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.
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