Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : A. Yakovenko
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom
First of all, I will say that there are media and there
are media. Some media readily pick up official prop-
aganda and say "yes sir." Needless to say, these are
publications with wide circulation, which play a big
role in the country's internal political life, including
as part of election campaigns. I believe that we will
do without specifics. However, there are also rep-
utable media organizations with an international
name that the authorities have yet to persuade to put
their reputation on the line, which is not at all an easy
thing to do. Nevertheless, getting such media outlets involved in official propaganda - and we
are now talking about real information warfare, i.e., an attempt to regain on the information field
something which cannot be seized by force of arms - shows that we are in a state of information
warfare with very high geopolitical stakes. As far as I am concerned, this was the time when The
Financial Times entered the information battle around Ukraine. This happened last October or
November, after the military situation in eastern Ukraine stabilized, the Minsk agreements were
signed and it became clear that this internal crisis did not have a military solution. So this is not
accidental.
You have to hand it to the newspaper: The publication of items with opposing opinions contin-
ued, including the criticism of the positions of London and other Western capitals. Those were
either letters from the readers or contributions from a handful of experts who were ready to
argue and uphold their point of view, such as, for example, Tony Brenton, the former British
ambassador to Moscow.
Western elites pursue an economic austerity policy, claiming that there is no alternative to it. This
despite the fact that during the six years of the crisis it has become obvious to everyone that the
funds injected into the financial sector do not reach the other economic sectors and do not stim-
ulate consumer demand but reproduce the situation just before the crisis and set the stage for a
new and even more destructive wave.
It was painful to see this anti-Russian propaganda being joined in by all of the FT leading political
commentators, including even the influential economist Martin Wolf. All of them, without suf-
ficient argumentation, portrayed Russia as "a real and direct threat" to the West and to the post-
war "world order."
It is incomprehensible why the Western capitals, with their absolute indifference toward the peo-
ple, as opposed to their concern about principles, allowed the Western image to be destroyed in
Russia's broad public opinion.
The bias of the British media, officials and political commentators is evident from the fact that
http://interaffairs.ru
Information Warfare: The Ukraine Crisis From a UK Angle