Don’t do this kind of thing. A school was attacked. Until there’s evidence to the contrary (so far there is none), it’s irresponsible to speculate that it was a “false flag.” This is not Russian media fabricating things, this is local German media reports.
Here’s another. The police say there have been dozens of incidents of Russians being threatened or attacked. There is no evidence at all that any of this is fabricated. tagesspiegel.de/berlin/zusamme…
Twisting news stories into what YOU want them to be is what Russian state media does. Don’t be like them. You don’t have to twist facts or engage in unfounded speculation to be a friend to Ukraine. It’s the opposite - you undermine them. Because the truth is on their side.
If this turns out to be a false flag instigated by Russian special forces, that will come out through responsible reporting.
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In an hour-long video, Glenn Greenwald gives credence to Russian claims that the Ukrainians were carrying out “emergency disposal” of dangerous pathogens they had been developing with US help.
I'm going to translate a *LONG* thread by a geneticist debunking these claims.
First off: This tweet presents the claims. In the screenshot, RIA Novosti publishes documents it says were obtained by the Russian defense ministry. They purport to show that the Ukrainians were scrubbing evidence of a biological weapons research program.
Here’s the beginning of the debunking thread by Olga Pettersson, a Soviet-born geneticist living and working in Sweden. If you read Russian, you can read it here. Otherwise, continue reading this thread. I’ll translate.
But, apparently, there's a trend on Russian TikTok to film yourself panicking about the difficult economic situation in the country... set to a track called "vile Jewish music."
...yeah. Short thread.
Here's a Russian aggregator explaining the trend. (This site, online since 2014, seems to get most of its material from social media posts.) medialeaks.ru/0503mlv-txt-po…
Here's one example. This girl bought an iPhone just before prices went up, and now she doesn't know whether to open it or to sell it.
A bit more on that UN story. Earlier today, @NaomiOhReally reported that UN staff had been instructed not to use the words "war" or "invasion" to refer to Russia's invasion of, and war on, Ukraine. irishtimes.com/news/world/uni…
This is obviously problematic because, in the name of trying to be impartial, they're adopting the Russian narrative. The New York Times pulled out of Russia today, in part because it's now punishable by up to 15 years in prison to describe what's happening as a war. Which it is.
So, while Russians and journalists risk long prison terms to speak the truth, the UN is instructing its staff not to.
MOREOVER, in response to the story, an official UN account @UN_Spokesperson smeared @NaomiOhReally as a liar, calling the story "fake" and baldly denying it.
About Ukraine's EU aspirations — which I fully support, as do most Ukrainians! — important to understand how arduous the process is, and for good reason. Read this whole story, but key bits in next tweets: nytimes.com/2022/03/04/wor…
"There are 35 chapters of accession negotiations, each relating to a policy area in which the candidate country is being asked to make changes — both judicial and practical — to align itself with the European Union standards."
"Work on specific chapters can stall for years, and any progress is subject to a constant monitoring of the standards of the candidate country’s court and judicial systems, as well as the quality of its democratic institutions."
Just got this giant banner on Twitter, inviting me to look at @TwitterMoments' list of curated Ukraine experts. Lots of great accounts listed there, but also...
...this controversial "debunking" site, which smeared independent journalist @leonidragozin as a "Kremlin agent," has been accused of far-right ties and shoddy journalistic practices...
...and this site, which grew in influence after covering Belarusian protests last year but has been publishing unverified (and sometimes obviously fake) information on Ukraine in recent days.
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.