A psychological operation, or ‘psyop’, of British origin, has taken place over the past week that once again looked to paint Russia as the enemy. Accusations were launched that the Russians had sent an armored tank division across Ukraine’s border. This follows a trend in Western media of late, where anything and everything is being thrown at Russia, presumable in the hope that eventually some of the mud will start to stick. A UK tabloid newspaper, ‘The Sun’, published an unbelievably unsubstantiated headline regarding Russian involvement in the MH17 disaster, which you can find out about in my previous post, but accusing the Russians of an invasion takes the propaganda war to whole new level.
Video presentation of this report can be found here:
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These accusations, of an armoured invasion, originate from the UK’s Guardian and Daily Telegraph. The Guardian claims that it ‘saw a column of 23 armoured personnel carriers, supported by fuel trucks and other logistics vehicles with official Russian military plates’ cross into Ukraine. The news outlet also looked to suggest that the Russian aid convoy, headed for war-torn Eastern Ukraine, ‘could be stacked with weapons’, or, was perhaps ‘carrying advance supplies for a later Russian invasion’. But, The Guardian made at least one concession in admitting that the ‘trucks do indeed appear to contain humanitarian aid’ (Walker, 2014).
At the very end of the piece, The Guardian reminds us that Moscow is accused of moving heavy weaponry across the Ukrainian border, ‘including perhaps the BUK missile system which is believed to have been used to shoot down a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet last month’ (Walker, 2014). Yet, what The Guardian fails to acknowledge is the fact that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet was ‘gaining height and reached a distance of three to five kilometres from the Boeing 777’ (Culzac, 2014). This corroborates with new evidence presented by the Malay Mail Online (2014), which states that ‘shrapnel-like holes resembling machine-gun shots have been detected on the wrecked fuselage’ of MH17. So again, we see a clear attempt to paint Russia as the enemy, regarding the BUK system, while blatantly ignoring facts that suggest otherwise.
What is interesting is that the official press office for the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, issued a statement via its website explicitly supporting the ‘trustworthy’ Guardian. It says that the alleged Russian incursion was ‘clearly witnessed by international journalists, particularly of the “Guardian” newspaper’, but then goes on to add some rather outlandish embellishments. We hear that ‘the majority of the Russian military armoured vehicles had been destroyed by the Ukrainian artillery at night’, suggesting a mighty victory for Kiev over the allegedly invading Russians (Press Office of The President, 2014). What this also suggests is that word from a journalist is enough to launch an artillery strike, a suggestion that calls into question the capacity for effective military leadership on the part of Kiev.
Although, what if none of this even happened? That’s exactly the claim of the Russian government, who have declared this entire episode to be ‘some kind of fantasy’ (Parfitt, 2014). Where are the Russian casualties, which would undoubtedly be numerous if Poroshenko’s claims were correct? Where are the photos of the 23 wrecked Russian APCs? Russia’s Defence Ministry issued a statement saying ‘that no Russian military vehicles were destroyed because none had crossed into Ukraine’. So, why then is NATO’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, also joining the circle of those confirming that Russia had sent military vehicles across Ukraine’s border; albeit with ‘no specifics’ (Roslyakov and Heintz, 2014)?
Certain actors within NATO, and specifically Britain, appear to be getting desperate in regards to getting Russia into a wider conflict with Ukraine. They are now turning to fabricating stories, which cannot even be described as elaborate due to their immense lack of evidence, which originate from the confused mind of a Russophobe and are articulated from the mouth of a ‘journalist’. But that’s not to suggest that such fabrications and lies do not end up having physical effects on the wider world. These unfounded and seemingly baseless allegations ‘spooked global markets’, in a world that is currently trying to overcome colossal financial catastrophe (Roslyakov and Heintz, 2014). Meaning, those responsible are revealing themselves as only being capable of seeing the organizing principle of world order as one that revolves around confrontation and conflict, not diplomacy and development.
Meanwhile, the office of Poroshenko confirmed ‘continued consultations with Joseph Biden’, the vice-president of the United States (Press Office of The President, 2014). So, we cannot look to Kiev, or the Whitehouse, for a solution here as ‘transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities’ occupy the time of the vice-president’s son, Hunter Biden, after he joined the board of directors at a major Ukrainian gas company in a move that caused massive outcry (RT, 2014). While Kiev rejects such a move was ‘politically motivated’, it undoubtedly creates a conflict of interest that can only hinder any attempt to present solutions for the crisis in Ukraine. How can ‘continued consultations’, with Joe Biden, be interpreted as being for anything more than continued insider dealings after this oligarchical debacle?
With NATO presenting such deficient stories as reason for war, and Kiev too busy arranging insider deals, it falls to other parties to offer solutions and answers to the crisis in Ukraine. Russia currently provides a strong counter-weight to the unchecked power of Western hegemony, which is the first of its kind since the fall of the Soviet Union, explaining the West’s current hatred toward the nation. Attempts to paint Russia as an enemy must be refuted, and calls for wider war must be denounced. These are acts that the population of the entire world can, and must, fulfill. Meanwhile on the global governance front, we must look forward to the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank, offering a true challenge to the IMF and World Bank, and hope that its establishment can calm world affairs by offering an alternative to the ‘Washington Consensus’ and provide real programs for world development. While some attempt to stir the situation, we must not lose hope that others will find a way to calm it.
References
Culzac, N. (2014) ‘Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash: Ukrainian military jet was flying close to passenger plane before it was shot down, says Russian officer’ on Independent.co.uk, London: The Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-mh17-crash-ukrainian-military-jet-was-flying-close-to-passenger-plane-before-it-was-shot-down-says-russian-officer-9619143.html(Accessed19/8/14)
Malay Mail Online (2014) ‘MH17 investigators say ‘machine gun-like’ holes on wreckage suggest missile fire’ on TheMalayMailOnline.com, Petaling Jaya: The Malay Mail Online.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/mh17-investigators-say-machine-gun-like-holes-on-wreckage-suggest-missile-f(Accessed19/8/14)
Parfitt, T. (2014) ‘Ukraine destroys parts of convoy of Russian military vehicles’ on Telegraph.co.uk, London: Telegraph Media Group.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11038156/Ukraine-destroys-parts-of-convoy-of-Russian-military-vehicles.html (Accessed19/8/14)
Press office of President (2014) ‘Petro Poroshenko continued consultations with Joseph Biden’ on President.gov.ua, Kiev: President of Ukraine Official Website.
http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/30987.html (Accessed19/8/14)
Press office of President (2014) ‘President of Ukraine and Prime Minister of Great Britain discussed international efforts on the settlement of the conflict in the Donbas’ on President.gov.ua, Kiev: President of Ukraine Official Website.
http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/30998.html (Accessed19/8/14)
Roslyakov, A. and Heintz, J. (2014) ‘Russia Denies Its Vehicles Destroyed in Ukraine’ on BigStory.AP.org, New York: AP.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/12-russian-armored-vehicles-join-aid-convoy (Accessed19/8/14)
RT (2014) ‘Son of US VP Joe Biden appointed to board of major Ukrainian gas company’ on RT.com, Moscow: Russia Today.
http://rt.com/business/158660-biden-son-ukraine-company/ (Accessed19/8/14)
Walker, S. (2014) ‘Aid convoy stops short of border as Russian military vehicles enter Ukraine’ on TheGuardian.com, London: The Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/russian-military-vehicles-enter-ukraine-aid-convoy-stops-short-border (Accessed19/8/14)
READ MORE UKRAINE NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Ukraine Files
