Thread by @ichbinilya

A short thread that's very difficult to write.

Those of us with friends, loved ones, or colleagues in Ukraine — or who are simply in love with the country — have been in a state of continual heartbreak for weeks, and especially in the last few days as Russian atrocities mount.

We want to do everything we can to support the people we care about, and the millions of people who we don't know, but for whom our hearts are breaking.

Those of us who are journalists face the additional, somewhat orthogonal role of trying to help people get at the truth.

Broadly speaking, there is no conflict there. Telling the truth about Russia's unjust, criminal, unprovoked assault on a peaceful country is a service to that country. We do this work, in part, because it is an act of love.

But there is a tension.

In unimaginably difficult circumstances, Ukrainians are looking to Zelensky and their other leaders as guiding lights in a great darkness. Many of those leaders are heroes.

But this does not mean that we, as observers, can treat the Ukrainian government as an infallible actor.

Precisely because we care about Ukraine's democracy and its hard-won freedoms — the values we strive to defend, and which Putin is trying to snuff out — we have to maintain our responsibility to hold government officials accountable.

That means, for example, not uncritically repeating "pro-Ukrainian" myths. This sensitive NYT story is a good example of the kind of journalism that's still desperately needed. nytimes.com/2022/03/03/tec…

And that's why this statement by Zelensky about the nuclear plant attack shouldn't go unquestioned. He has an — understandable! — agenda: to pressure European countries to come to Ukraine's aid. He is doing that with all his considerable skill.

https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1499581982614847491?s=20&t=6CXpGlvUEofXVhH5nLCRRw

But for those of us fortunate enough to be covering the situation at some distance should still be helping our audience understand: His claims that "all of Europe" may need to be "evacuated" are simply not plausible. No matter what happens at this nuclear plant.

Loving a country, rooting for its survival, and mourning its losses are not incompatible with holding its government accountable. We've done that before this war, and we'll keep on doing it. Even though it fucking hurts, sometimes.

There is no such thing as a dispassionate, disinterested journalist. Not on most topics — and certainly not in war.

I hope that makes some sense. I felt that I had to get it out, since clearly we're going to be in this shit for a while.

(and this should not be taken, in any way, to be a criticism of anyone in particular. These are my own thoughts about my own responsibilities.)

As ever, my thoughts are, first of all, with the people of Ukraine.