Western mainstream media have ramped up the "Russian threat" narrative with reports of Russian troop deployments in Belarus amid an unfolding migrant crisis at the Belarusian border with Poland.
The Daily Mail ran a story on Friday titled "East and West go toe-to-toe", focusing on how Russia is carrying out "snap military drills in Belarus [...], as fears grow that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin is preparing for an invasion in eastern Europe". The report emphasises that the drills are taking place "just 20 miles from where thousands of migrants are gathered at the Polish border".
Belarus stresses that the drills were launched in response to a "military build-up" on its borders. Warsaw has amassed 15,000 troops and invited British soldiers to its eastern border as migrants from the Middle East try to make their way to the EU through Belarus.
However, the British deployment in Poland has not sparked a proportionate storm in the Western media - even in the wake of Russia and Belarus unveiling an integration plan that envisages the coordination of migration and security policies.
The Russians are Coming?!
The Polish storyline fits perfectly into the "Russia warmongering" narrative that has dominated the tabloids in recent days.
As of Friday, the front pages of outlets such as The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Mirror, and many others were filled with articles dedicated to the alleged plans of a "Russian invasion" or the Russian drills in Belarus - or both at the same time.
Screenshot of the front page of "The Mirror"
© Photo : https://www.mirror.co.uk/
Screenshot of the front page "The Daily Mail"
© Photo : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
Screenshot of the front page of "The Sun"
© Photo : https://thesun.co.uk/
The hot topic was also not left unnoticed by the UK's Daily Express, which rolled out a report titled "Putin warmongering hits UK", dedicated to how a British plane was diverted from the south-western part of the Crimean Peninsula by a Russian Su-30 fighter, underlining that it happened" after Russia sent two nuclear bombers over Belarus as the dispute between Belarus and Poland intensifies".
"VLADIMIR PUTIN has added to growing war fears after a British spy plane was diverted as it approached the Russian border in Crimea, just a day after it sent nuclear bombers over Belarus", the report reads, without elaborating on how diverting a foreign plane from a state border could add to "growing war fears".
Screenshot of The Daily Express report titled "Putin warmongering hits UK - British spy plane diverted after nuclear planes over Belarus"
© Photo : https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1520114/Russia-news-Vladimir-putin-uk-spy-plan-diverted
The Daily Express goes on to cite Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who went even further and put the blame for the ongoing migrant crisis between Belarus and Poland on Russia.
“This attack which Lukashenko is conducting has its mastermind in Moscow, the mastermind is President Putin", Morawiecki said, as cited by the outlet.
A cascade of such stories ensued after Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the United States had "privately alerted their European allies" of a possible "Russian invasion" allegedly being planned by the Kremlin.
'Russian Invasion'
Amid the media-fuelled "invasion" hysteria, reports about Russian troop movements near Ukraine were denied by Moscow as "groundless".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov underlined that the movements of Russian troops, as long as they take place within the country's own territory, should not be a cause for anyone's concerns.
"We go about our own business, and we take measures to ensure our security if necessary if some provocative actions by our opponents occur near our borders", he said, referring to how NATO continues to "actively and assertively" operate in the vicinity of the Russian borders.
Concerns voiced in the Western media in regard to the Russian-Belarusian military drills come amid Moscow and Minsk continuing their efforts to establish stronger defence ties between the two countries under the Union State agreement.
"As recent events have shown, the Union’s regional grouping of troops is a reliable security shield not only for our countries but also for the entire post-Soviet space. President [of Russia Vladimir Putin] and I do not hide our intentions to bolster this grouping in the future", Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in early November.
A decree on Russia-Belarus Union State integration was signed by Putin and Lukashenko on 4 November, envisaging a new strategy for military cooperation between the two countries and a coordinated migration policy between Russia and Belarus.