| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| A kaleidoscope of versions and grains of truth. What Western media write about the downed Il-76 |
| 2024-01-26 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Gregor Spitzen [REGNUM] A monstrous incident occurred in the sky over Belgorod on the morning of January 24. An Il-76 military transport aircraft of the Russian Air Force with 65 Ukrainian prisoners on board intended for the exchange came under fire from a Ukrainian air defense complex secretly deployed to the border with the Belgorod region. This attack will go down in the annals of military intelligence around the world as the apotheosis of professional incompetence and incompetence. In turn, the clumsy handling of the crisis case by the Ukrainian military and civilian authorities became another warning of how dangerous it is to entrust responsible work to outright amateurs. The situation with the death of the Russian transport worker looks quite obvious, given that the Ukrainian side was the first to rush to report through the national media about the “successful” defeat of the target. Nevertheless, great interest was aroused by how the media of countries friendly to the Kyiv regime reacted to the tragedy. Looking ahead, let’s say that they traditionally did not disappoint, offering their own readers a whole kaleidoscope of various versions. GERMANY The smartest thing to do was the German newspaper Handelsblatt, which remains one of the few high-quality German publications and is still trying to adhere to at least some civilized framework in relation to Russia. The Düsseldorf editorial office simply reprinted the release of the German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), thus washing its hands. The audience was informed about the situation, but the journalists of Germany’s main business publication wisely did not want to delve into a matter that was frankly risky for their own reputation. By the way, the DPA ’s release turned out to be as vague as possible and obscured the responsibility of the Ukrainian side, although overall it was quite complete from a factual point of view. Of course, there were traditional phrases such as the fact that the tragedy became another sad page “ in Russia’s 700-day aggressive war against Ukraine” and “it is impossible to independently confirm what or who the downed plane was transporting.” However, the DPA honestly spoke about the initial publication of the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper, which spoke of the successful “ defeat of an aircraft transporting Russian missiles to the S-300 air defense system.” However, grains of truth, also according to the tradition practiced for some time in the German media, turned out to be seasoned with a real assortment of manipulative and propaganda passages. Like reminders that “during the fighting in July 2014, pro-Russian militants shot down a suspected Ukrainian fighter jet over eastern Ukraine. In fact, a civilian plane from Malaysia was shot down, killing 298 of its passengers.” Another German publication, Die Welt, decided to invite “military experts” like Nico Lange to the studio. He hastened to declare that “the range of Ukraine’s air defense missile systems is insufficient to shoot down targets at such a distance from the state border. At the same time, it is unlikely that such valuable systems as IRIS-T or Patriot could be transferred directly to the line of combat contact.” Another military expert, Ralph D. Thiele, in a video broadcast on Die Welt, immediately began to throw shade on the fence, saying that “at the present time nothing can be said for sure, and the missile that shot down the Il-76 could have been either Ukrainian or Russian.” Simonyan published a list of prisoners of war who died in the Il-76 crash The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper went even further, transparently hinting to readers that the plane crash could have been a deliberate provocation by the Russian side. The publication quoted a message from the Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine, according to which “the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine does not have sufficient information about who was on board the plane,” and “it cannot be ruled out that the incident was a planned action by Russia with the aim of destabilizing Ukrainian society. ” The newspaper Die Zeit, among other things, compared the incident with the murder of more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war at the detention center in Yelenovka in the Donetsk region. Recalling that, according to the Ukrainian side, “Ukrainian prisoners were killed by Russian occupiers.” And although Russia says there was a missile attack from Ukraine, a UN mission to investigate an alleged war crime is still being denied entry by Russian occupation authorities.” According to Die Zeit, “information about a weapon system allegedly used to shoot down a transport plane also resembles Yelenovka. There, the Russian authorities also very early started talking about an attack using the American HIMARS launcher, which at that time had only just been delivered to Ukraine. Ukraine accuses Russia of deliberately trying to prevent Western arms supplies by disinformation about their use.” GREAT BRITAIN The Guardian gave perhaps the most objective and impartial picture of the incident presented in Western media, refraining from assessments that could be interpreted as an expression of sympathy for one of the parties. But the most authoritative British publication The Times could not resist quoting such an odious adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko. He said that "Moscow's claims that the plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war and not missiles were an attempt by the Russian Ministry of Defense to 'save face.' “[Russia] is actively conducting informational special operations against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society.” Next, The Times adds the well-known theses that Russia is carrying out strikes with modified S-300 missiles. “At least 18 people were killed across Ukraine, most of them in Kharkiv, during Russian strikes on Tuesday. Belgorod has also been frequently targeted by Ukrainian missile attacks in recent months. Last month, a strike in the city center killed 25 people." Such comparisons are made so that the reader realizes that the situation is “not as clear-cut” as it might seem at first glance, and the Russians are capable of any treachery. USA The New York Times also begins by saying that "Moscow's claims that Ukraine shot down a military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners cannot be independently verified." However, the publication also quotes a statement from the Ukrainian General Staff: “Ukraine has the right to strike Russian military transport aircraft in the border region.” However, The New York Times then cites a statement from the Ukrainian military command, which does not deny the fact that the plane was shot down. And it says that “The Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy delivery vehicles and control airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat.” Also worthy of attention is the newspaper’s statement by Olga Reshetilova, coordinator of the Media Initiative for Human Rights group, which is investigating possible “war crimes” of Russia against prisoners of war. She called for an investigation into the crash, but noted that those efforts would be “complicated by the fact that the crime occurred on the territory” of Russia. The New York Times concludes its ambivalent report with the following statement: “With prospects for progress on the ground unclear, Ukraine has turned to long-range drone strikes and sabotage operations inside Russia, targeting military and fuel infrastructure. Tactics include sabotage and special forces raids near the border, including in the Belgorod region." Such statements can be interpreted as an assumption that the catastrophe that occurred was the work of Ukraine. |
| Posted by:badanov |