Posted on 09/01/2015 4:00:32 AM PDT by mac_truck
A widely-circulated report, which many saw as an accidental admission that Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine, has been exposed as a hoax.
The report, which outlets including The Daily Caller News Foundation reported at face value, claimed to expose a secret memo. It purportedly described Russian government compensation to the families of 2,000 soldiers who had died in Ukraine’s civil war.
The story, which Forbes first broke in English, understandably attracted significant Western media attention and was promoted online by several prominent figures, including former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and ex-U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. If the numbers were true, they would have meant that Russia lost as many fighters in 18 months of an undeclared war as the U.S. lost in nearly 14 years of conflict in Afghanistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
With the Russian disinformation machine going full throttle it’s hard to tell the true extent of the casualties. There’s still enough dead bodies and heart-broken relatives that point to the truth.
Russia did and still is invading a sovereign country.
Ssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrre....it’s not true.
Russians wouldn’t lie now, would they??
Russia made a new law that made soldier’s deaths even at peacetime a state secret for a reason.
Russian Pravda propaganda posting on FR now?
I’m shocked.../s
And here on FR, one group of posters posts pro-Russian articles. Another pro-Ukr. articles. Difficult to ferret out the truth.
And perhaps Mr. Plis does not want to "visit" the Serbsky Institute of Mental Health and Rehabilitation on his next trip to Russia...
What is that saying. In war, truth is the first casualty?
1 Thess. 5:21
Well first I would give credit to the Daily Caller for running the corrective story. It's a fairly uncommon event these days and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the folks at Forbes or the US State Dept. to do the same.
The extent of direct Russian involvement in the Ukrainian fighting over the past year has always been a touchy subject, especially now that Europe is trying to enforce the Minsk-2 accords and find a political solution in that country.
Having the original story pop up the same week as sensitive negotiations with France and Germany over the future of Minsk-2 were taking place appears to have been an attempt to influence the outcome...and a rather clumsy one at that.
I emailed Mr. Plis (FORBES) days ago. No response. So I guess one may conclude that his opinion piece was trash...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.