‘Moving, But Completely Fake’: Russian Diplomat Catches State Department in a Lie About Ukraine Op
19:12 GMT 01.03.2022 (Updated: 23:18 GMT 01.03.2022)
© AFP 2023 / SUSAN WALSH
Subscribe
The Russian military operation in Ukraine has been accompanied by an unprecedented number of videos, tweets and social media posts painting conflicting and often contradictory pictures of the reality on the ground, with the campaign of information and misinformation becoming just as important in winning hearts and minds as the operation itself.
Russian deputy ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy has caught US officials in a bald-faced lie in their reporting on the Russian operation in Ukraine.
US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman and State Department spokesman Ned Price posted a viral video snippet from Ukrainian UN ambassador to Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya’s speech on Monday reading what the Ukrainian diplomat claimed was a smartphone texting exchange between a Russian soldier and his mother.
“‘Mama, this is so hard.’ That was the last text this Russian mother received from her son before he was killed during fighting in Ukraine. President Putin putting Russians’ lives at risk. #StopTheLies,” Price wrote in a tweet accompanying the video.
“Moving, but completely fake.” Polyanskiy responded. “Soldiers do not use phones, especially with internet access, during combat actions. Nor do they carry passports which is common in other fakes on allegedly killed or captured Russian servicemen,” the diplomat wrote.
Moving, but completely fake. Soldiers do not use phones, especially with internet access, during combat actions. Nor do they carry passports which is common in other fakes on allegedly killed or captured Russian servicemen #fakenews https://t.co/4GMdgQr4EO
— Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) March 1, 2022
In a second tweet, Polyanskiy posted a link to an “anti-fake guide” on China’s WeChat “for our Chinese friends who are also actively targeted by #Ukraine fake-makers.” The guide dissects dozens upon dozens of images posted by Western media and authorities in recent days about the Ukraine crisis turning out to have nothing to do with the crisis.
An anti-fake guide for our Chinese friends who are also actively targeted by #Ukraine fake-makers @ChinaAmbUN @CHN_UN_NY @Chinamission2un https://t.co/ge3DAa6K35
— Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) March 1, 2022
The tremendous amount of fake information being generated online in connection with the Russian military operation in Ukraine has prompted even traditional mainstream US media to create guides for spotting fakes.
On Monday, Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia addressed the spread of "fake news" related to the Russian operation in Ukraine, including claims that troops were deliberately targeting civilians.
