The Russian view of the media coverage of the Ukrainian crisis

/ Published in a Singapore newspaper "The Straits Times" April 21, 2014 /

I would like to voice the Russian view of the obviously biased coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, major Western media, as well as reports and analyzes of such news agencies as "Reuters" and "Bloomberg", which are published by newspapers around the world, including the "Straits Times". Much has been said about the violation of Ukrainian domestic law, when the Crimean team have opted for annexation to Russia. This view prevails despite the fact that the vast majority (97% of Crimean) voted to secede from Ukraine and, thus, to realize the right to self-determination, which, as we know, enshrined in Article 1 of the UN Charter and has been repeatedly confirmed by the General Assembly UN. It should be noted that the province of Kosovo as part of the former Republic of Yugoslavia, declared independence in 2008, even without any referendum or a vote, and more than 100 countries have recognized its independence.

The former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic had violated Soviet law itself, when she came from the Soviet Union in 1991, despite the fact that 77% or more than two-thirds of voters in a referendum in March 1991 called for the preservation of the USSR. Or logic is, if Russia is split, it's good and bad, when Russian reunited? The world welcomed the reunification of East and West Germany, so why much noise when reunited Russian?

It turns out that Ukraine had the right to secede from the USSR, and the Crimea to secede from Ukraine has no right? Is not this a blatant double standards? When Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev to protest against the president, who they did not like the West dubbed them "good guys." However, when the Russian and Ukrainian organized protests in eastern Ukraine, they called them "saparatistami and terrorists." Why are all silent about changing borders in Europe when the Soviet Union collapsed? Or when the United States with its European NATO allies bombed and dismembered Yugoslavia? Adults and children in the former Yugoslavia continue to suffer from cancer as a result of NATO operations with the use of bombs, stuffed uranium. Is there enough covered the Western press is appalling phenomenon? And is there any thing to someone before that headed the invasion of Iraq by the Americans led to millions of victims? And how many analyzes in the Western press about the criminal coup in Kiev in violation of international law as a legitimate president of the country was forcibly expelled and displaced essentially ultra? In general, anyone in the West, remembers when condemns the Crimea and Russia that the crisis in Ukraine began with a coup in Kiev - the capital of another, which was used again the infamous policy of force regime change? How could the whole world and the media, let hypocrisy achieve such exorbitant sizes?

Dmitry Ryakhovskiy

A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Singapore