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The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal will hold accountable — through testimony of witnesses — U.S. weapons manufacturers who knowingly produce and sell products which attack and kill not only combatants but non-combatants as well. These manufacturers may have committed Crimes Against Humanity as well as violated U.S. Federal criminal laws. The Tribunal will hear the evidence and render a verdict.

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The coverage of the Russian advance in Bakhmout by the "major" French media

by jose marti

Background and introduction

Bakhmut is a city on the territory of Ukraine, located in Donestk Oblast, Donbass. Bakhmut is the Ukrainian name of the city, the Russians call it Artyomovsk. It is a logistics node of regional importance in military operations for each of the two parties involved in the war in Ukraine. The city is located 80 km north of Donetsk, and 110 km west of Lugansk. In normal times, that is, before the announcement of the Russian special operation in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, the population of the city amounted to just over 70,000 inhabitants – the population of the city had grew to 90,000 in 1989 and then, after the fall of the USSR, declined over time, like many Ukrainian cities. Since the beginning of the Russian special operation, and especially when the front line approached, the city was emptied of almost all of its inhabitants.

Fighting has raged for months between the Ukrainian and Russian sides to claim control of the city.

Ukrainian leaders have described Bakhmut's status as symbolic. During an interview given to CNN the 8 mars 2023, President Zelensky said:

«This city is tactical for us. We understand that after Bakhmout they could progress further. They could head for Kramatorsk, they could take the road to Sloviansk, the way would be open for the Russians after Bakhmout to other Ukrainian cities.»

At the time of this interview, the Russians, that is to say the fighters of the Wagner group, supported by the artillery, the intendancy and the intelligence of the Russian army, already claimed to occupy the eastern part of the city it -even.

Before that, on December 20, 2022, Zelensky, then visiting Bakhmout, had stated :

«Here in the Donbass you protect all of Ukraine. It's not just Bakhmout, it's Bakhmout fortress.»

The last few months have been, in parallel with the harsh military operations on the ground, subject to numerous announcements in the major French media of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive likely to repel the advance of Russia. It is clear that Western – American – pressure was very strong on the Ukrainian leaders: it was absolutely necessary, for reasons of American domestic policy, to be able to announce a retreat from Russia. In the United States, the debt ceiling, which is raised regularly by the United States Congress, is about to be reached. Biden has a political problem: Congress has passed into the hands of the Republican opposition, which refuses – for the moment – to raise this ceiling. If the US debt ceiling is not raised, the Pentagon's colossal budget cannot be voted on, which would block, among other things, the major military aid plans for Ukraine.

It goes without saying that propaganda and media fog of war are de rigueur on both sides. We are not going to be interested here in the announcements of one or the other of the two camps - it is rather difficult to access them when you are not Ukrainian and Russian-speaking, but rather what our Western media, democratic, quality, independent and fact-checked, even hosts of fact-checkers, delivered to us, during the few days preceding the capture of Bakhmout by Russia.

This is obviously an urban war. It is important to distinguish operations around the city, "classic" urban warfare, where advancing takes a lot of time and causes heavy losses and damage, and where each position can require fierce fighting.

It should also be remembered that time is on the side of the Russians: popular support for Putin, who, it should be remembered, holds a relatively moderate position. Other Russian political parties accuse him of not going "stronger" vis-à-vis Ukraine and the West. Putin has strong popular support. Conversely, in the West, it is a matter of convincing public opinion to continue to grant endless donations of capital and war material, at the cost of bleeding the economies and strategic reserves of our countries. Western politicians, running after the announcements, especially with the US presidential elections looming for the second half of 2024, desperately need "good news" confirming the effectiveness of their support for Ukraine, under risk of "losing" their public opinion.

War propaganda works in several directions. Of course, at first glance it is expected that each side will claim glorious victories and colossal losses on the other side, and this often seems to be the case. But it seems that Yevgeny Prigozhin, boss of the Wagner group, played a more subtle game by announcing on May 12, 2023 a lack of ammunition and "an escape of the units of the Ministry of Defense on the flanks in Bakhmout». It seems well established, now that Bakhmout is in the hands of Russian forces, that this announcement constituted a smokescreen.

How did our objective and impartial media, protected by a second curtain of fact-checkers, and which have been denouncing the Russian information war for years, present the events over the days preceding the takeover of Bakhmout by Russian forces? What trends stand out from this press coverage? It should be noted that we are only analyzing the press coverage of the written media here.

It seems well established that the Russians took the city of Bakhmout on May 21, 2023. Some sources seem to have cited May 20.

Media coverage of the status of Bakhmut and the Ukrainian counter-offensive

9 days before, May 12, 2023

The newspaper Liberation, property of Patrick Drahi, and having touched it seems several million euros in subsidies each year to distribute quality information to French people, entitled "War in Ukraine: kyiv claims an advance in Bakhmout, the Russian defenses there “collapse” according to the boss of Wagner". The content of the article informs us that "The Russians have been pounding Bakhmout for weeks, but the Ukrainians are still holding out and even going back on the offensive.»

6 days before, May 15, 2023

La Dépêche publish an article under the title War in Ukraine: the counter-offensive has started, kyiv welcomes its “first success” near Bakhmout". The article begins with "The Ukrainian authorities welcomed on Monday the advance of troops near Bakhmout. The Ukrainian army sets out a first decisive step in the "offensive". The body of the article states that the Russians are progressing in the heart of the city.»

Le Figaro sheds more weighted light (Article dated May 13, but updated on May 15). Under the title "War in Ukraine: has the counter-offensive started in Bakhmout or is it just a decoy?", we can read that "Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister announced that Kiev forces had advanced two kilometers around the city and that Russian forces had retreated on some areas near the city following counterattacks by Kiev forces», but the content of the article is not very optimistic from the Ukrainian point of view, and raises doubts about the validity of the available information.

5 days before, May 16, 2023

The nespaper La Dépêche title "War in Ukraine: "Our troops have liberated about 20 square kilometers", kyiv says to regain ground from the Russians near Bakhmout". The heading of the article states that "The Ukrainian counter-offensive expected for months seems well launched in Bakhmout". The content of the article gives information of a different order, quoting the Ukrainian deputy minister of defence:Russian troops, however, continue to advance within the city itself, where they besiege the last pockets of Ukrainian resistance in the west.»

The nespaper Midi Libre produced an article under the title:“The Russians are made like rats”: the Ukrainian counter-offensive towards Bakhmout costs Putin’s troops dearly". The body of the article informs us: A turning point? While for several weeks Ukraine has been preparing for a large offensive in an attempt to completely repel the Russian forces from its territory, the first stage of this new phase is being played out in Bakhmout, the scene of heavy fighting.". It also reads that "several Ukrainian units actually pushed the Russians back several kilometers". The end of the article repeats the statement of the Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister: "At the same time, the enemy is advancing into Bakhmout itself, completely destroying the city with the help of artillery. "

Ouest France, in his update on the situation in Ukraine, mentions in the title of the article “advances [Ukrainian] in Bakhmout”. The body of the article evokes Ukrainian progress "north and south of the outskirts of Bakhmoutand does not state any information about the situation in the city center.

4 days before, May 17, 2023

L'Express, in an article published on the 16th but updated on the 17th under the title “Ukraine says it has taken back 20 km2 from the Russians around Bakhmout», says in the hat that Ukraine has «put Russia in difficulty in the East of its territory". Here again, you have to read the body of the article to learn that the 20 km² included concern the outskirts: “the Ukrainian army regains ground in the north and south, opening up the city that the Russians now control by more than 90%», and so that the Russian progress in the city center is evoked.

3 days before, May 18, 2023

The newspaper West France publishes an article titled War in Ukraine: kyiv bombarded, the Russian army retreats to Bakhmout…". It reads that Russian troops are still retreating near Bakhmout, according to kyiv and Wagner. No mention is made of the fighting in the city center.

2 days before, May 19, 2023

Le Figaro produced an article under the title "War in Ukraine: the fall of Bakhmout and the kyiv counter-offensive, imminent? which seems to correctly inform the reader of what is really happening: "Wagner continues to advance inside the ravaged city of Donbass, but around it the Ukrainians counterattack.»

Ending Thoughts

Our press review seems to highlight several interesting elements:

• There is a fairly recurring pattern in French press coverage of these battles. The titles and headings of the articles evoke and highlight a progression of the Ukrainian army "on the outskirts of Bakhmout" or "in Bakhmout" and make "at best" mention in the body of the articles, much less read by their readers, Russian advances in the city center, much more difficult to conquer. We found no article in the French press in the 10 days preceding the capture of Bakhmout making its headline about the Russian advance in the city center. The impression of the reader in a hurry is therefore almost always that of a Ukrainian advance, for a totally opposite result a few days later. Only Le Figaro seems to stand out from other newspapers on this point.

• No French media took a step back from Wagner's very alarmist announcements about his lack of ammunition; on the contrary, these announcements were repeated at will by our media. It seems that these announcements constituted a diversion, encouraging the Ukrainian camp to expose itself by counter-attacking, and preparing the final capture of the city. After relentlessly denouncing Russian interference in Western elections and on social media, it is interesting that “our” media unanimously fell into such a crude trap.

• To our knowledge, no fact-checker has taken the trouble to correct this presentation bias on the one hand, and this gross error on the other. The famous confirmation bias, endlessly denounced by them when they attack alternative media and pro-Russian conspiracy theorists, seems to inhabit them themselves.

• Anyone who takes the trouble to read the “Letter from the Readers” finds that the readers of our major press do not follow the titles of the said articles blindly either and seem to have more judgment than the authors of the articles themselves.

Our analysis is obviously not exhaustive. It is based on research in the past days of news on Bakhmout. A special palm is also attributed to Le Monde which seems to have covered the events of Bakhmout by “live reports” which leave no archive on search engines, which is undoubtedly very practical to hide the reality of what happened. 

source: The Francophone Saker

https://lesakerfrancophone.fr/l-edifiante-couverture-de-la-progression-russe-a-backhmout-par-les-grands-medias-francais

TRANSLATION BY JULES LETAMBOUR

MEANWHILE:

“As for Macron, Biden, Zelensky and Scholz, they are a thing of the past. They will not be in the beautiful world of tomorrow, because they have done everything to plunge the world into war. Their own citizens will not forgive them for this. We'll be there to see that."

https://en.reseauinternational.net/ri-zap-du-28-05-lonu-fait-le-service-apres-vente-du-chaos/

Here we learn that Macron did not offer any jets, but "training" on Mirage V (or whatever number) for Ukrainina pilots....

OUR COVERAGE (9600 READS) WAS MUCH CLOSER TO THE TRUTH SINCE MARCH:

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NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

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CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

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SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klJ0HRHiNWk

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lauded U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen Mark Milley for admitting that Ukraine cannot expect to recapture all of its territory in the near future. Lavrov said that US General's statement was the "first step toward understanding how things stand on Earth today". This video has all the details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lls1izxywcQ

US Senator Lindsey Graham has disputed Russian criticism of comments he allegedly made during a recent trip to Kiev. A video published by the Ukrainian president’s office appeared to show Graham applauding Russian deaths, but the senator has now suggested that “Russian propaganda” is to blame for the controversy.  

The video, which was posted by Kiev on Sunday, shows Graham meeting with President Vladimir Zelensky and discussing US military assistance to Ukraine. At one point in the clip, Graham can be heard saying: “The Russians are dying. It’s the best money we ever spent.” The phrases are separated by an editing cut. 

As noted by Reuters, the original video clip, which was edited and released by the Ukrainian president’s office, contained no clear indication that the remarks about Russians dying and US money being well spent were from different parts of the meeting. A full, unedited version of Graham’s meeting with Zelensky supposedly shows that there was no direct link between the two statements, according to the outlet. 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry, however, has dismissed the“cynical attempts” to justify Graham’s “cannibalistic”statements. Responding to the Reuters article, the ministry suggested that the outlet was conducting “crisis management” on behalf of the senator and providing “ridiculous and shameful excuses” after his “Russophobic” statements sparked a wave of backlash. 

“Attempts to justify such statements are doomed to fail. It is already impossible to whitewash such words, even if they were uttered separately,” the ministry said in a press release, noting that this isn’t the first time Graham has made such remarks. Similar comments have also been uttered by other US and Ukrainian officials.  

The ministry accused Reuters of damaging its reputation with its “cowardly excuses and ridiculous attempts to shield Lindsey Graham” and suggested that the outlet was not conducting journalism, but acting as a PR agency carrying out the orders of the “collective West.”

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https://www.rt.com/russia/577080-lindsey-graham-dead-russians/

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A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

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