-5

I want to understand whether the element of the “information war” is taken into account when discussing “war crimes”.Is the probability in society that the information and double standards presented, assessing the situation with Ukraine. Russian open sources.Are they blocked in the West? Do you see in the news the difference between the bombing in the GASA sector in Palestine and Ukraine? Has anyone seen messages from military journalists from the Russian side?

Артемий Вишногор
  • 5
  • 2
  • 1
    Russian sources are available but 1) in Russian so not easy for most people in the West to read. and 2) not considered trustworthy (for many reasons - which I shall not debate) However your question seems to be mostly aimed at promoting your beliefs rather than a genuine query. Please edit or it is likely to be closed. Please explain how you know that "nobody uses Russian [] sources" I see Russian sources cited all the time on the BBC – James K Nov 22 '23 at 22:54
  • 6
    Yes, Kyiv's relatively good state of repair definitely is because of the beneficence of our dear leader Putin, and has nothing to do with Russia fighting against hundreds of thousands of professional soldiers with modern tanks and planes in a mid-sized country, versus Israel fighting against 20,000-odd guerrillas with homemade rocket launchers in an area half the size of the city of Kyiv alone. – Obie 2.0 Nov 22 '23 at 23:03
  • "No one uses Russian sources."- There was an impression from the discussions.Edited at your request. – Артемий Вишногор Nov 22 '23 at 23:10
  • 3
    No worries, just like in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, we get those lovely media monitors too https://www.youtube.com/@russianmediamonitor I could say that I never watched more Russian TV than in the past year. – the gods from engineering Nov 22 '23 at 23:44
  • 2
    @Fizz I found the fantasies about Sarmat/Poseidon drone strikes on the UK very informative myself. Prime time stuff, no less. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SnTkc0r6gk – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Nov 22 '23 at 23:51
  • @ItalianPhilosophers4Monica: personally I found their reportage on NK most interesting. In part because no Western media has access there like that. And I do wonder what Russians made of it. – the gods from engineering Nov 23 '23 at 00:02
  • Thank you, I was convinced of access, and the only question when choosing information flows?Do you know about the possibility of Yandex to translate the video on the stream? Why do I ask - many different opinions are available in the Russian segment.Only those that before the start of the military operation were filled with obvious or hidden Russophobia, and by the time of military operations, calls for an uprising or other illegal actions were closed.The rest are also expressed against this, if they want, without violating decency. – Артемий Вишногор Nov 23 '23 at 00:29
  • Really interesting reporting.We also have very little information about DPRK.In general, everything looks better than rumors that inflated the media (by the way, already closed), I suspected that they were lying, and this was confirmed.Protection against destruction, this is evident in Korea.Those who survived the collapse of the USSR in the 90s, in general, this movement to defense can be clear.Yes, it does not look sweet.They look sweet, the Western values of which were bought by part of our elite. The significance later turned out to be false.They understood this when they lost the present. – Артемий Вишногор Nov 23 '23 at 00:50
  • 1
    Unfortunately, Deepl is very unusually translating this conversation.This was not there before.Loses entire sentences and keywords.Several times rebuilds the meaning of the sentences to change the opposite.It tires.I was hoping for the best style of translation.Thank you for the dialogue. – Артемий Вишногор Nov 23 '23 at 00:56

3 Answers3

6

Which sites are blocked? Here are the screenshots of the top Russian sites that are available as of today (TASS, RIA Novosti and Moskovkiy Komsomolets). I also can read these and other Russian news on Twitter/X (e.g., Sputnik) and Telegram (e.g., Rybar').

TASS

West baselessly accusing Russia, North Korea of military-technical cooperation — diplomat - Russian Politics & Diplomacy - TASS

RIA

Карта боевых действий на Украине сейчас: военная спецоперация на сегодня

MK

WSJ: Берлину придется выбирать между собственной экономикой и Киевом - МК

Sputnik

Sputnik (@SputnikInt) / X

Rybar'

Telegram app: Rybar'

Timur Shtatland
  • 12,328
  • 2
  • 30
  • 80
2

First, they are not necessarily blocked, unlike your claims.

Russian Actress Killed While Performing in Occupied Donetsk - The Moscow Times

The death of Polina Menshikh, 40, was confirmed to the state-run TASS news agency by regional officials and in a VKontakte post by a St. Petersburg theater.

ISW, which inspires a lot of mainstream Western coverage of Ukraine, frequently uses Russia sources Taking some examples, Nov 21's coverage

Russian sources claimed that elements of the Chechen “Akhmat” Spetsnaz forces are operating in the forest area near Kreminna and elsewhere in the Lyman direction.

Russian sources have recently alleged that Armenia is planning to provide Ukraine with missiles and missile launchers, and Armenian MoD Spokesperson Aram Torosyan officially denied these claims on November 21

Russian sources have also recently alleged that France supplied Armenia with ACMAT Bastion armored personnel carriers, which Ukraine had rejected due to the vehicles’ deficiencies.

Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on November 21.

A Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully attacked near the Serebryanske forest area (10km southwest of Kreminna), where another Russian milblogger claimed there are ongoing local engagements.[49]

...

Second, military journalists from the Russian side are not really free journalists, are they? Considering all the laws against discrediting the Russian military that are on the books, it seems to me a Russian journalist operating in Russia can only present "certain viewpoints".

Making their publications a lot less informative.

But no less lucrative.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, pro-war influencers have gained millions of followers on Telegram, the social media platform many Russians turned to after President Vladimir Putin banned Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

That explosion in users has led to a surge in Telegram's advertising market.

War influencers have taken advantage of this. They sell ad spaces for companies looking to reach their young audiences.

Western journalists, since you want to drag Gaza into this, have few restrictions on covering the suffering of Palestinians (or 10/7 Israeli victims). If only the same could be said of Russian journalists...

I've quoted TASS myself on occasion. Granted, not necessarily to promote Russian viewpoints.

ST. PETERSBURG, April 1. /TASS/. Mora than 200 orphan children from Donbass may be adopted into families in Russia in the near future, Russian children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova said on Friday.

or

The information that one of the shells has the depleted uranium core was confirmed to TASS by military expert, Editor-in-Chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland journal Viktor Murakhovsky. "It has the alloy of the depleted uranium and tungsten," he said, adding that the open sources mentioned it as "the Material B."

The use of depleted uranium ammunition does not violate any international treaties, the expert said.

"The West" generally only blocks extremist sites like ISIS beheading videos.

Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
  • 83,219
  • 11
  • 197
  • 338
  • 1
    Unfortunately, you did not bring Russian sources.Only Western. Moscow Times is now a Dutch company, and I was not interested in the profits of this company, because this does not determine the reliability of the information. Then I will ask your opinion - applause data in honor of the former Nazi in the parliament of Canada, is it also propaganda of the Kremlin? – Артемий Вишногор Nov 22 '23 at 23:42
  • No. We have a sizable proportion of Ukrainians in Canada. Guy was a Nazi, but no one bothered to check before inviting him in. Now, you can all get all outraged if you want. But I will raise you a Dugin. https://twitter.com/TobyVenables/status/1497916322469928960 Or you know, the dude from Wagner. Utkin. Know how he got that "Wagner" call sign? You telling me no one bothered to check about those 2? – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Nov 22 '23 at 23:45
  • 3
    and... Moscow Times may not be a Russian source. But they were quoting Tass in my citation. Did you miss that? – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Nov 22 '23 at 23:50
  • 1
    @АртемийВишногор The Twitter url used to have a long list of pretty clear imagery for Dugin. Now it's just the top post. No matter: here's another Looks to me Russia doesn't have many lessons to give wrt Nazi-lovers. – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Nov 23 '23 at 00:06
  • "Western journalists, since you want to drag Gaza into this, have few restrictions on covering the suffering of Palestinians" I'd correct that with "European journalists". From what I read on the news, the number of US citizens losing their jobs for publicly espousing pro-Palestine views is quickly approaching the number of civilian casualties in Gaza. – Rekesoft Nov 23 '23 at 08:26
  • @Rekesoft - While some journalists (I very much doubt anywhere near 10,000) have left or been fired because of disagreement with their newspaper's editorial line or even alleged biases in news coverage of Palestine, It's not hard to find pretty mainstream news coverage that is open about covering the suffering of Palestinians, like this article declaring that Gaza has become a "graveyard for children". Call me back when Russia Today says the same thing about Ukraine. – Obie 2.0 Nov 23 '23 at 09:20
  • Note that the center-left position on Israel in the USA, as represented by a lot of reporters and relatively distinct from Biden's rather more pro-Israel stance, while it may fall short of what more...vigorous...harder left activists might want, is generally conceptually against the suffering of Palestinians. For instance, most Democrats and even half of Republicans want a ceasefire. – Obie 2.0 Nov 23 '23 at 09:27
  • @Obie2.0 Sure, that's because Russia has had two years of conflict to root out the non-complying journalists. If the Israeli operation lasts until Hamas is completely defeated, expect at least a year or more of operations. Call me back in a year to see how many pro-Palestine journalists are still in office then, especially if Trump (or a Trump-like republican candidate) wins the next election. The country of freedom of speech has much less of it that it think it does. – Rekesoft Nov 23 '23 at 09:28
  • @Rekesoft - Oooor, it's because Russia has majority support for the SMO and a leader with far less restricted powers who has basically unlimited terms, whereas in the USA, a growing plurality if the population claims to sympathize more with Palestine than with Israel, and a sizeable majority wants an immediate ceasefire. I think you're misreading the public opinion, much as Biden is. – Obie 2.0 Nov 23 '23 at 09:32
  • I would not say that Europe has much to brag about, either, to be honest. Anti-Muslim sentiment drives actions aimed at supporting Palestine, but like it or not, is notably hampered by its broader legal framework for freedom of expression. Thus the most egregious cases tend to be laws denying state contracts to companies expressing certain views and actions by certain private actors to refuse to work with such people. By contrast, France has actually managed to make pro-Palestinian protests formally illegal, and bans on various types of Muslim clothing are not uncommon across the EU. – Obie 2.0 Nov 23 '23 at 09:37
  • Hey, but not Spain, though, to be fair. Its refusal to bow to government-sanctioned Islamophobia has always been a strong point, and with the still in charge, Vox's dream of banning mosques probably will not come to fruition. Although one has to admit that the ley mordaza and a bunch of rappers locked up for injuria a la corona is not a great look in itself. – Obie 2.0 Nov 23 '23 at 09:43
  • @Obie2.0 Oh, absolutely agree with you. I'm not a Putin fanboy, it's just that the whole holier-than-thou hypocritical attitude that we so commonly have in the western world (at least, our governments do) really pisses me off. As you rightly point out, Europe's record on that is not particularly good, either. But even if in Russia is worse, it's not just because of the authoritarian nature of its regime; when there have been american lives at stake censorship is similar – Rekesoft Nov 23 '23 at 10:24
  • @Rekesoft Good of you to mention journalists who got booted for criticizing Israel. I was not aware of that and good to know. Still, let's not conflate "getting fired" with "multiple years in prison", shall we? And... it would be better if you provided some linked examples, as opposed to just a non-sourced claim (not that I doubt) – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Nov 23 '23 at 18:41
  • @ItalianPhilosophers4Monica There have been a couple of cases, but the main problem in western press is self-censorship - it's not the amount of journalists being fired, it's the much greater number of journalists who don't speak for fear of being fired. And while losing the job is not as bad as going to prison, let's remember Julian Assange. – Rekesoft Nov 23 '23 at 19:00
2

No, they are not and cannot be blocked. Any attempt to block them would be likely illegal.

It is fairly common for "right-wing" personalities to quote Russian "Telegram" posts in their Twitter posts. There is also at least one left-wing YouTube channel (that I know of) dedicated to posting translated excerpts from the Russian propaganda shows (Solovyov, 60 minutes, etc.).

Many of the personalities appearing on those shows are under personal sanctions by the State Department, but those sanctions do not extend to the programming they produce. It would be impossible to do that legally. The sanctions extend to their personal property in the US and their ability to travel. Solovyov has claimed that he is not sanctioned by the State Department and that maybe true because he has children who are US citizens by birth (which may complicate legality of sanctioning his property).

The impression that there is a large difference in the perception between the Russian public and the "Western" public may come precisely from the fact that so few voices critical of Russia are heard in Russian.

The United States has no government media.

While many well-educated people in Russia have access to the "Western" media by the virtue of speaking another language, the Overtone Window is still narrowly controlled by the Russian state media. And most people may find themselves simply unable to maintain any kind of normalcy in their social circles if their criticism of their country becomes too out of step with what's socially acceptable.

And given Russia's propensity for killing and imprisoning journalists who don't tout the government's line, the perception is likely heavily skewed towards the government agenda.

wrod
  • 9,321
  • 25
  • 64