Maidan - Articles

Russian Attack on Georgia

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:10:23 -0400

Russian military aggression that has extended far deeper into a Georgian territory since the day one of the crisis continues even after Georgia withdrew its troops from the conflict zone and declared cease-fire. Russian all-out military offensive taking form of air strikes and ground operations continue. The night after the declaration of the cease-fire was marked with 5 airstrikes, adding to civilian death-toll. One of the last targets bombed was a CIVILIAN air-traffic control facility in Tbilisi (Capital city), now completely destroyed.

No false notes

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:21:27 -0400

On apparent efforts to fuel discord between different ethnic groups in the Crimean media and the techniques applied to manipulate the audience

In defence of redheads

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:52:23 -0400

We should watch out for criminals, not for people of a certain race. The law enforcement agencies undoubtedly have a tough and complicated task, however primitive methods only generate new problems and contribute to a rise in racism and xenophobia, (In response to remarks from the Minister of Internal Affairs and his colleagues on immigration)

The Edge of National Memory

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:26:52 -0400

However much Poles may have oppressed Ukrainians, there can be no justification, historical, political or moral, for the murder of civilians. We can try to understand, should in fact, but condemn we must.

Russia’s Information War Against Ukraine in the EU (Pt.2)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:06:42 -0400

In connection with the NATO summit scheduled for the end of this year, Putin’s government has intensified its disinformation campaign against its former imperial possession because it cannot come to terms with the reality of Ukrainian independence.

Not just bad to lie

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:51:31 -0400

Why do we tolerate untruth in the media? After all the most marvellous journalist initiatives against paid news items and all discussion around information wars are meaningless without one vital component - outrage at being conned and treated like idiots.

Repeat Performance

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:22:07 -0400

The Aarhus Convention reads like a response to Chernobyl. It is after all about the right to know and to have a say in what immediately concerns us. That its provisions must be observed is at once staggeringly obvious and a point the Ukrainian authorities seem gallingly reluctant to understand

Russia's information war against Ukraine in the EU?

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:00:19 -0400

During the last week in what appears to be a well-coordinated Russian plan, anti-Ukrainian articles have appeared in the European press explaining Ukraine should not be in NATO or the EU. But, instead of arguments based on say, the high level of corruption in Ukraine, or that the old neo-soviet russophile elite is still all too powerful despite the Orange Revolution and is thereby preventing the implementation of democratic reforms, authors use old Russian-imperial ideas in fallacious arguments.

Moral responsibility

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:09:31 -0400

Yes, the system is flawed and needs changing. However, Maidan convinced the world of Ukraine’s unequivocal choice - democracy. What nobody is convinced about is that Ukraine’s politicians have learned their lessons. Perhaps it’s time we teach them? Appealing to conscience is undoubtedly correct however this should not preclude looking for other forms of leverage (Reflections on the article "Moral Holodomor")

Defumigating channels of information

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:55:09 -0400

On a repulsive Hitler doll, fighting stereotypes and shoddy journalism and on some success in asserting our right to truthful information

Battle notes

Wed, 14 May 2008 07:52:07 -0400

The four main media outlets - BBC. Deutsche Welle, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail - which posted inaccurate and misleading information about a Hitler doll have now removed the offending material. We repeat our call for a public apology and our intention to approach the press complaints bodies if an apology is not forthcoming.

Lies leave toxic waste

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:50:57 -0400

It is galling that you can buy the doll in one shop in Kyiv, as well as in England, the USA and other countries. I don’t think I will ever fathom how people can buy figures of Hitler and Stalin. However something else remains quite incomprehensible. How can you manufacture a sensation based on lies at the expense of a nation which suffered from fascists and butchers of all breeds?

Kyiv’s Hitler dolls from Taiwan courtesy of Russia’s ORT and the BBC

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:34:16 -0400

We will be asking how the BBC came to use the news report of a Russian television company reporting on a story about Ukraine. Used it, we would add, without any reference to its source, and with at least one crucial omission. Of no less interest is how a UK newspaper could have quoted as its source yet seriously distorted a Ukrainian newspaper article. In fact, general bemusement is difficult to avoid over the fact that not one of these media outlets would appear to have checked any of the information they reported on site

Conflicting interests

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:18:58 -0400

I would ask Yury Lutsenko and all those calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty to just type in the following words on Google: DNA, wrongful, prison. Or try torture and confession. You’ll read enough arguments to last a lifetime.

Money & the French Decision to oppose Ukrainian Membership in NATO.

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:21:07 -0400

France obviously still has little affection for Ukrainians. Perhaps too many there cannot forget that thanks to the Central Rada and its German alliance, and then to Petliura, who overthrew Hetman Skoropadsky after he had agreed repayment of Ukraine's portion of the tsarist debt to France, French capitalists and industrialists & part of the middle-class, lost all their money in 1919.