“Simply put, the Ukraine narrative bears all the hallmarks of another coordinated misinformation campaign. Those who are falling for it need to ask themselves why they should trust anything put out by our thoroughly corrupt corporate media given their consistent record of lying, distortion, and all-around treachery.”—Vasko Kohlmayer
Ukraine oligarch Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the parliament in Greece as he continues to promote a continuation of war asking for more weapons and more sanctions against Russia.
However, Zelenskyy’s address was marred by the fact a member of the Azov Battalion, which is part of the Ukraine military, followed Zelenskyy’s speech, according to euractiv.com.
That member of the Azov Battalion told the Greek government that he’s “one of those people who is defending our native city of Mariupol where I was born at, where I was raised, as a member of the Azov regiment,” adding: “Now, I’m at war with the Russian Nazis.”
That’s an interesting line of attack considering the Azov’s are open Nazis.
“The speech of members of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in the Greek Parliament is a provocation. The absolute responsibility lies with the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis,” said Alexis Tsipras, member of Greece’s Syriza party and the leader of the official opposition to Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party. “He talked about a historic day, but it is a historic shame. The solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But the Nazis cannot have a say in parliament.”
“The legitimization of the Nazis is an indelible image of shame from the Greek Parliament ND, SYRIZA and KINAL have allowed the cradle of democracy to be turned into a defender of Nazi atrocities, on the black anniversary of 81 years since the Nazi attack on Greece,” said Greek Solution party member Kyriakos Velopoulos, according to The European Conservative.
Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis Tweeted: “Our Parliament did not invite a Nazi. It invited the President of Ukraine (Zelenskyy). It was the President of Ukraine who brought along the Nazi.
There’s been little coverage of a member of the Nazi Azov Battalion addressing the Greek Government outside of Greek media. After a search of American media, I could only find one thing from the Wall Street Journal which was just a photo with the caption: “Members of the Greek government applauded as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a virtual address to the Greek parliament in Athens on Thursday.”
As for Zelenskyy, he told the Greek government: “I have been waking up every day for more than a month thinking about Mariupol, which is being destroyed by Russian troops. There are still 100,000 people on the border with Mariupol. There is no building left. Mariupol has been destroyed.”
More important than the Azov kerfuffle, a bigger question is whether or not anything Zelenskyy is saying is true.
Patrick Lancaster, an American independent journalist working in Ukraine, has been covering the conflict. Mariupol, a southeastern city in Ukraine, does look destroyed based on Lancaster’s videos, but it isn’t Russians destroying the city according to locals who spoke to him. It’s Zelenskyy’s forces, and the Azov Battalion in particular.
In a March 31 video, Lancaster showed the rubble in the city and with one man saying, “Beat these Ukrainians. They destroyed our houses to such a f***ing extent.” A woman, referring to the Ukraine military, says: “They bombed the city. People had jobs and everything. Now there is nothing, everything was bombed.”
Another man told Lancaster that Ukraine’s military is placing tanks next to schools and residential homes and shooting at civilians.
In an April 5 video, Lancaster showed more destruction, and a man, who said he was 65 years old, told him: “While I was standing at the entrance to the building, a sniper from the factory tried to shoot me twice. I managed to hide.”
Asked who the snipers were, the man replied: “From Azov. They are villains…. They shoot at civilians. They kill and destroy buildings…. They don’t shoot the military, only civilians…. They eliminate civilians. They are actual fascists.”
Speaking with another group of people, a man states: “Europe and US claim that only Russia is here. Russia doesn’t shoot at people at all.”
A woman chimes in: “If not for Russia, we would be hungry here. Our children would be hungry. We couldn’t even find some water…. Huge thanks to Russia. But Ukrainians destroy us. We live in fear in basements.”
In the city of Donetsk, which is north of Mariupol, Lancaster spoke to more people in an April 6 video, and it was more of the same.
“They probably like it,” one man tells Lancaster of the Ukraine military. “They’ve been shelling us here for 8 years. For 8 years they’ve been shooting.”
Asked if there’s military in Donetsk that Ukraine may be targeting to which the man responds: “What military? There are people here. Can you see here any tanks? Nothing. Only civilians.”
Lancaster told another man that American and Western media is saying it’s Russia destroying these cities. He replied simply: “Are they nuts? What Russia?”
Remember, this is coming from the people on the ground, the civilians in Ukraine. It gives credence to the Feb. 24 message from Vladimir Putin when he announced Russian troops would be entering Ukraine. If the American media and the political class is so hellbent on pushing war, the American people have an obligation to seek out the truth and hear both sides before they join the war chorus.