Tag: Accession of Ukraine to the European Union

Ukraine’s ‘Press Freedom’ Score Increases Despite Martial Law, Banned Media

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Source.

France-based press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) recently released its scores and rankings for international press freedom. In 2022, RSF gave Ukraine a score of 55.76 out of 100, placing it 106th out of 180 countries surveyed. In the most recent report, issued after over a year of war, Ukraine shot to 79th out of 180, with a new score of 61.19. This despite wartime measures that banned opposition parties, consolidated media under state control, and saw journalists’ speech chilled by unprecedented intimidation.

Ukraine’s ‘Press Freedom’ Score Increases Despite Martial Law, Banned Media

Related:

NGOs, “Unions”, & Media Outlets in the Service of Imperialism

Members of Zelensky’s party introduce internet censorship bill

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Members of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party have introduced a bill to criminalize the spread of “false information” on the internet and through social media that violates Ukraine’s “national security.”

Members of Zelensky’s party introduce internet censorship bill

Related:

How The FBI Helps Ukrainian Intelligence Hunt ‘Disinformation’ On Social Media

Odessa after the massacre: nine years later the wounds are still fresh

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

The burning alive of antifascist protestors in Odessa’s trade union building on 2 May 2014 sent shock waves round the world. But the perpetrators of this heinous crime, far from being brought to book, have been rewarded with promotions and immunity. These are the ‘democrats’ our rulers are funding in their obsessive quest to destroy Russia.

Odessa after the massacre: nine years later the wounds are still fresh

Zelensky regime leads request for social media platforms to censor “disinformation”

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine has spearheaded a collective call to action, joining forces with seven other Central and Eastern European nations to combat “disinformation” on social media platforms.

Zelensky regime leads request for social media platforms to censor “disinformation”

Related:

A joint letter from European heads of government to global technology companies on the need to engage in the fight against disinformation

Social media has become a potent channel for spreading false and manipulative narratives. Paid ads and artificial amplification on Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, are often used to call for violent social unrest, bring violence to the streets and destabilize governments.

Wider Europe Briefing: Ukraine’s Big Plan To Fight Russian Disinformation And Why The EU Is Stalling On Belarus Sanctions

Now, Kyiv wants to repeat the trick by starting an “Information Ramstein” to combat Russian disinformation on a larger scale.

Deep Background: In a letter written by Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko and addressed to the European commissioner responsible for transparency and values, Vera Jourova, he notes that “Ukraine is up against Russia’s vast and centralized information warfare and international influence machine, which includes assets from troll farms to state media, energy companies to corruption networks. Though it cannot compete in terms of scale, Ukraine does have one huge advantage: It can ally with its international partners to create coordinated, targeted, joint-influence operations.”

Hypocritical White House Wants to Form a Bogus Tribunal to Prosecute Russian Leader for War Crimes

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment
Oh, the irony!?

After months of indecision, the Joe Biden administration has come out in favor of using international mechanisms to punish Russian officials for the “crime of aggression” in Ukraine. The White House has resisted Kiev’s effort to prosecute President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders at the International Crime Court (ICC) over fears that American officials could face similar accountability

White House Wants to Form International Tribunal to Prosecute Russian Leader for War Crimes

Related:

Iraq, Ukraine, And a World Without Accountability

How Zelensky was Prevented From Making Peace in the Donbas

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A true story censored by the media bubble

There are two Volodymyr Zelenskys: the one we have known since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, who has since been celebrated every day in the Western media as a hero with a spotless white (or green) vest; the other, who was less well-known prior to this significant escalation of the war, which, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, began in 2014. (Here are details on the actual start of this war in 2014).

How Zelensky was Prevented From Making Peace in the Donbas

Opinion: Blinken ponders the post-Ukraine-war order

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Opinion: Blinken ponders the post-Ukraine-war order

Crimea is a particular point of discussion. There is a widespread view in Washington and Kyiv that regaining Crimea by military force may be impossible. Any Ukrainian military advances this year in Zaporizhzhia oblast, the land bridge that connects Crimea and Russia, could threaten Russian control. But an all-out Ukrainian campaign to seize the Crimean Peninsula is unrealistic, many U.S. and Ukrainian officials believe. That’s partly because Putin has indicated that an assault on Crimea would be a tripwire for nuclear escalation.

The administration shares Ukraine’s insistence that Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014, must eventually be returned. But in the short run, what’s crucial for Kyiv is that Crimea no longer serve as a base for attacks against Ukraine. One formula that interests me would be a demilitarized status, with questions of final political control deferred. Ukrainian officials told me last year that they had discussed such possibilities with the administration.

As Blinken weighs options in Ukraine, he has been less worried about escalation risks than some observers. That’s partly because he believes Russia is checked by NATO’s overwhelming power. “Putin continues to hold some things in reserve because of his misplaced fear that NATO might attack Russia,” explained the official familiar with Blinken’s thinking. This Russian reserve force includes strategic bombers, certain precision-guided weapons and, of course, tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.

Are they really this delusional?!