By Scott Taylor
With regards to the war in Ukraine, the Canadian public is being warned repeatedly to be wary of Russian disinformation. This is solid advice and there is ample evidence that the Kremlin spreads falsehoods at an alarming rate.
On the flip side, it appears that western media accepts and disseminates Ukraine’s version of events at face value, regardless of how illogical it may in fact seem.
From the outset of this war, the vastly divergent versions of events and overwhelming abundance of visual images has made it all but impossible for impartial analysts to predict the future course of events.
For instance, last Thursday media reports showed a series of explosions at a Russian airbase in the Crimea. This was followed by images from a satellite purporting to show as many as 10 frontline Russian fighter planes damaged beyond repair.
Initially Ukraine officials gleefully claimed responsibility for the destruction.
This prompted President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to chastise his government officials for discussing military matters with the media. Such remarks were “frankly irresponsible” according to Zelenskyy.
The Russian airbase is over 150 kilometres from the front lines in eastern Ukraine and well out of artillery range of the Ukraine military. There was no evidence of an airstrike, leading many to speculate this may have been an act of sabotage by Ukraine special forces.
The Russian defence ministry claims that the explosions were caused by faulty ammunition storage and that no planes were damaged.
Close followers of this conflict will recall a similar pattern of counter claims when the Russian missile cruiser Moskva was damaged and sunk in the Black Sea last April.
Ukraine claimed to have fired a sophisticated anti-ship missile to sink the Russian flagship, whereas the Russians claimed it was some sort of accidental explosion aboard the vessel due to crew negligence.
I’m not sure what school of public affairs the Russians subscribe to, but I truly do not understand how it is somehow preferable to destroy your own military equipment through professional incompetence.
Perhaps it is a cultural trait wherein they think a self-inflicted blow denies their adversary the bragging rights of having landed a solid hit.
Either way, the Moskva is at the bottom of the Black Sea and there appears to be 9 or 10 jumbled masses of crumbled metal at a Crimea airbase.
On July 29 a camp in Donetsk housing Ukraine prisoners of war was shelled by artillery.
The barrage left at least 50 dead and another 70 wounded. The casualties were mostly Ukraine prisoners, but it also included guards from the pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia.
Russia claimed that Ukraine had fired the deadly munitions using U.S. provided HIMARS long-range missile launchers.
Ukraine vehemently counter claimed that Russia had deliberately shelled their own prisoner-of-war camp in order to then blame Ukraine for the resultant carnage.
For most western media, this twisted logic was enough for them to assess this as a ‘he said, she said’ impasse.
However, the question begs, if these Ukraine prisoners were already in captivity and Russia wanted them dead, why would they not simply shoot them? Why use an area weapon like artillery to destroy infrastructure within your own territory and inflict casualties on your own soldiers?
Simple logic gives the Russians the benefit of the doubt in this case.
Ditto for the recent disputed claims as to which side is responsible for the artillery shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
To recap events, Russian troops captured the Zaporizhzhia facility in March shortly after the initial invasion of Ukraine.
During that fighting, it was being reported that the nuclear reactors were in danger from Russian artillery fire.
This eventuality sparked memories of the Chernobyl meltdown disaster in 1986. As a result, for a couple of days this spring, the world held its breath and all eyes were on the Ukraine conflict.
In the end, Russian forces secured the nuclear plant undamaged and they have been operating it ever since.
Now that the fighting has returned to the vicinity, Ukraine’s nuclear agency Enerhoatom claims “Russian invaders again shelled the Zaporizhzhia plant and territories near the nuclear facility.”
For their part, Russia says it was Ukraine that fired the estimated 10 artillery shells that recently landed near the reactors.
Again we are to believe it is a case of ‘he said, she said’ and we know how those Russians love to misinform. Except that it makes no sense that Russia would shell a nuclear plant that they control and are presently operating.
On the other hand, Ukraine needs to keep the attention of the world focussed on the war in order to keep securing the donations of money and weapons.
Nothing grabs headlines like the possibility of a world ending nuclear meltdown.
Propaganda and misinformation are not the sole purview of the Russians. We need to be wary of all sources from this conflict. Even those we support.
