After having a full-blown conflict around Kyiv, Russian forces are now trying to take complete control of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, which together comprise the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
This region has always been the topmost focus for both the West and Russia, along with their journalists. On one side, there is a bunch of elite journalists and media conglomerates of the USA and allies showing ‘crème de la crème’ content to the world. Then there are some independent journalists who are running their media channels on Telegram or other social media channels, working overtime to present their version of the truth to the whole world.
And surprisingly, these independent journalists are gaining more attention than the mainstream media. People are finding the other side of the story more reliable and relevant. Furthermore, this is harming the narrative of Western allies of showing Russia in a bad light. So now, a witch-hunting campaign against these independent journalists has begun.
Revenge of the West
Independent journalists who crossed the west’s ‘red line’ and reported the unsayable truth against Ukraine are now finding themselves sitting on thin ice. As per media reports, these journalists are now being prosecuted or threatened with execution by none other than self-declared free-speech champions of the world.
In Germany, Independent journalist Alina Lipp is facing three years in prison in her home country because she reported crimes committed by Ukrainian forces against civilians in the eastern Donbas region of the war-torn country.
The charges against her relate to Ukraine coverage on her Telegram channel where she shared information with its 175,000 subscribers in both Germany and Russia. The Olaf Scholz-led German government has now given her a letter threatening a three-year jail term.
She reportedly reacted angrily, accusing the German government of using this as a ruse to silence her. She said, “The letter claims that, for instance, I claim in my Telegram channel that the Donbas populace is in favor of Russia starting a special operation. I also mentioned that it is a genocide that Ukrainians have been killing civilians in the Donbas for a number of years.”
What’s more astonishing is that Germany would hold court hearings against her without giving her the legal right to defend herself as she is still stuck in Ukraine. The German authorities also withdrew 1,600 euros from her bank account without informing her.
As of now, reporting in Donbas is tightly restricted and those who deviate from the Western line are getting targeted on purpose.
On a similar note, Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett, who is also reporting from the Donbas region has now been placed on a government kill list in Ukraine. No prizes for guessing the reason, showing the truth that amplifies the Russian narrative.
Read More: How Ukraine lost the narrative war after being the darling of the world for good 45 days
Battle of the Narratives
The only reason these journalists have become sitting-ducks for the Western governments is that they have tarnished the Western narrative that was being peddled brazenly on a very large scale and in a highly coordinated manner. The message is simple: these Journalists must face the music since they dared to challenge the western narrative.
It is only because of their truthful reporting that even the United Nations had to acknowledge that Ukraine is equally responsible for atrocities against Ukrainian citizens as much as Russia.
A prominent UN research concluded that Ukraine’s armed forces were the ones who had actually provoked the violence at the care facility in Stara Krasnyanka. A nursing facility was literally turned into a battlefield when Ukrainian forces set up a base there a few days prior to the March 11 raid.
EU knows very clearly that its narrative war against Russia is falling apart. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at the G20 Foreign Minister’s meeting in Bali himself stated that the EU is losing the “global battle of narratives when it comes to Ukraine,” adding that something needs to be done.
Furthermore, Borell in one of his prominent blogs also noted, “The global battle of narratives is in full swing and, for now, we are not winning. As the EU, we have to engage further to refute Russian lies and war propaganda, making it clear who is responsible for the aggression and hence its consequences,” ‘
So, the best solution to win the narrative war against Russia is to eliminate the journalists reporting the actual truth. This is the reason why Alina Lipp is being targeted by German authorities and Ukraine is putting journalists on the kill list.
Read More: “You used patients as human shield,” UN rips into Ukraine for committing war crimes during the war
Believe this or not, the one who controls the narrative wins the popular support. Russia in recent times has started to recover from its bruised image and people are finally getting to see the other side of the story. This has truly riled the western nations up! And resultantly, they are now being subjected to CCP-style government authoritarianism. The Washington Posts of the world must tour these European nations to witness how ‘democracy is dying in darkness’ here.