Along with the war crimes in Ukraine (conducting a terror campaign targeting civilians, and trying to erase Ukrainian culture), Putin's Russian invaders are also stepping up their propaganda efforts in captured regions of Ukraine. One such effort in southern Ukraine is led by a company calling itself "Southern Front," which produces pro-Putin / anti-Ukraine propaganda echoing the false and cynical "de-Nazification" theme of the Kremlin. As BBC reports:
"The Southern Front news site posted its first message on day one of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and now has several correspondents filing stories on a daily basis.
The BBC has found evidence that the site's reporting contains falsehoods and misleading claims.
In early March, Southern Front's correspondent was at the scene in Berdyansk. They reported that Russian soldiers had apparently thwarted an attack, and killed two Moroccan men involved. The reporter alleged the men were working as mercenaries for Ukraine. But it appears elements of the video were staged.
The two Moroccan men identified in the attack were allegedly found with their Ukrainian residency permits still on them.The BBC tracked down one of the men implicated. According to the report he was dead, but we spoke to him on social media. He requested anonymity but says he was not aware of the Russian report and that he left Ukraine before the invasion and returned to Morocco.Southern Front regularly posts videos containing unsubstantiated claims." (our emphasis)
Putin's authoritarian, Soviet KGB-style regime knows it can never win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of Ukrainians, who rightfully despise it for their unprovoked attack and their cruelty. But that won't stop the Russians from trying to indoctrinate as many as possible into Putin's view that Ukraine doesn't really exist, and that the territory belongs to Russia. That's the reason for their deportation and "filtration" of Ukrainian citizens, a demonstrable war crime.
There's some hope through the creativity of the Ukrainian people and their cyber skills that Russian propaganda can be countered. The Southern Front website was recently hacked, and a sign proclaiming that the southern city of Kherson is Ukrainian was posted:
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| "Kherson Is Ukrainian" |
More of this. Slava Ukraini!
