Russia’s war against Ukraine is above all a propaganda war.
Propaganda spreads fear and false information.
For this reason, working as a Western journalist in separatist-held territories is dangerous and unpredictable. You simply never know what to expect.
If you ask critical questions, it might take seconds for a separatist fighter to accuse you of being a Kyiv spy. Although Western journalists have never been a direct lethal target in the conflict, it remains a challenge to provide good, unbiased and critical coverage of the war.
Most fighters in the separatist-held territories claim they fight against “fascism” and “neo-Nazis,” associating Ukraine with Stepan Bandera.
Like in any country, there is an extreme-right group in Ukraine, but it is only a small portion and doesn’t reflect Ukraine at all.
Russian media search for every opportunity to use the Ukrainian extreme-right groups like Right Sector as an example how Ukrainian society looks like: “fascism.” The result: fear and disgust. Who would want to live in a country full of “fascists?”
At the first separatist-held checkpoint an armed Kremlin-backed fighter asked a young woman if she was a “fascist.” The woman laughed, maybe because she was nervous, I don’t know. However, the separatist fighter then asked her if her brother or father was a “fascist.”
No,” she said, still laughing, but unsure if the separatist fighter was being serious.
In the end he was “joking,” though it rather looked like pure intimidation of an innocent, young woman.
The propaganda, though, affects those fighting on the side of Russia and its separatist proxies as well.
During my time in Donetsk I have always wondered how come so many separatist fighters accuse Ukraine of “fascism.” It is a word that they hear from the mouths of their separatist leaders and Russian propaganda channels. However, when asking separatist fighters the question why, none could answer that question. Many even got angry for asking it. “Fascists and Banderists are one and the same!” yelled one Kremlin-backed fighter at me, but he didn’t want to explain it to “European liars.”
As a European I can only say that accusing Ukraine of “fascism” is an insult to all Europeans who have endured real fascism during World War II. Actually it is also an insult to Russians who have also faced fascism during World War II. The question of why Russia and its separatist proxies keep calling Ukraine a “fascist country” remains unclear, and can only be seen as a way of propaganda to spread fear.
This fear makes it difficult for Western journalists – seen as the enemy – to provide good coverage.
Reporting about the war in east Ukraine and more specifically within the separatist-held territories is one thing. But a journalist is obliged to ask critical questions. Criticism is mostly associated with “collaborating with the Kyiv government,” and that makes it hard when reporting about sensitive topics. Good journalism comes with good critical questions. This is a challenge in Donetsk, but intimidation alone should not be a reason to not be critical.
Kyiv Post contributor Stefan Huijboom is a Dutch journalist.
