Southeastern Ukrainian Elections: Scoundrel Media Misreporting

by Stephen Lendman

Managed news misinformation is longstanding scoundrel media practice. Truth-telling on issues mattering most is verboten.

Big Lies substitute. Western media support Kiev's coup d'etat government. Infested with neo-Nazi putschists. Illegitimate by any standard.

At the same time, they oppose Southeastern Ukrainian freedom. Universally recognized self-determination. Democratic elections affirming it.

On November 2, The New York Times headlined "Rebel-Backed Elections to Cement Status Quo in Ukraine,' saying:

"The campaign billboards in this city suggested a tight race between Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Aleksandr Zakharchenko."

"As voters in rebel-held areas of Ukraine went to the polls on Sunday, in defiance of the central government, the European Union and the United States, the only visible campaign advertising in Donetsk was in support of the current separatist leader, Mr. Zakharchenko, who is, not surprisingly, expected to win."

"Rather than offering a range of plausible opposition candidates, the voting for members of Parliament and heads of state in Donetsk and the other breakaway region of eastern Ukraine, Luhansk, was significant for highlighting Ukraine’s loss of control over these territories, and Russia's strengthening influence."

"The elections will likely cement the status quo for Luhansk and Donetsk, which have been controlled in large part by pro-Russian separatists since the spring."

"Russia has said it will recognize the results, while Ukraine, along with European governments and the United States, has said it will not, maintaining that the elections violated a cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk in September."

Fact check

Unmentioned was Southeastern Ukraine's democratic process. Monitors judging it open, free and fair. Zakharchenko's overwhelming popularity.

Elected by popular mandate. Unlike sham Western elections. Especially money-controlled US ones. Making democracy pure fantasy.

Southeastern Ukrainians have the real thing. In strict accord with Minsk protocol terms. Big Lied claim otherwise.

Don't expect The New York Times to explain. Representing wealth, power and privilege alone. Longstanding editorial policy. Mocking journalistic legitimacy.

The Washington Post headlined "Ukraine pro-Russian rebels hold elections in the east, fueling conflict," saying:

"A Ukrainian military spokesman said Sunday that Russian military support had been flowing into eastern Ukraine in recent days, and witnesses on Sunday reported long columns of unmarked military trucks traveling into the rebel stronghold of Donetsk."

Illegitimate Ukrainian oligarch president Poroshenko was quoted saying:

"Ukraine and the entire civilized world will not accept this farce. I hope that Russia does not recognize these pseudo-elections!"

Fact check:

Russia supplies vitally needed humanitarian aid only. To war-torn Southeastern Ukrainian residents.

No evidence whatever suggests military weapons, munitions or suppllies. Or Russian involvement in fighting. Claims otherwise are Big Lies. Proliferating shamelessly.

It bears repeating. Southeastern Ukrainian elections were open, free and fair. Observers from around 30 countries affirmed it.

So-called Kiev presidential and parliamentary ones were farcical. Illegitimate by any standard.

Mocking real democracy. Verboten nationwide. Except in Donbas' oasis of freedom. What all Ukrainians deserve. What fascist rule prohibits.

WaPo published an AP report. It headlined "Russia backs Ukrainians separatists' election," saying:

"Russia gave its backing Monday to a contentious election held by separatists in eastern Ukraine, setting the stage for renewed diplomatic tensions with the West."

"Plans for the vote had been sharply criticized by the EU and the US, which said it violated Ukrainian law and undermined a two-month old cease-fire deal."

"…Ukraine accuse(d) Moscow of undermining its sovereignty."

Fact check:

Media scoundrels call real democracy "contentious." Sham governance they support is called legitimate.

Sunday's elections violated no laws or agreements. Big Lies claim otherwise.

The Wall Street Journal headlined "Russia Says It Respects Results of Eastern Ukraine Separatist Vote," saying:

It "revive(d) tensions with Kiev and the West, which denounced the votes as illegal and a threat to a fragile cease-fire."

"Russia had signaled last week it would recognize the vote, which took place Sunday in the presence of tanks and with results cementing the status quo all but predetermined."

Fact check:

Washington bears full responsibility for stoking tensions. Rogue EU partners share it.

So-called ceasefire conditions don't exist. Kiev violated agreed on enforcing terms. Fighting continues daily.

Peace is a convenient illusion. Fascists don't wage aggression to quit.

Washington provides support and encouragement. Don't expect media scoundrels to explain. Or German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

He lied saying Donbas elections "infringe on the letter and spirit" of Minsk. "From our point of view, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine should not be put into question."

"(W)e will not accept either the elections nor their results."

Berlin marches in lockstep with Washington. Supporting Kiev fascist illegitimacy. Rejecting Donbas democracy.

Europe's new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini repeated the same sentiment. Supporting wrong over right. Doing so shamelessly.

"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a law on a special status for the separatist-controlled regions that provided for regional elections to be held in December, but the rebels ignored it to go ahead with the vote," sad the Journal.

Providing for December elections contravened what he agreed to in Minsk. The Journal didn't explain.

Or denounce fabricated reports about Moscow supplying Donbas self-defense forces with "fighters and weapons." No evidence suggests it. None exists.

Russia is scrupulously neutral. It supports regional peace and stability. It's gone all-out to achieve it since conflict erupted. Don't expect media scoundrels to explain.

Britain's BBC is a longstanding imperial tool. Government owed and operated.

Eschewing real news and information. Proliferating state propaganda.

Substituting Big Lies for truth and full disclosure. No different from America's scoundrel media.

Lying for power. Suppressing what people most need to know. On November 2, it headlined "Ukraine crisis: Separatists hold controversial polls," saying:

"Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have held elections denounced by the West as "illegitimate."

Unidentified so-called "sources told the BBC that a huge convoy of up to 90 military trucks had been seen passing through rebel held areas of eastern Ukraine."

"The convoy, which bore no military insignia, was carrying multiple rocket launchers and other weapons."

"It came as the Ukrainian military reported an 'intensive deployment' of troops and equipment crossing the border from Russia into the east of the country through the area of the border currently under rebel control."

Fact check:

It bears repeating. Russia supplied war-torn Donbas with vitally neede humanitarian aid only. Nothing else.

No evidence suggests otherwise. BBC claims are shameless. Big Lies. Reflecting official UK policy.

Militant. Pro-war. Anti-populist. Anti-democratic. Anti-Russian. Pro-fascist dictatorship rule.

Don't expect BBC to explain. It's a propaganda bullhorn for imperial power.

Mimicking America's scoundrel media. Truth is strictly verboten. Big Lies substitute daily. Journalism the way it should be is nowhere in sight.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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