forces” would be able to distinguish a theater from the mayor’s office. Russian military intelligence should supply its agents with GPSs.
A Wall Street Journal first-hand account of the armed takeover of the police station in the city of Slavyansk reports that the police station had been taken over by “dozens of unidentified gunmen in green unmarked camouflage uniforms who are moving around there.” They were joined “by some people from the town” but most “were new to the town and did not even know who the mayor was.”
It is safe to say that no one in Europe or the United States — including Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel, David Cameron, NATO or EU officials — actually believes the two Russian lies.
…………
1.      Russia Claims:  Russian agents are not active in Ukraine. 
Fact:  The Ukrainian Government has arrested more than a dozen suspected Russian intelligence agents in recent weeks, many of whom were armed at the time of arrest.  In the first week of April 2014, the Government of Ukraine had information that Russian GRU officers were providing individuals in Kharkiv and Donetsk with advice and instructions on conducting protests, capturing and holding government buildings, seizing weapons from the government buildings’ armories, and redeploying for other violent actions.  On April 12, armed pro-Russian militants seized government buildings in a coordinated and professional operation conducted in six cities in eastern Ukraine.  Many were outfitted in bullet-proof vests, camouflage uniforms with insignia removed, and carrying Russian-designed weapons like AK-74s and Dragunovs.  These armed units, some wearing black and orange St. George’s ribbons associated with Russian Victory Day celebrations, raised Russian and separatist flags over seized buildings and have called for referendums on secession and union with Russia.  These operations are strikingly similar to those used against Ukrainian facilities during Russia’s illegal military intervention in Crimea in late February and its subsequent occupation. 
2.      Russia Claims:  Pro-Russia demonstrations are comprised exclusively of Ukrainian citizens acting of their own volition, like the Maidan movement in Kyiv. 
Fact:  This is not the grassroots Ukrainian civic activism of the EuroMaidan movement, which grew from a handful of student protestors to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from all parts of the country and all walks of life.  Russian internet sites openly are recruiting volunteers to travel from Russia to Ukraine and incite violence.  There is evidence that many of these so-called “protesters” are paid for their participation in the violence and unrest.  It is clear that these incidents are not spontaneous events, but rather part of a well-orchestrated Russian campaign of incitement, separatism, and sabotage of the Ukrainian state.  Ukrainian authorities continue to arrest highly trained and well-equipped Russian provocateurs operating across the region.
3.      Russia Claims:  Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine enjoy broad popular support.
Fact:  The recent demonstrations in eastern Ukraine are not organic and lack wide support in the region.  A large majority of Donetsk residents (65.7 percent) want to live in a united Ukraine and reject unification with Russia, according to public opinion polls conducted at the end of March by the Donetsk-based Institute of Social Research and Policy Analysis.  Pro-Russian demonstrations in eastern Ukraine have been modest in size, especially compared with Maidan protests in these same cities in December, and they have gotten smaller as time has progressed.
4.      Russia Claims:  The situation in eastern Ukraine risks spiraling into civil war. 
Fact:  What is going on in eastern Ukraine would not be happening without Russian disinformation and provocateurs fostering unrest.  It would not be happening if a large Russian military force were not massed on the border, destabilizing the situation through their overtly threatening presence.  There simply have not been large-scale protests in the region.  A small number of separatists have seized several government buildings in eastern cities like Donetsk, Luhansk, and Slovyansk, but they have failed to attract any significant popular support. Ukrainian authorities have shown remarkable restraint in their efforts to resolve the situation and only acted when provoked by armed militants and public safety was put at risk.  Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers have reported that these incidents are very localized.
5.   Russia Claims:  Ukrainians in Donetsk rejected the illegitimate authorities in Kyiv and established the independent “People’s Republic of Donetsk.”
Fact:  A broad and representative collection of civil society and non-governmental organizations in Donetsk categorically rejected the declaration of a “People’s Republic of Donetsk” by the small number of separatists occupying the regional administration building.  These same organizations confirmed their support for the interim government and for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.  
6.   Russia Claims:  Russia ordered a “partial drawdown” of troops from the Ukrainian border.
Fact:  No evidence shows significant movement of Russian forces away from the Ukrainian border.  One battalion is not enough.  An estimated 35,000-40,000 Russian troops remain massed along the border, in addition to approximately 25,000 troops currently in Crimea.
7.   Russia Claims:  Ethnic Russians in Ukraine are under threat.
Fact:  There are no credible reports of ethnic Russians facing threats in Ukraine.  An International Republic Institute poll released April 5 found that 74 percent of the Russian-speaking population in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine said they “were not under pressure or threat because of their language.”  Meanwhile, in Crimea, the OSCE has raised urgent concerns for the safety of minority populations, especially ethnic Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and others.  Sadly, the ethnic Russians most at risk are those who live in Russia and who oppose the authoritarian Putin regime.  These Russians are harassed constantly and face years of imprisonment for speaking out against Putin’s regular abuses of power.
8.   Russia Claims:  Ukraine’s new government is led by radical nationalists and fascists. 
Fact:  The Ukrainian parliament (Rada) did not change in February.  It is the same Rada that was elected by all Ukrainians, comprising all of the parties that existed prior to February’s events, including former president Yanukovych’s Party of Regions.  The new government, approved by an overwhelming majority in the parliament -- including many members of Yanukovych’s former party -- is committed to protecting the rights of all Ukrainians, including those in Crimea.
9.   Russia Claims:  Ethnic minorities face persecution in Ukraine from the “fascist” government in Kyiv. 
Fact:  Leaders of Ukraine’s Jewish as well as German, Czech, and Hungarian communities have all publicly expressed their sense of safety under the new authorities in Kyiv.  Moreover, many minority groups expressed fear of persecution in Russian-occupied Crimea, a concern OSCE observers in Ukraine have substantiated. 
10. Russia Claims:  Russia is not using energy and trade as weapons against Ukraine.
Fact:  Following Russia’s illegal annexation and occupation of Crimea, Russia raised the price Ukraine pays for natural gas by 80 percent in the past two weeks.  In addition, it is seeking more than $11 billion in back payments following its abrogation of the 2010 Kharkiv accords. Russia’s moves threaten to increase severely the economic pain faced by Ukrainian citizens and businesses.  Additionally, Russia continues to restrict Ukrainian exports to Russia, which constitute a significant portion of Ukraine’s export economy.