Thread by @TaranQ

🇷🇺🇺🇦🧵 The BIG Ukraine / Russia mainstream media narrative switch thread. (MMS)

🇷🇺🇺🇦🧵 In this thread I want to show how the mainstream media told a different story before February 2022 when it came to Ukraine.
And they ALL TOGETHER made a radical anti Russian turn after February 2023 as we know
Videos and articles in no particular order.
Running thread.
1/

🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 Back in 2014 Georg Restle's comment before WDR evening news.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces terrorize civilians, it takes no account of the plight of the people, Europe cannot tolerate this and must put an end to this, otherwise Europe is complicit"

2/

🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 In 2014 German public-service television broadcaster ZDF:
"Fragile ceasefire agreements, because there is permanent power struggle on both sides"
Poroschenko: "Ukraine must be supported by NATO, and i will most likely get enough sorry support"

3/

🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 In February 2014, German Tagesthemen:
"Ukraine is already a divided country"
"Crimea which has always been Russian..."
"A Ukrainian nationality doesn't exist, we're all Russians..."
"We hope Russia doesn't remain passive if war breaks out here"

4/ odysee.com/@BacktoBasics:…

🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 March 2014 ARD (Germany's regional public-service broadcaster) report focused on the Maidan and the role of the nationalist Svoboda party and the fact that Stephan Bandera, a famous Nazi calloborator still is a hero to many in Ukraine.
Source:

5/

🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵Excerpts German ARD Monitor - NATO as warmonger in Ukraine.
German General Naumann already described in 2008 what new strategies the West could pursue?
And suggested to use NATO as an instrument of energy security.
Source:

6/

🇺🇦🇳🇱🧵 A battalion of Ukrainian far-right nationalists is committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine. This is the conclusion of a report by Amnesty International. The Aidar Battalion mistreats people and even carries out executions.
Source (Dutch):
7/ ad.nl/buitenland/aid…

🇺🇦🇬🇧🧵 Neo-Nazi threat in new Ukraine: NEWSNIGHT 2014
BBC Newsnight's Gabriel Gatehouse investigates the links between the new Ukrainian government and Neo-nazis.

8/

🇺🇦🇬🇧🧵 Ukraine: On patrol with far-right National Militia - BBC Newsnight 2018
Ukraine's National Militia says it "polices" the streets. So why does it also fight the police themselves? Jonah Fisher reports on increasing visibility of far-right groups.

9/

🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 German ARD Panorama on Stephan Bandera 08-05-2014.
Stephan Bandera who fought for Ukrainian independence, and still is a big hero to many Ukrainians, also was a collaborator to Hitler and responsible for the death of many Jews and Poles
Source:

10/ odysee.com/@BacktoBasics:…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇳🇱🧵 Example how mainstream media (Dutch #nosjournaal) manipulate and shape their stories to influence public opinion (2017).
They edited the video so it looks like and report that Putin didn't want to answer the journalists questions.
Full video:

11/

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 The Guardian: With eastern Europe and the Balkans now military outposts of Nato, Ukraine is being torn apart by fascists unleashed by the US and the EU. We in the west are now backing neo-Nazis in a country where Ukrainian Nazis backed Hitler.

12/ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🧵BBC News: Thousands of supporters of far-right Ukrainian party Svoboda have held a march through the centre of the Kiev. The protesters were marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of controversial WW2 Ukr. nationalist leader. Stephan Bandera

/13

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 The Hill 11/09/2017:
"Some Western observers claim that there are no neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine, chalking the assertion up to propaganda from Moscow. Unfortunately, they are sadly mistaken."

/14 thehill.com/opinion/intern…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 The Guardian 30/04/2014:
"The reality is, after 2 decades eastward Nato expansion, this crisis was triggered by the west's attempt to pull Ukraine into it's orbit and defence structure, via an explicitly anti-Moscow EU association agreement."

16/ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 The Guardian in March 2014: ".....But Washington, with a record of flagrantly breaching international law over Iraq, Afghanistan, drones, extraordinary rendition and torture, might be hypocritical when denouncing potential Russian breaches of law."
/17

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 The Guardian bank in August 2014: "Ukrainian officials have adamantly denied that government forces were shelling populated areas, but witness testimony has pointed to the contrary."

/18 theguardian.com/world/2014/aug…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🧵 "What is missing, is a minimum of objectivity. The media are more than ever a propaganda machine for the State Department. Missing is the important role of neo-Nazi elements in the Kiev government and Forces in their war against East Ukraine."

/19 rabble.ca/politics/world…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 German WDR 02/01/2015:
"It's as if you've set yourself up comfortably in the spectator stands, as if you're watching a soccer game where you keep your fingers crossed for your team and only want to protest when the opponent plays a foul.

/20 tagesschau.de/multimedia/vid…

I will add more when I stumble across.
If anyone has pre 2022 MSM footage or articles coveraging both sides please let me know and I will add them to the thread.

Normal speed video in the Odysee link 😉

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 Misery in Ukraine as deadly conflict drives civilians from homes.
Alexander Omelyavenko, a Donetsk resident: “We are Ukrainian but they kill us, so we probably need our own country. Because these people in Kiev, they are not brothers for us.”

21/ cnn.com/2014/09/02/wor…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 Ukraine underplays role of far right in conflict.
But Ukrainian officials and many in the media err to the other extreme. They claim that Ukrainian politics are completely fascist-free. This, too, is plain wrong.

22/ bbc.com/news/world-eur…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵Politico sept 2015 : Ukraine’s far-right menace.
"A bloody divorce between the Ukrainian government and the country’s ultranationalist groups could be in the offing."

23/ politico.eu/article/ukrain…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇬🇧🧵 How far-right took top posts in Ukraine’s power vacuum.
"In the new Ukrainian government politicians linked to the far-right have taken posts from deputy prime minister to head of defence. We profile the nationalists filling the power vacuum"

24/ channel4.com/news/svoboda-m…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 "According to FBI, several American white supremacists were allegedly radicalized by and received training from Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which receives funding from the current government of Ukraine as well as the U.S. government.

25/ theindependent.io/communityindep…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵Reuters 2018: "As Ukraine’s struggle against Russia continues, Kiev must also contend with a growing problem behind the front lines: far-right vigilantes who are willing to use intimidation and even violence to advance their agendas"

26/ reuters.com/article/us-coh…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇫🇷🧵France24 2014: Kiev’s far-right groups refuse to disarm.
"There are genuine concerns over the behaviour of some of the self-defence groups on the far-right who took part in the "Maidan" protests against now deposed president Viktor Yanukovich"

27/ france24.com/en/20140403-vi…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇮🇱🧵 Times of Israel 2018:
"Hundreds of people in the Ukrainian city of Lviv attended a nationalist march featuring Nazi symbols that commemorated a Waffen SS unit with many local volunteers."

28/ timesofisrael.com/nazi-symbols-s…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 Atlantic Councel 2018:
"Ukraine’s Got a Real Problem with Far-Right Violence"
Last week Hromadske Radio revealed that Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports is funding the neo-Nazi group C14 to promote “national patriotic education projects”

29/ atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 Buzzfeednews 2020:
Despite attempts to ban it on Facebook, a violent Ukrainian far-right group with ties to American white supremacists is using FB to recruit new members, organize violence, and spread its far-right ideology across the world

30/ buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 DW (Deutsche Welle) 2018:
A new slogan "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!" adopted by the UAF has drawn criticism for its links to WW2-era nationalist groups. The decision sparked a debate about how the country should address its history.

31/ dw.com/en/new-glory-t…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇳🇱🧵 Dutch newspaper "De Limburger":
Just 1 day! before Russia's "unprovoked" invasion, the newspaper reports that Donetsk and Lugansk asked Putin for help countering the aggression of the Ukrainian army.
So it wasn't that unprovoked after all.

32/ limburger.nl/cnt/dmf2022022…

🇺🇦🧵 Forward 2018: A wave of anti-Semitism has swept over Ukraine. A far-right leader called for cleansing Ukraine of zhidi; a Holocaust memorial in Ternopil was bombed; hundreds marched through Lviv, in honor of an SS unit, complete with Nazi salutes

33/ forward.com/opinion/401518…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 The Guardian 2015:
"Welcome to Ukraine, the most corrupt nation in Europe.
While the conflict with Russia heats up in the east, life for most Ukrainians is marred by corruption so endemic that even hospitals appear to be infected."

34/ theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/…

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸🧵 CNN back in 2014:
"We are Ukrainians and they kill us, so we probably need our own country, because these people in Kiev are not brothers to us"
Piece from the documentary by Johnny Miller:

https://twitter.com/TaranQ/status/1632742865892782086

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 Flashback to 9 May 2014.
German correspondent reports on Phoenix from Donetsk:

🗣️ Dear viewers, we'll switch to Armin Coerper in a moment. He is currently in Ukraine, specifically in Donetsk.

Armin, there was this incident last night in which three people were killed and possibly 13 injured. There have been arrests. What do you know about the process, about the course of this event?

🎤 So this event took place in the city of mariopol, at a military base of the new Ukrainian National Guard. We hear about 300 pro Russian activists with Molotov cocktails and it is said that they were armed, tried to storm this base and the Ukrainian soldiers first fired warning shots and then defended themselves. As far as we know, at least three people lost their lives. Some agencies are even talking about four deaths, but we can't confirm that yet. The crucial question for me here today is, if the victims are actually Ukrainian citizens and there are many indications that this is the case, then the Kiev government had its own people shot that night.

🗣️ What consequences would that have with regard to the talks in Geneva?

🎤 Well, first of all, Moscow has been pursuing the goal of questioning the moral integrity of this government for quite some time. It is repeatedly described as illegitimate and it is played with to portray this government as a puppet of the West and not as a representative of the Ukrainian people. If they shoot at their people now, of course, then this confirms that this strategy is fatal.
We remember that in February, then-President Viktor Jannokovic was ousted from office because he had his people shot at. For the talks in Geneva, this means that the position of the Ukrainian government is of course becoming weaker, especially in the east of the country. To be honest, people here tell me we don't listen anymore.

🗣️Does that basically mean that Donetsk is the region you are in now that Armin is practically handed over?

🎤 I wouldn't say the region is handed over. We always saw in the first few days that an impressively small number of activists stormed and occupied these government buildings. In Donetsk, this is limited to one or two government buildings in the surrounding streets, life goes on as normal. In other cities like Slaviansk, Kramatorsk, the picture is different. These cities are in the hands of pro-Russian activists. What strikes me is that at the beginning I always had the impression that this large, silent majority is now running more and more into the arms of the pro-Russian activists and that is fueled by the fact that the government is carrying out this military operation and that with really martial rhetoric can be accompanied.

🗣️ Armin Coerper was from eastern Ukraine, more precisely from Donetsk. Thank you for this information

- Neues aus Russland

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇩🇪🧵 In 2016 German media still reported on the promise from the West not to move NATO even one inch to the East.
ARD Panorama 24-06-2016:

(Transcribed and machine translated)

So long we can turn from the West to the East of Europe. What exactly is happening on the border with Russia? Troops have been deployed and military equipment deployed for months without there having been any public discussion. Now, of course, one is asking oneself whether what we are doing there and in Poland is actually correct?
Robert Boggen and Nino Seidel.

NATO tanks roll east. Right through the Saxon province. Pictures like from times believed to be long gone, but just three weeks ago. Much a maneuver in the Baltic States, right on the Russian border. Sinato flexes her muscles. NATO is continuing the build-up on the Russian border unharmed. Early next year, permanent combat troops are to be stationed in Poland and the Baltics, on a rotating basis, 1,000 soldiers per battalion in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, there under German leadership. In addition, a battalion is planned in Romania. The soldiers are supposed to prevent an attack, but can they stop the Russians at all.

From a purely military point of view, the troops that are stationed in the Baltic States and that are now being split up are hopelessly inferior to the Russian troops. So if Russia were to attack seriously, it would take a maximum of three days for the Russian tank formations to line up on the Baltic Sea, and NATO could never react that quickly.

The NATO alliance case can occur much more easily today than it did 25 years ago, the result of an ill-conceived expansion to the east, a look at history. Until the fall of communism, the world is divided between two powerful military alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact. With the fall of the Iron Curtain, everything changes. At that time, it was initially agreed that NATO would only expand to include the territory of the former DDR.

We then found a formula. Germany's membership of NATO on condition that there will be no further eastward expansion of NATO. The American side said it would not expand eastward even for an inch.

However, this was not finally settled. This ambiguity suits NATO. One by one, 12 Eastern European countries are joining, including the former Soviet republics in the Baltic States. And this Russian fear of encirclement is leading NATO more and more, for example in Turkey, in Romania and in future also in Poland with the new NATO missile defense shield.

Of course the Russians are right to say, well, you always told us that this missile defense position, it's not aimed at us, but now that the problem is finally resolved. With Iran, it's still there, so it's directed against Russia. And that is exactly how it is. In other words, what NATO is doing here is a kind of shadow fight against Russia.

Relaxation instead of encirclement. Ironically, in this situation, a maneuver called Anaconda, the name of a constrictor, is taking place in the NATO country of Poland. Advertised with a martial propaganda video.

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸 There was a time CNN reported the truth about the Donbas.
That time has long gone.

"The Ukrainian president is killing us"

(2014)

-ricwe123