The Six Biggest “Fake News” Stories About The Russia-Ukraine Conflict

In this installment of their weekly Sunday Six conversation, PF Whalen and Parker Beauregard of The Blue State Conservative discuss six of the many false stories coming out of the besieged nation of Ukraine. Some is false by accident, some is false intentionally, some is war-time propaganda, and all of it is nearly impossible to use to ascertain the truth about this conflict. One thing seems certain enough: If everyone, Democrats especially, is united for Ukraine, shouldn’t that give us pause?

#6: Thirteen brave soldiers told Russian sailors “go f*** yourself” before being bombed to kingdom come.

Parker: This story had all the trappings of war-time propaganda. Surrounded and outnumbered good guys. Larger, more powerful, and lethal bad guys. Courage until the very end. No surrender. It’s the type of stuff that makes legends of soldiers and provides both a morale boost and reinvigorated sense of purpose back in the barracks. If they can do it, then so can I. The lies went so far as to find themselves in a speech given by President Volodymyr Zelensky himself, who said that the thirteen Heroes of Snake Island would even be awarded the highest possible honor posthumously. 

When I first heard the story, for the reasons listed above it just didn’t pass the smell test. Moreover, why would the Russians need to preemptively fire on  an insignificant base? I get that there are casualties in this conflict, but everything so far indicates a willingness by Ptuin to avoid a high body count. Add to that the fact that a tiny, underdog nation would need a feel-good story to rally the troops and demonstrate to the world how convicted each man is to their cause for freedom, well, it just sounded too good to be true. (Even the nature of the initial reporting – an allegation that it was verified by some Ukrainian minister and first covered by a die-hard national outlet – raised red flags).

Despite obvious signals that very little to nothing was accurate, many major outlets covered the story. And why not? We did at The Blue State Conservative, piggybacking off other big players like Fox and Breitbart. Flashy headlines sell papers and get clicks, so the awful reality of the news media world precluded any sensible verifying or uncovering of corroborating details. We had a video, replete with audio and translated subtitles (how convenient!), and it was off to the races.

In the end, what seems to have happened is that just under 100 Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island were taken without incident and remain in Russian custody. So not thirteen. And not deceased. 

#5: Photos of Ukraine President Zelensky in the trenches with the troops is actually from last year.

PF: Before I start making points about the fake news being shoved down our throats with Ukraine, I first must make my high-level opinion clear: Russia’s behavior has been horrific, they are the cause of the war, and I strongly support Ukraine with the conflict, particularly the Ukrainian people. Meanwhile it is also obvious that there is a concerted effort being conducted by the left and their media to mischaracterize the realities on the ground.

The photographs I reference – which include the picture that is featured in this article – have been plastered everywhere, particularly on social media platforms and have been misrepresented by scores of blue check mark buffoons on Twitter. The truth is, these images show President Volodymyr Zelensky during military exercises last October in the disputed Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine, months before Russia’s invasion.

But these photos have been used to promote the image of an engaged and courageous Zelensky, standing side by side his troops and fighting the evil Vladimir Putin. It’s David Vs. Goliath. For instance, one of the aforementioned Twitter clowns proclaimed, “Unlike [Putin], Ukraine’s president is on the front lines fighting for his people. This is a leader!”

When our media and government officials – including RINO Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) who posted an obviously doctored photo of Ukrainian children observing soldiers on tanks that’s at least six years old – engage in such obvious deception, we must question everything else they say, and we must also ask the question, why? Why are you trying to play on our emotions? Why aren’t you just reporting the facts and using genuine, contextual photographs to accompany those facts? And why should we believe a single word you say?

#4: The Ghost of Kyiv became an instant ace in downing MiGs.

Parker: Within hours of the Russian invasion, rumors and reports immediately began to swirl from within the beleaguered country of Ukraine that one of their pilots had already shot down six Russian aircraft. As the identity was not fully known, the combination of mystery and national protection catapulted the nameless fighter pilot to hero status, known colloquially as the Ghost of Kyiv. As with the case of Snake Island (see: #6), this story likewise failed to pass the initial smell test. 

Military.com updated the mystery and story surround the alleged ghost, essentially verifying that nothing about it was entirely true, but as was mentioned previously, that spreading false tales of glory has other war-time advantages:

“At the moment, it seems the biggest asset “The Ghost of Kyiv” is bringing to the fight is increasing morale among Ukrainians willing to take up arms against the Russians…[T]he latest example of how governments rely on hero narratives to inspire bravery and boost morale when they’re being oppressed.

Other viral tales have included the “Ukrainian Reaper” — a soldier who was rumored to have 20 kills within the first day of the invasion — as well as the fate of Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island, who at first were reported to have been killed, but it was later announced had been captured.”

No kidding. Apparently, within a day or two of enduring the multi-pronged assault by Putin, Ukraine had unleashed a trifecta of made-for-Hollywood heroes. They had their Red Baron ace pilot defending the sky, they had their John Rambo machine-gunning soldier, and they had their courageous martyrs dying rather than surrendering to the enemy. Add their fatigues-, vest-, and helmet-clad president saying he needed ammunition and not a ride, and suddenly Ukraine looked invincible. 

The best part of this specific propaganda is that the foolish, loserly, contemptible GOP House Rep Adam Kionzinger fell for the obvious photoshop and story of the Ghost. His tweet alone makes this fake news worthwhile. Considering he also fell for the story of the tanks as well, we could almost have made this entire Sunday Six about him and his idiotic interpretation of corproate media coverage.

#3: The pushing of a purported BBC News segment claiming it depicts a military escalation between Russia and NATO.

PF: One aspect of the narrative coming from our media, and to a lesser extent from government officials, that is especially troubling is their representation of the direness of the circumstances; the hype. With this example, a falsified BBC report from four years ago resurfaced on social media and the storyline being promoted was that tensions between NATO and Russia were intensifying and becoming increasingly militaristic. It’s all bogus. 

What’s troubling about this type of disinformation is the motivation, which seems undeniable: it’s about money. Fear, hate, and anger sell. When folks are scared or pissed off, they’re more likely to click on a link, buy a newspaper, or watch a newscast, and the fake news peddlers in our legacy media take their approach to social media to prop up their points.  

We saw it during the Trump Administration when they lied about Trump, encouraged readers/viewers to hate him and get fired up, and then ratings on far-left propaganda outlets such as CNN and MSNBC increased dramatically. Profit takes priority over precision, and journalism ethics are tossed to the side.

It is for this reason that Americans’ trust in our media has plummeted in recent years. In an October poll, only 36% of Americans stated they had at least a fair amount of trust in our media, which means almost two-thirds of the country don’t trust them. The press has often been called the Fourth Branch of Government because of its presumed role of holding the three official branches of government accountable. But if we can’t trust what they tell us, then the media’s effectiveness is completely undermined. Such is the case here. And when Putin asserts the problem of America’s “empire of lies,” the lack of credibility with our media only supports his point. 

#2: A 2012 video of a Palestinian girl defying an Israeli soldier is recycled as if to portray a defiant Ukrianian girl standing up to the Russian invaders.

Parker: I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I am citing a fact-check performed by Snopes to corroborate my third piece for today. Snopes said this story is false, so it obviously is, right? Left-wing fact-checking sites never lie…

In this case, even Snopes had to tell the truth. Of course, in so doing they run just a stupid, upsetting subtitle that says the video in question features a twelve-year-old Palestinian activist. Say what? I get that hardship and life circumstances can age young people faster than fat, lazy, spoiled, brain dead children in America, but an activist? Even Greta was sixteen at least when her parents profited off her autism for the first time. Hell, even Joan of Arc was fourteen when she allegedly led adult men into battle against other adult men. And that;’s when fourteen was considered middle age for most folks! 

What does a pre-teen do for activism? Pretend to fight Israeli soldiers? Egg them on to do something stupid? Give speeches? Seriously, what is she an activist for? Moreover, who listens to her? I get that half this country believes Greta and still believes Anthony Fauci, so don’t get me wrong, there are rumdums out there, but twelve? Ah, whatever.

Maybe it would help to just watch the video:

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#1: The claim that the Ukraine War is Donald Trump’s fault.

PF: Anyone who thought Trump Derangement Syndrome was on the wane has been proven wrong with the reporting and attacks on the former president related to Ukraine. So many on the left become unhinged at the very mention of Trump, and he continues to live rent-free in their craniums.

For those who object to listing this point as a “lie” that’s been told and claim instead that such matters are opinions and not facts, they are wrong. We are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts. And to suggest that instead of Joe Biden it is Donald Trump, or any other former president for that matter, who is responsible for the Ukraine bloodbath is flat-out false.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 23rd, which was more than thirteen months after Trump left office and Biden entered. During that period, Biden orchestrated one of the biggest blunders in American presidential history with his complete botching of Afghanistan. The most detrimental side effect of Biden’s Afghanistan debacle was the irrefutable message of weakness that it sent to leaders such as Putin and China’s Xi Jinping. And that signaling of weakness is what set the stage for Ukraine. Putin wouldn’t have pulled this stunt if Biden hadn’t shit the bed in Afghanistan.

Strong leaders don’t just leave a country to a group of Neanderthals that helped murder 3,000 of your citizens like Biden did with the Taliban, only weak leaders do. Strong leaders don’t implement a half-baked plan that leaves behind billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment to those same thugs, only weak leaders do. And strong leaders don’t turn their backs on foreign citizens who helped us fight a twenty-year war and then leave them for dead like Biden did, only weak leaders do. Putin saw these facts and he calculated that Biden would be equally weak with Ukraine… and he was right.