On March 14th Russian state television was delivering to the nation what had become a daily bulletin regarding the progress of the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. It was, as one can imagine, a trenchant espousal of the official position: Not only had there been no invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainians, egged on by the rest of the world, were pushing the fake news that there had been such an invasion. Worse still, whilst being the promulgators of fake news, the Ukrainians had the audacity to accuse the Russians of planning ‘false flag’ operations. They were issuing the fake news that Russia was in the act of constructing fake news.

But hold on a minute, because it was at this point that a young news editor called Marina Ovsyannikova burst in on the broadcast brandishing a placard that dismissed the Russian position as a litany of lies and propaganda. The news that Ukraine was pushing fake news that Russia was pushing fake news was, in fact, fake news.

But hold on a minute. It wasn’t very long before the young lady was placed under arrest. The next day she appeared in court accused of spreading malicious misinformation. According to the courts, it was fake news that the Russians were engaging in fake news by accusing the Ukrainians of falsely accusing the Russians of engaging in fake news.

But hold on a minute. It wasn’t very long before a number of Ukrainian politicians were smelling a rat. It seemed highly suspicious that Marina (if that was her real name) was fined only 30 000 roubles for accusing Russians of engaging in fake news by falsely accusing the Ukrainians of falsely accusing the Russians of engaging in fake news. Surely she was a plant, just another false flag operation intended to make the Russians look more tolerant then they were. It was, in fact, fake news that she was sincere in accusing Russians of engaging in fake news by accusing the Ukrainians of falsely accusing the Russians of engaging in fake news.

But hold on a minute. Who are these Ukrainian politicians? Isn’t this accusation the very sort of false ‘false flag’ accusation that the Russians had been complaining about all along? By accusing the Russians of engaging in the faked accusation that they had themselves been engaging in a fake accusation that the Ukrainians had been issuing a fake accusation that the Russian were faking the news, are they not just waving the ‘false flag’ flag falsely?

But hold on a minute. I’m an incorrigible sceptic. And are we all not hapless conspiracy theorists? So am I not bound to suggest that Ukrainian politicians are engaging in propaganda by suggesting that the Russians would fake an allegation of fakery regarding their allegations of Ukrainian fakery of Russian fakery? I have a conspiracy theory that the Ukrainians are claiming the conspiracy theory that the Russians have themselves conspired to fake an accusation of them conspiring that the Ukrainians have falsely accused the Russians of conspiracy, but actually the Ukrainians don’t really believe this. Would you?

Yes, I see it all so clearly now.

Meanwhile, back at the vaccine factory, the scientists are discussing global warming…

13 Comments

  1. John,

    Many thanks for raising a wan smile about a serious subject. And I spotted that buried deep in there, you make a serious point.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. Yes, Mark, please let it not be said that I am seeking to trivialize. It is often said that truth is the first real casualty of war. However, I have two difficulties with that statement:

    1) We seemed to have already done a pretty good job of making a mockery of ‘truth’ without the need to go to war

    2) The real casualties are dying in front of my very eyes every day on my TV screen

    Liked by 2 people

  3. I think the light court fee is the most telling aspect: Russians are seeing through Putin and are tired of the. neo-Tsar

    Like

  5. My understanding is that the fine was for the video she made. She may yet be criminally charged for the TV stunt. It is puzzling though that she got so much media access with a very public release.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. This recitation of multiple facets to what initially seemed a simple tale of a news editor who couldn’t take it anymore appears to be one of multiple emissions of hot air, all contributing to global warming aka climate chaos. You’ve also made my head ache.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I thought it was nuts that the UK media parroted a line
    .. that she got a light court sentence
    That obviously doesn’t sound fully truthful.

    I expect she’ll suffer other bigger long term consequences.

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  9. 6 hours after the 1st reports of the Mariupol theatre bombing, Guardian and BBC live feeds have just 2 photos of the scene – smoking ruins & no-one in sight. Up to 1200 under the rubble and no rescuers, ambulances, firemen nothing.

    Could this be the first false flag to be hoisted with its own petard?

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Geoff. Upon what basis do you throw about the assertion that the bombing of a theatre at Mariupol could be a ‘false flag’ operation – that there are few images and that they do not show any rescue activity? I would have thought that a more likely explanation is that, following the encirclement of the city and the exhaustion of supplies – food, water, and fuel (often referred to for more than a week now) there may not be enough fuel to send rescue equipment to the theatre.

    Just listened to a BBC news item that people were using an underground shelter, but their exit is prevented by damage to the building.

    What is it with all these underground shelters? I think to my own nearby city -Norwich, and cannot identify more than just a few.

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  11. I’m surprised that any civilians in Mariupol would have enough charge left on their phones to be able to send out any photos.

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  12. Is there no aspect of this conflict that can be trusted? Now the BBC is reporting on its live feed that ESA has suspended co-operation with Russia on its joint ExoMars Rover project. A picture is shown of a working prototype, claiming it to be taken at a location within Stevenage. However, it seems obvious to me that the picture was taken on Mars and has been doctored to make it appear to be that of a warehouse somewhere in Stevenage. This is mind-blowing. Think about it. They have already landed on Mars and are spending millions to make out that they haven’t!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60774819?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=62333dadec502b53cd4828b1%26European%20Space%20Agency%20suspends%20joint%20Russia%20Mars%20project%262022-03-17T15%3A29%3A27.971Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:ffbc63f8-fd50-4c70-aa22-d35c8659070c&pinned_post_asset_id=62333dadec502b53cd4828b1&pinned_post_type=share

    Like

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