Wiener Zeitung published Russian envoy’s propaganda-laden oped
By: Злой Одессит
Tags: Austria, Propaganda, War, Russia, Ukraine

That a number of European journalists and media outlets systematically publish reports in the interests of Russian propaganda has long been a known fact. The only thing that still raises my eyebrows from time to time is platforms where the Russian hybrid talking heads find loopholes. Although, this is not so much about being disappointed — it’s about remaining vigilant, observing things, and drawing conclusions.

Today, December 1, Austria’s oldest newspaper, the Wiener Zeitung, published a piece authored by Russian Ambassador Dmitry Lyubinsky, where he reflected on the developments following the Paris Meeting of the Normandy Four leaders.

At the same time, the oped is nothing but traditional manipulation, and outright lies in some parts, regarding the alleged non-compliance by Ukraine with the agreements reached during the leaders’ meetup.

In particular, the Russian ambassador accuses Ukraine of violating a number of the agreements reached at the Summit, namely: refusing to negotiate with representatives of the occupying authorities on the legal aspects of the region’s “special status”; and failing to make steps toward implementing the so-called Steinmeier Formula, which in turn implies the entry into force of the law on the special status on the day local elections are held.

What’s more surprising is that while the very release of such an absurd piece by the Wiener Zeitung can be explained by freedom of speech, then how about that phrase in bold in the article’s text? It says “Only excuses are constant, not the implementation of decisions,” which makes a negative and biased emphasis on Ukraine.

In other words, the article published today on the pages of the Vienna newspaper is part of a propaganda campaign orchestrated by Russia. The piece cultivates manipulative narratives about the Steinmeier formula and “special status” for Donbas, while totally ignoring Russia’s obligation to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories. It talks of local elections, while turning a blind eye to the need to let Ukraine regain control of the border section with Russia to create proper security conditions for the vote. There’s actually plenty of other nuances, which Dmitry Lyubinsky chose to evade, while the newspaper’s editor never bothered to double-check.

But even more outrageous is that Lyubinsky, referring to the OSCE data, accuses Ukraine of army maneuvers, branding this as some kind of violations, although the redeployment took place on the government-controlled territory!

The Russian envoy in his oped manipulates reports on shellings and casualties, as well as puts all blame on Ukraine for all “ceasefire” violations, although the OSCE data show that the culprits are almost always the illegal armed groups controlled by Russia.

It’s difficult to say what exactly drove the Wiener Zeitung to published this ugly piece so full of outright lies and blatant inconsistencies. All I know is that yet another European outlet has lost credibility, having compromised itself. After all, this publication doesn’t seem to be a simple mistake or short-sightedness on the part of the editor…