The distinguished author, who graduated in 2014, cited as evidence the baseless tweets of a Syrian teacher and activist Abdulkafi Alhamdo who, standing against some white wall which could have been virtually anywhere, urged his audience, carefully cultivated on social media, not to "forgive Russia, Assad, and Iran" after his death and "let them pay the price."
Taub then hastily labelled the release of the civilians, who had been previously prevented from fleeing the city by their benevolent jihadist overlords and were shot dead when they tried to do so, as a "crime against humanity."
Commenting on the article, Kirill Koktysh, Russian political scientist, associate professor of International Politics at Moscow-based MGIMO University, explained that Washington needs stories like these to "save its face."
"It is being done to save the face. Russia has been and still remains a subject to be attacked with information," he told Radio Sputnik.
However these accusations have been roughly and hastily fabricated, he added. All of this is clear falsification in favor of the agenda these countries have been previously pushing through.
The magazine may profit from increasing its circulation, he said, regardless of the truth of the assertions.
The political scientist suggested that such misinformation might resonate with some audiences, however doubted that the political establishment would take it seriously.
"However if they believe in bears walking along the streets in Russia and drinking vodka then I would assume those very people will buy it," he told Sputnik.
Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!
