Lots of disinfo and propaganda swirling on Ukraine

How real is the invasion threat?

This week I’ve been keeping an eye on the escalating confrontation between the US and Russia on Ukraine’s borders. It’s the closest the two aggressive military powers have come to all-out war in the past decade and currently poses the greatest threat to world peace and stability, especially in this period of the global pandemic and environmental crisis.

There is so much Cold War disinfo and propaganda from a multitude of intelligence agencies and media fronts floating around the internet. To really understand what’s going on, it’s necessary to look for authentic sources in news stories and to rely on our own critical thinking skills and habits of mind — two topics that I have argued should be at the center of every school’s curriculum.

For most of us, it’s difficult to tell how real the threat is of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and how much of the threat is another manufactured crisis for domestic consumption and partisan political play. like the WMD story was, leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

It’s interesting that Ukraine, which sits in the center of the maelstrom, seems to be downplaying the invasion threat and trying to maintain a sense of calm and stability as the US pours tons of so-called “lethal aid” into the country and NATO militarizes on its borders.

On Monday, the US, UK, and Australia (the new Cold War white, United Front originally aimed at China) announced they were pulling out their diplomatic staffs from Kyiv (Kiev) just at a time when you would think diplomacy should prevail over military escalation. But others, including the European Union, have opted to stay, instead urging more diplomacy as a way to stave off war.

According to the Washington Post,

The differing approaches highlighted a growing rift among Western nations over how to confront Moscow.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko called the evacuation of diplomatic families this week “premature.”

“It is extremely important to avoid activity that could be used in the information space to increase tensions in society and destabilize the economic and financial security of Ukraine,” Nikolenko wrote on Twitter on Monday.

He said that only a handful of the 129 diplomatic missions in Ukraine have announced evacuations.

Yesterday, Sergiy Korsunsky, Ukraine's Ambassador to Japan, said he does not expect all-out war with Russia.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the number of Russian troops amassed along the border of Ukraine and in occupied territories poses a threat -- a direct threat to Ukraine, however, the number is insufficient for a full-scale offensive along the entire Ukrainian border.

They also lack some important military indicators and systems to conduct such a large full-scale offensive," he added. "We can say 100 times a day invasion is imminent, but this doesn't change the situation on the ground."

China’s Xinhua News Agency reported on yesterday’s speech by a foreign ministry spokesman, taking a dig at NATO’s “outdated Cold War mentality and ideological bias” and calling on “all relevant sides to fully consider each other's legitimate security concerns, avoid antagonism and confrontation.”

I will continue to follow the latest war build-up in Europe with one eye while keeping another on how the war threat is being debated here at home.

Stay posted.

---