One trend I’ve noticed recently is how whatever Zelensky says is reported as if true. There is no critical gap at all. This is an example, in the Guardian:
Ahead of the Geneva meeting, Zelenskyy made clear Ukraine was unwilling to give up territory in the Donbas – a key Kremlin demand. He cited previous Russian land grabs in Chechnya, Georgia and Crimea and said that “allowing the aggressor to take something is a big mistake” [1]
There is nothing in the Guardian which questions any of that. Zelensky “cited”. Where is the “falsely claimed”, at least in relation to Chechnya which was Russian territory, and so cannot have been “grabbed” any more than England could “grab” Wales if there was an arned separatatist movement there and the British army was called in?! In the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, which even the EU admitted Georgia started, [2] two territories with their own history of seeking independence from Georgia fell under Russian influence. So, this was not a “land grab” either. The annexation of Crimea was indeed an annexation, or to use the loaded pejorative term, a “land grab”, but the propagandists are unlikely to mention that there was a Russian ethnic majority in Crimea and multiple Western opinion polls have confirmed the referendum result. [3]
It is a pity that journalists deploy such little journalistic questioning, in fact, none at at all. They just serve up the words of Zelensky, who knows exactly what to provide these people with. It is a propaganda not journalism.
Notes
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/16/ukraine-russia-second-round-talks-fourth-anniversary-war
- https://www.reuters.com/article/world/georgia-started-war-with-russia-eu-backed-report-idUSTRE58T4MO/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/03/20/one-year-after-russia-annexed-crimea-locals-prefer-moscow-to-kiev/&ved=2ahUKEwjC59OY1d-SAxWuLRAIHZpZMZoQFnoECCAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3l4VvXjKJ308EjjvJLGR1l