New Zealand designer Sam King made a video depicting the top 75-fakes of Russian propaganda. His reasons are that he has been to Ukraine many times and found it very difficult to accept there could be any kind of legitimate reason for an invasion, therefore he was appalled at the lies being churned out by Russian Media:
“I have traveled throughout Russia even to as far east as Kamchatka and many places in between. And to most places in Ukraine too. I’ve also worked in Donetsk and Mykolayiv for a year as well as various trips. So to see these events happening obviously caught me by extreme surprise to say the least.I couldn’t say that by living in Donbas for 6 months makes me an instant expert in this war but I can say that it has motivated me to dig for the truth to the point where I have both evidence and reason behind what I believe.
It annoys me to see the vast range of false Russian Media and Troll reports with no people in the forums questioning anything. And in forums where StopFake type ideas are presented, there are no arguments from Russians presented. Just ranting about junta and fascists.
I think that these StopFake reports are very important because the range of reports from both Russian and Western Media can be quite confusing and while it may be easy for some to understand how actions are being played out by Kremlin control to create news and confuse, well to see these StopFake cases at least shows 100% Evidence that the Kremlin is actively lying.
You will see there is no way that well funded Media Channels can make these mistakes by accident. Companies such as RT, Channel 1, Zvezda etc are deliberately creating false news and they are elegible for War Medals for the best reports to help the war effort. Such facts have been admitted by medal recipients and Putin himself has publicly declared that lies are a credible part of their invasions.
When the average person looks at reports that claim Russia has historical rights to Ukraine and that the majority of Russians support this, they are completely unaware of just how Russians minds are so easily bent to believe such stuff.
I notice in discussions about this war and Russian history that Russians tend to be incapable of discussing the facts, they only provide links to other fake reports or then make offensive comments as if they are defending their right to patriotism but have no interest in the truth.
There are many other topics I’d like to make a movie report on but lack time and funds. In particular, to expose “Russian Media Traps”. From my observation of many foreign correspondents and the interviews they conduct, it’s blazingly obvious they are unaware of what has been planned around them and somehow they feel they have captured the essence of events.
I think also in media reports there is a lack of reviews that present a basic form of events to simplify the truth. For example, in Donbas to simply portray the before, during and after of places like Sloviansk. I may sound hopeful but maybe such a report could change the mind of some Russians to understand who is responsible for the terror. At the very least a Russian version targeted at people of Donbas so they are more aware of whats really happening around them is essential and something the Government should be actively involved in.
For me, well it’s fairly obvious to me that the trouble in Donbas didn’t come from within. In the space of 6 months of walking past the main square twice each day, I rarely saw Russian/Soviet demonstrations but when I did, there were no more than 2 or 3 people showing interest. Almost everyone walked past and made negative comments or laughed.
And I’d like to do a report on Sloviansk as the before, during and after really does show the truth about what’s happening elsewhere in Donbas and Crimea. The simple story of how quickly the terror ends immediately after the invaders leave. There in Sloviansk is a massive uncovering of the truth where people are now free of terror and able to connect the dots. However, I have already noticed some previous Russian news about Sloviansk have been withdrawn because they are target to locals being able to identify it as fake. One such example is a particular hole in the side of a particular building seen on most Media channels with claims of ATO responsibility. However, people connected with that building in Sloviansk have quite a different story about that hole in the wall.
It’s one thing to expose StopFakes but it would go a step further to be able to make more thorough investigations of some of these cases that affect real people. And go into these places and talk with everyone. Certainly nobody from Russian media asked anyone from that building about the events. They just were instructed where and when the hole would appear to go and take the photos. Some foreign correspondents took videos and made similar stories under the advice of people disguised as locals who appeal on the spot.
Someone also needs to produce a simple but comprehensive overview of Russia and Ukrainian History – both distant and more recent. And to show the events that contributed to factors that made Crimea and Donbas targets for Putin. We know the Crimean referendum results are fake and irrelevant but the situation where Russian ethnicity is the majority there has been seen by some international viewers as a potential justification. To me, when connected with history it’s quite the opposite. We see isolated reports about things like a few Russian historians opposing this or that. Most don’t see it.
Only those with a heightened interest for truthful information about Ukraine will see all reports and piece everything together. Nobody else will and especially Russians or those enraged about Ukraine by the Save the Donbas fake news. Only simple and well presented reports that compare the facts are likely to reach a wide audience. One well presented short documentary should be sufficient to connect information to make it impossible for people to argue that most of Russia’s history is a construction. Such a project would require a lot of research. And I haven’t seen a simple report that collects various simple statements by Putin and others that show a clear picture of Russia’s involvement and their admission of guilt. It would be difficult though to present as a documentary rather than a comedy show.
I’m sure lots of people are frustrated about the lies of this war and have ideas they would like to present.”
[hr]Sam King can be contacted at sam (a) ukraine.co.nz