Voltaire reportedly said that those who can persuade one to believe absurdities will lead one to commit atrocities. In contemporary politics Russia’s stance on Ukraine represents a cardinal example of the enduring validity of his remark. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently restated three lies: there are no Russian troops in the Donbas, the conflict in eastern Ukraine is a civil war, not a Russian invasion, and the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014 had nothing to do with Russian forces. All of these are bold-face lies. No amount of prevarication can obscure fact, although the Kremlin has tried mightily. (For an in-depth look at how Russia has changed its MH17 narrative, Aric Toler’s analysis is first-rate.)
Murder In The Sky: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17
Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Stephen Blank: What Lavrov’s lies mean for Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a Security Council meeting on Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Jan. 18.
