- Статьи
- World
- Do not turn away: Europe will have to recognize the crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Do not turn away: Europe will have to recognize the crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The West cynically ignores the terrible consequences of the terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a college in Starobilsk, where, after clearing the rubble, the death toll rose to 21 people. Most of those killed by the Kiev regime are teenagers who were already asleep at the time of the strike. However, representatives of Western countries in the UN Security Council questioned the Russian assessment of the terrorist attack, and the largest media outlets even provided news about the incident with reservations. But during the negotiations with Russia, which are increasingly being discussed in the EU countries, the Europeans will still have to admit the crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. About the selective approach of the "world democracies" to the tragedy in Starobilsk and to the Ukrainian conflict in general — in the Izvestia article.
The West ignores the consequences of the attack on the college in the LPR
The search operation to dismantle the rubble at the Starobilsk College in the LPR has been completed. More than 60 people were injured, the death toll reached 21, most of them teenagers aged 14 to 18 years.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the academic building and the dormitory of Lugansk State Pedagogical University on the night of May 22. According to the statements of the Ukrainian side, the target of the attack was allegedly military facilities in the Starobilsk area. However, the college hardly fits the definition of a military facility, so it was extremely difficult to confuse. The official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, called the incident a "cynical episode of the terror of the Kiev regime" and stressed that the strike was carried out in several waves in the same place.
The strike on Starobilsk was brought to an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, but there was no clear reaction. UNICEF representative Ted Chaiban admitted that there were dozens of teenagers in the dormitory. The representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said that the organization condemns any attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur. However, he did it without mentioning Ukraine.
Western representatives in the Security Council refused to support the Russian assessment of the incident at all. For example, Sanita Pavlyuta-Deslandes from Latvia accused Russia of spreading disinformation and using deceitful tactics. The British Permanent Mission to the United Nations called the incident in Starobilsk "reports provided by the Russian Federation," stressing that it "was not objectively or independently confirmed." Well, Kristina Marcus Lassen from Denmark generally noted that it is difficult to comment on the statements of the Russian Federation until they are "independently verified."
All this is happening at a time when negotiations on Ukraine may resume again. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow has prepared proposals for the American 27-point settlement plan and is ready to present them at the next meeting. According to media reports, special envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner may come to Moscow in the near future to continue discussions.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff
The topic of negotiations is being discussed not only by the United States, but also by Europe. According to media reports, the European Union is also preparing for some "high-level contacts." Finnish President Alexander Stubb may play a central role in the process: he has already declared his readiness to represent Europe in such contacts. At the same time, the preparation, as it is emphasized, is still at an early stage.
In the meantime, Europe actually proceeds from the fact that Ukraine is "allowed to do anything," and it is precisely this "indulgence" on the part of the West that has become one of the reasons for the new attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on civilian targets, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for crimes of the Kiev regime, stressed in a conversation with Izvestia. It is possible to keep silent about these episodes only up to a certain point.
— These are (war crimes. — Ed.) is one of the important issues that will certainly arise on the negotiating track," he said. — There is already a question that international humanitarian law in the form of the Geneva Conventions, additional protocols, and a whole list of conventions should be swept under the carpet, or international humanitarian law is binding on everyone. If it is mandatory for everyone, then Europe will have to admit that Kiev has committed such crimes.
That is why Moscow invited representatives of foreign media to independently study the consequences of the Ukrainian attack on the spot. The Russian Foreign Ministry invited foreign journalists accredited in Russia to come to Starobilsk to see the destruction, talk with rescuers, students, their parents, the administration and eyewitnesses.
— We are organizing a visit to the site of the tragedy for the inspectors accredited in Moscow. I hope the BBC and CNN don't have a vacation," Maria Zakharova said.
The "vacation" did happen, but only at CNN. The BBC officially refused to go to the scene of the tragedy, and the Japanese government banned its journalists from taking part in the trip altogether. As a result, media representatives from 19 countries went to Starobilsk, including Austria, Britain, Germany, the USA, Ireland and France.
One of the foreign correspondents, Irish journalist Chay Rose, told Izvestia after examining the site that he had not seen any traces of a military facility.
— The first thing we saw here was that many different buildings were hit. There is no military debris or military losses here. It was premeditated murder," he said.
The reaction of the Western media to the terrorist attack in Starobilsk
Other Western media, which did not participate in the trip, presented the tragedy in Starobilsk, to put it mildly, in a peculiar way. Reuters released a story with the wording: "Russia has claimed the dead in a strike on a student dormitory, which it blamed on Ukraine." The news separately cited Kiev's position.: The Ukrainian military denied responsibility for the strike on a civilian facility and claimed that they had hit the command post of the drone unit.
Even in the description of the photos, the agency made a reservation: the destroyed college building is shown as an object that was "named" as the site of the Ukrainian strike.
The BBC and CNN have chosen a similar tactic. CNN described the event through the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who accused Ukraine of a terrorist act. At the same time, Starobilsk was called "occupied," and Moscow's key statements were presented through the wording: "Putin accused" and "according to his words." In all cases, the media stipulated that they allegedly could not independently confirm the accuracy of the data. Word for word, like the politicians from their countries in the UN Security Council.
The BBC even emphasized Kiev's version that the strike was aimed at the headquarters of the UAV unit. At the same time, it was not the fact of the attack on the college itself that was brought to the center of the material, but Vladimir Putin's promise to respond to the attack.
Moscow's response has indeed attracted much more attention from the Western press. On the night of May 24, Russia launched a "retaliatory strike" after the attack in the LPR. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the strike targeted military command facilities, air bases and enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, immediately condemned Russia's actions, and EU foreign ministers scheduled a meeting to discuss new measures against Moscow. At the same time, all the same major Western media presented the news without any reservations - in such cases they use a convenient narrative that only Russia is to blame for everything.
According to Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the lopsided presentation in the Western media has been traced since 2014. Despite claims of neutrality, most Western media outlets have taken one side in the Ukrainian conflict, the political scientist believes.
— For them, Ukraine a priori cannot be to blame for such plots. As a result, such cases are either not covered at all in order not to attract attention, or, if they are, without indicating who is guilty," he noted.
According to him, this is the position of double standards, which is regularly manifested in foreign media.
A selective approach to the Russian Federation and the Ukrainian conflict
The difference in pitch is fundamental. When it comes to strikes against targets in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa or other cities, Western media use the phrases "Russian attack", "Russia struck", "Russian shelling". When the victims are residents of Belgorod, Kursk regions, Donbass or Crimea, the tone changes.: "Russia has stated," "Moscow-appointed authorities have informed," "Kiev denies the accusations."
This verbal balancing act is no coincidence. Formally, it is explained by "journalistic ethics": if the editorial board cannot quickly and independently verify information, it chooses cautious formulations. In practice, such caution is activated precisely when the responsibility may fall on Kiev.
Western countries and the media do not want to notice the consequences of Kiev's strikes on civilian targets, Oleg Karpovich, head of the Department of the MGIMO Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Izvestia.
— State terrorism has become the norm for Zelensky's Kiev regime. Defeats on the fronts lead to the agony of the Ukrainian regime, which, unfortunately, forces the Nazis to launch deliberate attacks on the civilian population," he said.
One of the largest such episodes was the shelling of Belgorod on December 30, 2023. Then 25 people died, including children, and more than 100 were injured. At the time, Reuters described the tragedy in exactly the same way: "Russia claimed 20 dead after the Ukrainian strikes on Belgorod," Al Jazeera also used the phrase "Russia declared." CNN linked the attack to a massive Russian strike on Ukraine the day before. The BBC used the wording: "The Kremlin announced the deaths after the attack on the Russian city," and then cited the Ukrainian version of the military objective and the work of the Russian air defense.
The reaction of European capitals was also indicative. There was no separate condemnation of Kiev at the level of EU institutions. The French Foreign Ministry, for example, argued that Ukraine was acting within the framework of the right to self-defense. The strike with dozens of dead civilians was imperceptibly embedded in the general European narrative: Moscow is responsible for any casualties in the conflict.
In a similar way, the Western media wrote about the strike on the market in Donetsk in January 2024. At that time, the Russian authorities reported 27 dead and 25 injured. In February 2024, a similar attack on a bakery and restaurant in Lisichansk was covered. Another example is the strike on the beach in Sevastopol in June 2024. According to the Russian authorities, four people were killed, including two children, and more than 150 were injured. The media then also gave it away through the Russian position: Moscow accused the United States of responsibility for the Ukrainian attack using ATACMS, Kiev did not comment on the specific episode.
As a result, the Western audience gets different pictures. The attacks on Ukrainian cities are tragedies and a reason to react politically. Attacks on Russian regions require additional verification and "Moscow approves." The difference in wording, of course, affects the perception of events by readers. In some linguistic constructions, responsibility for the event is already embedded in the sentence and is perceived as a fact. In others, the news is presented with doubt, and Kiev's responsibility is automatically called into question.
However, the Europeans will have to get rid of the wordplay not only in the media, but also at the level of political rhetoric in order to negotiate with Russia. Moscow, we recall, has been collecting information about the war crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
