In 'propaganda' war, Crimeans hear different reality
(Reuters) - Two days before Russian forces began the operation to seize Crimea, somebody threw two Molotov cocktails through the window of Black Sea TV.
"It was a warning to us, so that we would stop," recalls Alexandra Kvitko, editor-in-chief of the only independent television station in the southern Ukrainian region. "But we continued."
SNIP
Russia's military operation in Ukraine has been accompanied by a particularly assertive media campaign. At home, Russian broadcasters, nearly all of which are firmly controlled by the Kremlin, describe a Ukraine totally unrecognizable to anyone with access to independent, Western or Ukrainian news. Moscow's broadcasts also reach Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine.
As described in Russian news reports, Ukraine is being overrun by gangs of anti-Russian fascist thugs. Moscow has even asserted that hundreds of thousands of Russian-speaking refugees have fled a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Ukraine, a claim for which no evidence has been found.
"This is all an information war. They are telling their people that there is a huge outflow of refugees. Did you see any boats of refugees out there?" said Ukrainian Major Alexei Nikoforov, deputy head of a marine base in Kerch, the eastern tip of the Crimea a 30-minute
ferry ride from the Russian shore.
This is an extremely important article. This broke my heart: Upon hearing the news that the Ukrainian government would now require everyone to only speak Ukranian there was this response:
"I have spoken Russian all my life. When I go to the pharmacy, I won't even understand my prescription," said worried pensioner Alla Batura, 75, in Sevastopol.
Fear, threats war-mongering, propaganda, lies, distortion, heavy handed military tactics, bring it on Putanistas defend Putin's actions.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/04/us-ukraine-crisis-propaganda-idUSBREA231PU20140304
