Since the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, European media landscape has been dominated not only by an aggressive and uncompromising imposition of an untruthful interpretation of its nature and objectives, but also by spread of fake news. One of striking examples is the notorious story of the "heroic death" of Ukrainian border guards from Snake Island who in reality wisely and peacefully surrendered to Russian marines, something that Kiev eventually had to acknowledge.
Alas, high-ranking EU officials – High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen – got involved in these unseemly deliberations. They publicly claimed that on 9 March 2022 Russia had allegedly shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol with women and children inside.
This story is nothing else but another cynical provocation by Kiev. An objective analysis of the photos and videos available reveals that the munition was detonated by Ukrainian formations, to be followed by an inept theatrical performance carried out in style of the notorious "White Helmets", aimed at sensitive Europeans and Americans who received this fake story from the incumbent Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in person. Moreover, it could not have been an air strike at all, as in that case the nature and extent of the damage would have been altogether different.
We would like to point out that as early as the beginning of March, Russian media reported, quoting eyewitnesses, that Neo-Nazis and war criminals within official Ukrainian formations blocked in the city, in violation of international humanitarian and legal norms and conventions, took up positions in the territory of medical facilities, forcing staff and patients out. On 7 March 2022, Russia brought this fact to the attention of the UN Security Council.
The Permanent Mission calls on the EU leadership, journalists and the public opinion in Member States to follow their own fact-checking guidelines carefully, stop blindly trusting the torrent of disinformation originating from the bankrupt Kiev regime, thereby putting their own reputation at risk.
