Today #Russia's propaganda media RIA published the outlines of a false flag/pretext to invade #Ukraine—following Putin falsely claiming "genocide" in Donbas:
"Investigative Committee [FBI] Opened A Case Because of Mass Graves Found In Donbass"
Media is essential to Putin's war.
#Russia's false flags look very coordinated w/ govt officials, proxies in occupied #Ukraine, and propaganda media.
Yesterday's claim by Putin of "genocide" is today an official investigation, not ironically to investigate Ukraine for violations of international human rights law.
#Russia claims mass graves were discovered in Slavyanoserbsk in Russian-occupied Donbas, claiming "295 civilians died of indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainians were exhumed." Specifically mentioned is Pervomaisk, a city widely known to have been devastated by Russia's war in 2014
Having invoked bloody battle at Pervomaisk, gruesome mass graves, dead civilians, exhumed bodies—including "women of all ages"—#Russia's #propaganda press connects those emotional claims to #Ukraine's army today "shelling & using prohibited equipment"
Lies + Projection = Pretext
#Russia's icing on its emo propaganda pretext cake:
Blame the US & NATO for fueling tensions in the region. And complete the circle by quoting back the Kremlin saying #Ukraine could provoke a "military adventure" & pose a threat to Russia.
Kremlin projection, lies, gaslighting.
ICYMI Monitors in Donbas call #Russia's claim of "genocide" a "reprehensible falsehood."
Putin used the word genocide deliberately. It creates a pretext for aggression vs. #Ukraine & the West. It gets Russians onboard. And it uses (perverts) NATO bombing Kosovo to end genocide.
😳“the first leak came less than 48 hours into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… Some of the intelligence posted appeared to foretell battlefield development.”
Airman Teixeira Shared Sensitive Intelligence More Widely and for Longer Than Previously Known nytimes.com/2023/04/21/us/…
“Airman Teixeira also claimed that he was actively combing classified computer networks for material on the Ukraine war.…
At one point he offered to share information privately with members of the group living outside the United States. ‘DM me and I can tell you what I have’”😨
Teixeira leaked info to the larger group from Feb 2022-March 2023.
He insanely saw leaking war info as a news event >> “I was very happy and willing and enthusiastic to have covered this event for the past year and share with all of you something that not many people get to see”
#Russia’s clandestine spetsnaz forces have been gutted by the war in #Ukraine, will take Moscow years to rebuild them, according to classified U.S. assessments among the documents leaked on Discord washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
#Russia’s senior commanders were eager to seize momentum (expecting to assassinate Zelensky & a 3-day 🇺🇦war), so deployed spetsnaz commandos alongside infantry, resulting in massive dead/wounded—90+% attrition rate. One unit has only 125 personnel active left—out of 900 deployed.
"rapid depletion of Russia’s commando units…shifted the war’s dynamic from the outset, severely limiting Moscow’s ability to employ clandestine tactics… the staggering casualties…will render [spetsnaz] less effective, not only in Ukraine but [elsewhere] Russian forces operate"
"Putin's stolen an enormous amt of money from the Russian ppl. He's worried abt people turning on him. So he started a war to stay in power. Ukraine is definitely not his last stop"
Putin's a thief protecting his thiefdom. Aggression keeps him in power. That's why it won't stop.
"The Ukrainians have given us a chance to turn this century around, a chance for freedom & security that we could not have achieved by our own efforts… All we have to do is help them win."
@TimothyDSnyder "defeating an ongoing genocidal project—would be more than enough reason to want Ukrainian victory. But every single one of other 14 is hugely significant. Each presents the kind of opportunity…generations of policy planners…almost never get…we have not yet…seized the moment"
HRW investigated one of Russia's worst war crimes in a year of war crimes, at the #Kramatorsk🇺🇦 train station, a known evacuation hub. 500+ people waiting with families, pets & belongings to flee Donbas were hit by a missile packed w/ 50 small bombs. 58 killed, many more wounded.
10,000s of civilians were evacuated via the #Kramatorsk🇺🇦 train station in the days prior to Russia's April 8 deadly missile attack. People across Donbas came by buses organized for evacuees & by private car to board trains at Kramatorsk hub to relative safety in western Ukraine.
Everyone knew #Kramatorsk🇺🇦 was a main evacuation point from Donbas. Local officials posted public information w/ daily train schedules, encouraging civilians to evacuate as the threat posed by Russian forces grew. 8,200 evacuated on April 7, the day before Russia's strike.
Foxnews is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party—w/o which it might be a normal democratic party accountable to the public. But Fox cynically chose to prop up GOP toxic lies & frauds, more worried about “brand damage” than the brain damage they cause the country & democracy.
KEY Point: Fox figures who gave the most intense embrace to Trump allies peddling lies KNEW they were peddling lies.
More than unethical & hypocritical, Fox was key to mainstreaming the lies that caused the damage. W/o Fox, coup & insurrection would be fringe ideas not reality.
Fox isn't news. It's the propaganda arm of a terrorist political party—knowingly & deliberately pushing GOP lies, even purging journalists & fact-checkers to dupe viewers more easily.
With a suitably Orwellian justification: Fox is "respecting our audience"…by lying to them.🤨