I did an experiment on Saturday and accordingly succeeded in planning – which made me somewhat dismayed as we try to piece together fact and fiction in search of the truth regarding the war in Ukraine.
Bias in the Ukraine War and Why Travel Is Necessary
You see a lot of so-called “clickbait” on Live and let’s flybut always about turbulence in flight. When it comes to more serious matters, I prefer a less exciting approach. But on Saturday I ran with a story about Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his family into a bunker amid reports that he had ordered nuclear maneuvers. She also focused on Russia’s doomsday plane, the “flying Kremlin” that could support the government’s continuation in the event of a nuclear attack. Western intelligence sources also reported that Putin appears increasingly unstable.
> Read more: Russia’s ‘doomsday’ plane on standby as Putin orders nuclear drills
I wouldn’t call it my Orson Welles moment, but the “Doomsday Plane” is a click-gold house and it mailed well, as expected. But commentators, some Russian trolls, and other regular readers have pointed out that the source of the story was superficial. Indeed, it was (although Putin oversaw the nuclear exercises last month). However, give anyone a piece of the truth with some potential exaggeration and people tend to believe it.
I am not anti-Russian: I wish the Russian people would revolt against their corrupt leader. I wonder if harsh sanctions and flight bans do more harm than help, even as I note that any change in Russia must be internal.
But I have friends and acquaintances in Ukraine. The war is real. The devastation is real. Many have lost all their material possessions. Families were separated. There is no evidence that the Ukrainians were conducting ethnic cleansing in eastern Ukraine to the point that the Russian invasion was justified.
Certainly, Russian concerns about NATO knocking on his door weren’t entirely irrational. After all, can you imagine Russian troops massing in Mexico? This would be a no-go for the United States of America. However, Ukraine rejected NATO and the West was attracted to it only because of Russian hostility. Putin’s paranoia has greatly exacerbated tensions, creating relations between Ukraine and the West that would not otherwise exist prior to the 2014 invasion of Crimea.
Yet I have listened and read news over the past few weeks that is openly pro-Ukraine. This is propaganda too, even if it happens to support the side I support. It reminded me of early, inconclusive US coverage of the Iraq War.
I had a friend who visited Moscow recently. Western media reported that credit cards no longer work, but his business is doing well. Western media reported that the Kremlin blocked Facebook, but it was not blocked. Sometimes the West is just as guilty as Moscow of weaving a narrative we want together rather than a narrative that actually captures the reality that exists. He stated that Moscow was surprisingly quiet … as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
We see devastation in Ukraine – those pictures don’t lie. It amazes me unbelievably that Ukraine will destroy its infrastructure. Thus, blaming Russia for its deliberate destruction completely offends it as a liberator.
And we’ve seen time and time again how dissent is punished in Russia (just ask Alexei Navalny). Putin himself sent a chilling message to opponents last week:
“Anyone, especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors, and only to spit them out like corns accidentally flying into their mouths.”
But even so, let’s not give up on questioning the news and doing our own due diligence.
Travel is still as important as ever in breaking down barriers and understanding people better. In fact, traveling will give me a better understanding of the situation in Ukraine – something I desperately seek. More broadly, travel may show Russians that the Kremlin is lying about “Nazi” behavior in Ukraine, but it also shows us here in the West that most Russians are trying to stay the way we are.
Conclusion
Is Putin considering the use of nuclear weapons? I think that makes sense given some of his recent statements. I would also like to believe that he is still a rational actor and that if he goes insane, an internal revolution will prevent him from destroying the world. But I realized that while I find Putin disgusting, we also often feed us with sensational propaganda. that’s unfortunate. That’s why I travel – I want to see things for myself.
