Thread by @olgatokariuk

For the last three days, Italian public TV @RaiUno has been broadcasting reports from occupied Donetsk. In these reports, Russia is praised for rebuilding the city, war is described as between Russia and the US, and Ukrainians are called fascists

Reporter says things such as "Up to 2014, Donbas was the most productive and richest part of Ukraine. Today is keeps afloat thanks to the help from Russia, the great mother of this piece of land'

In the latest report, Russian proxies in the trenches said they were combatting against 'Ukrainian fascists' and mentioned the Stalingrad battle. None of these outrageous things are contested or balanced by the reporter. Italian viewers who pay for public TV deserve better

A correction to the first tweet: the reporter describes the war as between Russia and the West, not the US.
While rewatching it, I noticed that the translation of what the first speaker, a babushka, says, differs significantly from what she actually said (it can be overheard)

The old lady says in Russian, as overheard: 'Whether there is Russia or not here, we don't care. It's important that the war stops and the population stops suffering'.

In the Italian voiceover, her soundbite is translated as 'The US and Russia need to make a deal. But they also should explain us what's the difference between Ukraine and Russia. We have always been the same country'.
It doesn't really look like a literal translation...

And here's the screengrab of the latest @Tg1Rai report from Donetsk. It ends with a (pro)Russian soldier's soundbite, who says that today, like in 1942, they are fighting against 'a fascist aggressor'.
Why the reporter gives space to such obvious propaganda?

Ukrainian embassy in Italy wrote a letter to @RaiUno chief Monica Maggioni objecting against what it called 'a one-sided report, in total violation of standards and ethics of journalism', which relied on 'shameful clichés of Russian propaganda'

To be fair to RAI, it should be mentioned that @RaiTre reporter has been doing an excellent job with his coverage from Kyiv.
Would be still nice to hear some comments from the Italian public TV, financed with taxpayers money, about its shameful Donetsk reporting

Instead of responding to criticism, @RaiUno broadcasts an 8,5 minute-long report from Donetsk in their weekly show, which comprises all the earlier propaganda narratives, plus some more, accusing Ukrainians of killing civilians with missiles, etc facebook.com/watch/?ref=sav…

In this report, the journalist interviews Denis Pushilin, head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. He gives him ample space to deny Russian military involvement in Donbas and blame the US and NATO for 'arming Ukrainians', as well as complain about 'unfair' MH17 trial

There is another remarkable quote in the report, by a local resident who reportedly said: 'I wish it was all over in ten days, like in Crimea, Belarus or Kazakhstan'