Today’s interview on ‘Dialogue Works’: focus on the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk
Dr. Gilbert Doctorow: Is Russia About to EXPLODE with Fury?
Today’s 47 minute conversation with ‘Dialogue Works’ host Nima Alkhorshid opened with a look at the likely provisions of the Iran-Russian Comprehensive Partnership treaty that is expected to be signed shortly. However, we spent the bulk of the time discussing the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk province (oblast) that is now in its 9th day, that has seen the capture of perhaps as much as 1,000 square kilometers of Russian land, that has prompted the evacuation of as many as 133,000 Russian citizens from their homes and in which as many as 11,000 Ukrainian troops are now engaged.
I used the opportunity to compare the coverage of this military operation in Western mainstream media with that in Russian state television. The differences are stark and hopefully this discussion will be of value to viewers.
I also had a chance to give a concrete example of why if mainstream is your principal or exclusive source of news, do not despair. You will learn a great deal if you pay close attentions: hidden in the texts of very pro-Ukrainian, anti-Russian newspapers you can find gems like the one I turned up in the lead article on the Kursk operation published by The Financial Times two days ago. These discrepancies can reassure you that your, not their identification of the good, as opposed to bad guys is spot on.
Amidst the glowing tributes to the savvy Ukrainian forces for staging their surprise attack on Kursk, the FT reporter’s recounting what he heard from one of the Ukrainian soldiers who entered Kursk on the first day is a gem. The soldier was quoted in saying that when they advanced, unimpeded, deeper into the RF territory, in a forest they came upon a group of Russian soldiers who were enjoying their morning coffee; these soldiers were unarmed he said, and so they proceeded to shoot them dead as a warning to the others to surrender.
Was it unwitting or was it intentional? The FT was reporting a war crime in a matter of fact way.
Or I think of the BBC television news journalist who opened his report with delight over the Ukrainians’ success till now but went on to say that no one really expects them to hold this territory and if they do not manage their retreat well, the result could be, and I quote, “catastrophic.”
My point is that the news on Kursk being presented in major Western media is equivocal. Meanwhile, the Russians are almost completely silent. They will let their actions speak for them in the counter-attack they are now preparing.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2024