Catch ‘Ukrainian Freedom News’ on Telegram – Opinion

As Russia enters Ukraine, a massive media and cyber campaign accompanies troops spinning events to tell the story of the righteousness of President Vladimir Putin’s quest to rid Ukraine of Nazis; an irony made in sharp relief, seeing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is Jewish.

American media also covers the U.S. story with American networks carrying President Joseph Biden’s official statements and efforts to unite the world against Russia. This is not the case as some had hoped.

Watching the post-mortem coverage following Mr. Biden’s appearance, where he took questions for the first time in a while, what I found most profound was the sense of disappointment by Ukrainians that the U.S. failed to come to impose maximum sanctions as a show of resolve in their moment of need. Instead they heard Biden discuss imposing sanctions, then waiting for thirty days to evaluate how they work, and finally evaluating the next one in slow motion.

There’s no time. In a matter of days Ukraine will be overthrown by an overwhelming military force. I think a brutal Stalinist purge, which will punish anyone who has fought Mr. Putin’s Nazi sympathizer tactics, will start. Not my choice of words; that’s right from Putin’s 5:00am Moscow time television announcement. It is clear that many Ukrainians now speak of their country in the past.

But, could it be that the first stage of failure for Mr. Putin’s adventurism is already meeting resistance?  It’s not from governments but ordinary citizens.

Social media has the incredible ability to bring out hope. In this case, the activity of a Telegram chat stream called “Ukrainian Freedom News.” It’s the brainchild of Joe Lindsley, an American in Lviv, who is translating items from Ukraine and Russia to English, to share with more people on the internet. Open Telegram on your phone or computer and type the name for the chat stream. This is the page that’s pinned.

“We Are In a Massive Information War, in addition to the actual Invasion. Help us resist and find the truth before Russia totally controls the narrative—please share our Channel!

Update: So many stories about Ukraine are being reported in international media. Some media report ’50 deaths’ but they don’t say half of them were Russian. One news anchor called this a cold war: It’s not: an invasion is happening.

Our team scans through Ukrainian Telegram to find out the truth. This is the magic of Ukrainian civil society at work.”

The stream contains something extraordinary: stories from Russians who protested the war and videos. One caption.

“A rally gathered in the center of Moscow early. People are chanting: “No to war!”

According to reports, the protest was stopped by Moscow police. In Ukraine you can protest: that’s the foundation of modern Ukraine since the Euromaidan Revolution. Social media has seen many Ukrainians urging the Russians to remain on the streets for Ukrainian freedom.

To do so will likely require withstanding violence just like the Ukrainians did in 2014.”

Further entries to the chat stream describe additional protests in Russia that began as soon as the invasion was known.

“Russian people all over the country trying to say “Putin stop the war with Ukraine”

These cities include:

– Sankt-Peterburg

– Tyumen

– Novosibirsk

“That’s what we need now from the Russian society, because The Putin is also their fault”: Ukrainians have been echoing this sentiment on social media all day.

However, Russian police are preventing these demonstrations from continuing throughout the day.

There’s even a report of a demonstration in London,

The daughter of Putin’s adviser Maria Yumasheva took to London to rally against the war on Ukraine.”

Russian stars are also adding weight.

“Russian Celebrities, Intellectuals call on Putin to end the war!

Boris Akunin and Dmitry Bykov signed the appeal, along with Vladimir Sorokin, Vladimir Sorokin’s playwright Ivan Vyrypaev and directors Vladimir Mirzoev and Andrey Khrzhanovsky. Journalist, Nobel Prize Winner Dmitry Muratov. Publisher Irina Prkhorova. Actress Chulpan Khamatova.

In addition, a huge number of Russian celebrities called for stopping Putin’s aggression: Yuri Dud, Zemfira, Maxim Galkin, Wylsacom, Liya Akhedzhakova, Garik Kharlamov and many others.

An open letter by Russian scientists and science journalists against the war with Ukraine was signed by more than 370 people.”

Is this a groundswell that will continue to grow like other European popular resistance movements?  It could be.  This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to be able to track everything.

Additional entries discuss Ukrainians joining the Territorial Guard, including videos of Russian troops arriving at the scene, accounts of battles that claimed both Ukrainian and Russian victories, and counts of those who died.

Right now, President Zelenskiy stated that today 137 Ukrainian military personnel were killed.

Other entries mention confusion between invading Russian forces.

“The Russians just abandoned their equipment and ran away

… in the Okhtyrka district of the Sumy region. It’s a place with deep Cossack and Hutsul roots. We are hearing reports of confused Russian soldiers who didn’t know they would be invading Ukraine, somehow.”

And while the U.S. is cautions, the feed reports that French are not so meek when it comes to responding to Mr. Putin’s threats,

“France to Russia: We Have Nuclear Weapons Too

Sounding sterner than Washington officials, French Prime Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, “Putin should know that France also has nuclear weapons” even as President Macron speaks with Putin.”

Do not solely rely on news processed by the media. Use the internet to find out more about what is happening. This is not fake news, clickbait or cyberwarfare.  Take care.