Tranquillus in Exile
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At 08:00 Moscow time we tune in for the morning bulletin from television channel NTV, which is owned by a subsidiary of Gazprom. It concentrates almost exclusively on events in Donbas, where Russia began its "special military operation" to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine.
"We start with the latest news from Donbas. Luhansk People's Republic fighters continue their offensive, having advanced 3km, while Donetsk People's Republic units have advanced 16km," the NTV presenter says.
On Rossiya 1 and Channel One - Russia's two most popular channels, both state-controlled - Ukrainian forces are accused of war crimes in the Donbas. The threat to civilians in Ukraine comes from Ukrainian nationalists, says the Rossiya 1 presenter. "They use civilians as human shields, deliberately positioning strike systems in residential areas and stepping up the shelling of cities in Donbas."
Channel One's presenter announces that Ukrainian troops "are preparing to shell residential houses" and bomb warehouses with ammonia, in "acts of provocation against civilians and Russian forces".
Russian morning news bulletins barely mention its army's offensives in other parts of Ukraine. State TV correspondents are not reporting on the ground from places like Kyiv and Kharkiv, the two major cities that have seen shelling of people's homes. Instead, they are embedded with troops in Donbas.
But by the afternoon edition of the news, NTV finally mentions the news event that has dominated hours of coverage on the BBC - the bombardment of Kharkiv. However, it debunks any claims that Russian forces are responsible, calling them fake:
"Judging by the trajectory of the missile, the strike was delivered from the north-west where there are no Russian forces," the presenter says.
Four hours later, a bulletin by Rossiya 1 goes further, blaming Ukraine itself for the bombardment:
"To strike Kharkiv and say that it was Russia, Ukraine is hitting its own and is lying to the West. But is it possible to deceive the people?" it asks.
Increasing numbers of younger Russians get their news from independent websites or social media, and the longer the war goes on, the more images of death and destruction are surfacing. But the authorities are responding to this and turning the screws on independent reporting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60571737
'My city is being shelled, but my mom won’t believe me'
Oleksandra and her four dogs have been sheltering in the bathroom of her flat in Kharkiv since the shelling began. The 25-year-old has been speaking regularly to her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in these conversations, and even after sending videos of the bombardment, Oleksandra is unable to convince her mother of the danger she is in.
"I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them directly that civilians and children are dying," she says. "But even though they worry about me, they still say it probably happens only by accident, that the Russian army would never target civilians. That it's Ukrainians who are killing their own people."
Oleksandra says her mother just repeats the narratives of what she hears on Russian state TV. "It really scared me when my mum exactly quoted Russian TV. They are just brainwashing people. And people trust them," says Oleksandra. "My parents understand that some military action is happening here. But they say: 'Russians came to liberate you. They won't ruin anything, they won't touch you. They're only targeting military bases'."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60600487
"We start with the latest news from Donbas. Luhansk People's Republic fighters continue their offensive, having advanced 3km, while Donetsk People's Republic units have advanced 16km," the NTV presenter says.
On Rossiya 1 and Channel One - Russia's two most popular channels, both state-controlled - Ukrainian forces are accused of war crimes in the Donbas. The threat to civilians in Ukraine comes from Ukrainian nationalists, says the Rossiya 1 presenter. "They use civilians as human shields, deliberately positioning strike systems in residential areas and stepping up the shelling of cities in Donbas."
Channel One's presenter announces that Ukrainian troops "are preparing to shell residential houses" and bomb warehouses with ammonia, in "acts of provocation against civilians and Russian forces".
Russian morning news bulletins barely mention its army's offensives in other parts of Ukraine. State TV correspondents are not reporting on the ground from places like Kyiv and Kharkiv, the two major cities that have seen shelling of people's homes. Instead, they are embedded with troops in Donbas.
But by the afternoon edition of the news, NTV finally mentions the news event that has dominated hours of coverage on the BBC - the bombardment of Kharkiv. However, it debunks any claims that Russian forces are responsible, calling them fake:
"Judging by the trajectory of the missile, the strike was delivered from the north-west where there are no Russian forces," the presenter says.
Four hours later, a bulletin by Rossiya 1 goes further, blaming Ukraine itself for the bombardment:
"To strike Kharkiv and say that it was Russia, Ukraine is hitting its own and is lying to the West. But is it possible to deceive the people?" it asks.
Increasing numbers of younger Russians get their news from independent websites or social media, and the longer the war goes on, the more images of death and destruction are surfacing. But the authorities are responding to this and turning the screws on independent reporting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60571737
'My city is being shelled, but my mom won’t believe me'
Oleksandra and her four dogs have been sheltering in the bathroom of her flat in Kharkiv since the shelling began. The 25-year-old has been speaking regularly to her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in these conversations, and even after sending videos of the bombardment, Oleksandra is unable to convince her mother of the danger she is in.
"I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them directly that civilians and children are dying," she says. "But even though they worry about me, they still say it probably happens only by accident, that the Russian army would never target civilians. That it's Ukrainians who are killing their own people."
Oleksandra says her mother just repeats the narratives of what she hears on Russian state TV. "It really scared me when my mum exactly quoted Russian TV. They are just brainwashing people. And people trust them," says Oleksandra. "My parents understand that some military action is happening here. But they say: 'Russians came to liberate you. They won't ruin anything, they won't touch you. They're only targeting military bases'."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60600487
