MOSCOW, August 25 (RIA Novosti) – Although Russia's humanitarian mission has been successfully accomplished despite gloomy predictions of a Russian invasion,' made by NATO top officials and western media sources, the West continues to spread a false narrative about the Russian convoy.
"Despite fact that the humanitarian nature of the mission had been confirmed (and Kiev had again been caught in a lie) the White House today described the convoy in terms that purposely suggested it was a military Trojan horse," wrote Daniel McAdams, the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, in his article "US/NATO slam Russian Aid to Eastern Ukraine," published on August, 22.
Mr. McAdams cited the official statement made by Washington, as saying: "Today, in violation of its previous commitments and international law, Russian military vehicles painted to look like civilian trucks forced their way into Ukraine." Commenting on the White House's claims Daniel McAdams asked rhetorically: "The type and color of vehicles matter more than the contents?"
Meanwhile the BBC and the CNN has reported that the convoy returned from the eastern Ukraine to Russia. However, they are still expressing concerns regarding the convoy, suggesting that it could contain military equipment. However, no clear evidence has been presented by the media outlets. The Foreign Policy underscores that only 34 trucks had been inspected by Ukrainian customs in its article "A White Shining Lie," written by columnist Michael Weiss. The question remains open why other trucks had left unexamined since the Ukrainian customs service had enough time and opportunity to inspect them.
"Several days ago western journalists were offered the opportunity to inspect any of the vehicles at random and none discovered the military Trojan horse that the Kiev government insisted was packed away in the vehicles," stressed Daniel McAdams, adding that even journalists from media outlets highly critical of Russia admitted that the trucks contained humanitarian aid.
Mr. McAdams also pointed out that NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen falsely accused Russia of entering Ukraine "without any involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross." The Executive Director of Ron Paul Institute emphasized that the ICRC and the Russian Red Cross had praised the mission. On the other hand Michael Weiss admits that Raisa Lukutsova, the head of Russia's national Red Cross Society, "supported Moscow's decision to dispatch the convoy," according to Interfax.
However, ICRC representatives refused to accompany the convoy, referring to the threat posed by heavy shelling.
We've not received sufficient security guarantees from the fighting parties. Our team in #Lugansk reports heavy shelling overnight. #Ukraine
— ICRC (@ICRC) 22 августа 2014
"In other words, Rasmussen's own allies in Kiev had prevented ICRC involvement in the mission by their shelling of Lugansk," stressed Daniel McAdams.
One other fact sparks conspiracy theories spread by western media sources.
Trucks "were found to be much lighter in load than they needed to be," claims Michael Weiss, adding that "according the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine …vehicles were loaded to two-thirds of their capacity."
Michael Weiss, however, does not clarify why he considers this fact suspicious. It should be noted that two weeks ago a representative of the humanitarian mission explained that the trucks were filled half or two-thirds of their capacity in order to transport the cargo in case if some of trucks broke down. He added that due to the hard conditions of the cargo transportation the speed of the column was as well critical: evidently, "half-empty" trucks could move faster, he stressed.
Still, rational explanations do not satisfy those who are inclined to consider any Russia's move as "aggression." Russian military vehicles moving on the territory of Russia looked suspicious for international correspondents:
A dozen of these have just passed by us in the direction of the border. Cannot confirm that is where they're heading. pic.twitter.com/XOya5Z9NT4
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) 15 августа 2014
The Telegraph's Roland Oliphant and the Guardian's Shaun Walker claimed that Russian military column crossed the border of Ukraine. Surprisingly, no photographic or video evidence had been attached to their tweets.
So @RolandOliphant and I just saw a column of APCs and vehicles with official Russian military plates cross border into Ukraine.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) 14 августа 2014
.@shaunwalker7 and I just witnessed a not insubstantial column of APCs and trucks slipping across the border into Ukraine.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) 14 августа 2014
Polish news station TVN24's Wojciech Bojanowski published a photo, claiming it was taken exactly in a place where Russian military crossed the Russo-Ukrainian border:
The hole in the fence where @shaunwalker7 and @RolandOliphant saw the russian transporterters crossing the border pic.twitter.com/L3TPjKVQjt
— Wojciech Bojanowski (@BojanowskiW) 22 августа 2014
Alas, this "evidence" did not look convincing:
@BojanowskiW @shaunwalker7 @RolandOliphant Where is russian troops? Is it border?where is the russian or ukrainian boundary posts? It's tale
— Alexey Borodulin (@avborodulin) 22 августа 2014
NATO and western mass media have been reporting of the non-existent Russia's aggression for months, but yet none of them have presented any proof.
