International Media Portrayals Of The Ukrainian Crisis

Vladimir Putin, who is the president of Russia, the man that is held responsible for tearing Ukraine apart into a battlefield. The eastern region of Ukraine withheld a city (Crimea), which became the headlines of all western and global war for its significant role in the Ukrainian-Russian Conflict. This was due to the city that was being fought over by the two countries. As Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin was bashed by the world for being the new modern Hitler; which Hilary Clinton had compared Putin’s strategical methods on this crisis to. She compared it to the similar Nazi’s of 1930; which she had said in her speech at the University of California. Although, no one can really understand why Vladimir Putin was the most hated man of his time. Later it became evident that it was because of the propaganda that was created by the western media and news. We must really think the fundamentals as to why Putin really entered Crimea, and who really is behind the new regime that has settled in Ukraine as well as which part of the world is standing behind Ukraine.

In 2014, Russia captured the Crimea and Sevastopol, and unfurled tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine border. This is where the conflict flashed between pro-Russian separatists and the new government in Kiev. Russia's actions, including reported military aid for separatist troops, mark a serious major threat to generally accepted principles of world order, such as, sovereignty and

Yet the election was not like the ones that preceded it- there were large scale demonstrations on the streets of Moscow and other metropolitan areas that were against (and some in support) of Putin. These large scale protests as Elkin notes while certainly disruptive and cast a negative light on Russia globally forced Putin to reaffirm his power when he won the election in 2012. Putin was as discussed by Moskowitz and others in class able to use the media to effectively convey his agenda. But Elkin also notes that the resurgence in popularity for Putin was not simply due to a stymied media presence. Putin strategically allowed Medvedev to become the nation’s prime minister, where he was relegated to a position where he could quietly work on making the changes he set during his presidency. Putin set about “restoring” national prestige by being firm on dealings with the west. In particular, during the crisis in Syria, he averted crisis by securing a deal that allowed Syria to dispose of the chemical weapons while also preventing U.S aggression. Elkin notes how Putin would frequently play on populism and patriotism in justifying his action- a formula which combined would ensure that in the crisis to come regarding the annexation of Crimea that he would have the support of the Russian people.

In the first days of Putin's presidency, he made state media and private owned broadcast media under Kremlin surveillance, to filter what the Russian citizens are watching and perceiving. He began by destroying the NTV news, as the president of the station Dobrodeev was expelled from his position. Ostrovsky comments, “Tempting though it may be to portray NTV journalists as altruistic defenders of freedom and speech, this would be misleading as presenting their opponents as stewards of justice. Many of the journalists, spoiled and compromised by their inflated status and their own cynicism, which they had seen as an asset when they were in power, now invoked moral values in their time of need. 282. Furthermore, Putin begins his widespread propaganda movements with his now state-controlled media. The bombing of the apartments in Moscow by the alleged Chechen terrorists, instills fear in citizens as they realize the print and television towers will not protect them from danger. Therefore, the media influence began to self-destruct. Putin then begins to utilise his control panel, by using media as a tactic of spreading false but undeniably fearsome stories of ethnic cleansing of Georgian villages by South Ossetian irregulars. This was proved false, but the idea of Georgia as an aggressor and threat to the Russian people helped the

On February 27 of 2014, masked Russian troops without insignia infiltrated in south Ukraine and captured strategic sites across Crimea, a rugged peninsula that strategically juts in the Black Sea. Within a few days Crimea was under Russian control and by July 2015 Crimea was formally integrated into Russia. The whole episode drew international consternation against Russia, which resulted in successive rounds of economic sanctions. A few days after the annexation, Ms. Clinton likened the move to the actions of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler (Rucker, 2014), a sentiment that was quickly adopted by the media; for example, on March 2, 2014 Bloomberg published an article entitled, “In Ukraine, Echoes of the Anschluss” (Bershidsky, 2014) and a few days later, on March 7, 2014, BBC published an article entitled, “Crimea seen as ‘Hitler-style’ land grab” (Kralova, 2014). This is a very grave accusation and, given that the USA and Russia collectively hold 90% of all nuclear weapons, prudence is in order.

The Cold War grew to be a tremendous global conflict. On the other hand, The Ukraine crisis was an internal conflict that stayed fairly contained to the Ukraine. Although the US and Russia did get involved in the nation's policies and internal fights, the conflict did not reach nearly as far as the Cold War did. The Ukraine did reach out to countries close by in search of methods to wean off of Russia’s support and distance themselves from Russia entirely, but little was actually done during those endeavors (“EU Signs Pacts”). Most conflicts remained within the Ukrainian borders and did not reach as large of a scale and impact as the Cold War

In 1918, Ukraine declares its independence at the end of World war one says the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). During 1921, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) established as the Russian Red Army conquers two-thirds of Ukraine while the western third becomes part of independent Poland. Before WWII, the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with the Nazis. This established the division of Eastern Europe among the two powers (German-Soviet Pact).On September 1, 1939, the attack on Poland by Adolf Hitler automatically breaking the pact (Worldwide News Ukraine). In the midst of World War II, Ukraine suffered a terrible wartime loss as the Nazis occupied the country until 1944 (BBC). This left more than 5 million Ukrainian casualties due to fighting Nazi Germany (BBC). Due to a popular misconception, the Soviet Union is not Russia (or vice versa). Ukraine is a part of the Soviet Union, along with other smaller European countries. The Soviet Union won World War II, but it left their economy in the ruins. “Roughly a quarter of the country’s capital resources had been destroyed and industrial and agricultural output

The two countries, Russia and Ukraine, had different reactions towards the armed violence and impeachment of the Ukrainian president. Although the majority of the Ukrainians opposed Viktor’s decision to procrastinate the signing the EU-Ukraine integration agreement, all the ex-presidents accused for its interference with the affairs of Crimean. The former presidents of Ukraine, including Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma described the present crisis as Russia’s political interventions designed to interfere with the internal affairs of Ukraine and its relationship with the European Union (Hanschke 1). The people of Crimea have not been seeking for secession from Ukraine, but their interest is to have extended autonomy and rights to govern the Crimean affairs with minimum involvement of the government of Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, have dismissed the accusation and stated that it is pursuing the interest of the people of Crimea to join the Federation of Russia. Russia holds that the people of Crimea have the power to decide the future of their territory and Russia will be ready to respect their decision. Study shows that about 90

Countries, such as Ukraine, remain to this day under heavy Russian influence because of their close geographical location, historical ties, and similar cultures; on the other hand, countries, such as Poland, have been able to maintain complete independence because of the cultural, political, and economic differences with Russia. Numerous factors, such as geopolitics and history, bolster the reasons behind these conclusions. Other factors, such as culture and historical differences, affect the way the countries are associated with Russia.

In so called “Crimean” speech in March 2014 Russian President V. Putin used such terms as “divided nation”, “national-traitors”, “Russian world”, justifying and legitimizing Russia taking over Crimean peninsula. President V. Putin applied mostly to the Russian people concerned by “protection of compatriots” abroad from discrimination or even repressions and historical “injustice” needed to be repaired. But does Kremlin really believe in this or it uses this rhetoric just to explain Russian involvement to the neighbor’s inner situation? The right answer on this question will make us to understand true Russian foreign policy motivation in Ukraine and Baltic states. Knowing what is Russian Foreign Policy driven by, the recommendations to those

For a state to survive, it must pursue power. From Putin’s point of view, NATO’s expansion lessened Russia’s ability to influence its neighbors in terms of economic and foreign policy. For example, Putin offered to buy $15 billion dollars in Ukrainian government bonds in exchange for Ukraine buying gas from Russia instead of the European Union, a move that would keep Ukraine within its sphere of influence. When the protests erupted in Kiev after President Yanukovych accepted the deal and Ukraine became destabilized, Russia appeared to lose its ability to influence Eastern Europe’s largest state which was historically part of the Russia and still has a large Russian speaking population, Russia was perceived as to have lost the image of power

Russia before the “Russians” was a complex mix of people and culture. To the knowledge of historians, the lands were mostly comprised of disjointed clans

Ukraine used to be known as “Kievan Rus” before renaming it in the 16th century. During the 9th century, Kiev was the central focus politically and culturally in Eastern Europe. Keivan Rus maximized it’s intake of power in the 10th century due to the Mongol conquest in 1240, but not before adopting Byzantine Christianity. Between the 13th and the 16th century, Kiev was significantly influenced by Poland and Western Europe. In 1596, the negotiation of the Union of Brest-Litovsk dismembered the Ukrainians into Catholic faithful and Orthodox. When Ukraine had asked for protection against Poland from the czar of Muscovy in 1654, the agreement, it gave the interpretation to Moscow that it was an suggestion to take over Kiev, as a result absorbing into the Russian Empire.

The way Western media reports events going on in the world influences the attitude Westerners have towards those events. Whether or not the media portrays the entire story or the full truth, most Westerners do not question the reports. Currently, Western media incorrectly portrays the members of the terrorist group ISIS as pure Islamic followers because of their use of verses in the Quran to justify their extremist actions. However, ISIS has a vastly different interpretation of the Quran than other Muslims who follow pure Islamic faith. Western media contributes to the incorrect perception that the extreme beliefs of ISIS are the same as pure Islamic beliefs, creating Westerners to have prejudiced views against Muslims and Islam.

The conflict between the Ukraine and Russia is the Ukraine's most long-standing and deadly crisis; since its post-Soviet independence began as a protest against the government dropping plans to forge closer trade ties with the European Union. The conflict between Russia and the Ukraine stems from more than twenty years of weak governance, the government’s inability to promote a coherent executive branch policy, an economy dominated by oligarchs and rife with corruption, heavy reliance on Russia, and distinct differences between Ukraine's population from both Eastern and Western regions in terms of linguistics, religion and ethnicity (Lucas 2009).