The TOP FIVE Lies, Spin and Propaganda Claims from Russian Mouthpiece RT

On Tuesday morning, the news broke: DirectTV was FINALLY dropping Russian propaganda outfit RT (formerly known as Russia Today). We are now left to wonder: What took so long? The network spread a constant stream of lies during the invasion of Ukraine. They blamed the Ukrainian people and spun ridiculous stories about saving it from the phantom Nazis. 

NewsBusters examined RT to find five outrageous, stupid, and ridiculous lies. These are the facts: 

Invasion? What is an invasion? There’s No Invasion 

On RT, the “information” shared by the hosts is only as good as the most recent propaganda talking points from the Kremlin. On February 23, the day before the full scale invasion by Russia, RT was still telling viewers it wasn’t coming. News on RT America host Fran Fronczak opened her show by huffing, “Reports citing U.S. intelligence sources saying Russia is set to invade in the next 48 hours. It is a fake or factual statement?”  

The idea that Russia might invade the country was ridiculed by her. 

However, while the Russians may be coming to America, we cannot know when or whereabouts. Although reporters — or Pentagon stenographers as I like to call them — say their sources tell them it’s coming in the next 48 hours. Now, if you have watched any cable news outlets today, it was maps with lines all over it, reminiscent of NFL commentators drawing out of football plays, predicting the Putin playbook and whether he’ll invade from the south, come in from the north, or come around and sweep the Ukrainians from behind!

A guest told Fronczak that the chance of a full-scale invasion was “near zero.” News presenter Nikki Aaron claimed, “The Russian defense ministry says there’s no threat to civilians in Ukraine and the Russian president stressed Russia had no plans to occupy its neighbor.” 

Fact check:Russia attacked Ukraine on the following day. 

Russia Must Help Ukraine Save the Secret (Uh-oh Jewish?) Nazis 

On a February 24 edition of RT’s Headline News, “political commentator” Ali Rizk warned of the threat of Nazi Ukraine (click “expand” to read more): 

There is a significant presence of neo Nazis in Ukraine. This has been documented in the Donbass region. For example, the Azov Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard is one such group. It’s also been documented that you have a general neo-Nazi culture which is prevalent amongst the Ukrainian armed forces, so when you have the presence of neo-Nazis — such a strong neo-Nazi presence right next door, you know, that in itself is a big threat to national security. Given the increased threat posed by neo-Nazis, it’s possible to say we were somewhat stunned that Russia didn’t do anything before now.

It is important to recall that the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy began imposing laws recently. These laws could have been labelled racist in the east regions. For example, the imposition of Ukrainian ….as the only language. Zelenskyy himself with a leading or a leaning towards that right-wing neo-Nazi path — what I mean to say, is that Ukraine as a whole, even its government recently, was taking more and more of a neo-Nazi path. In light of these developments, it seems like such intervention is inevitable.

Fact checkVolodymyr Zeleskyy, Ukrainian President is Jewish. He lost family in the Holocaust and is not a secret Nazi sympathizer. 
Fact check: Claims of a large Nazi threat in Ukraine are “absurd,” according to PBS and other outlets.   

Ukrainian Shelling Own People, Leaves Just the ‘Bottom Half’ of a Civilian Victim

Murad gazdiev (RT) appeared Feb 21 in their coverage of a Putin address to claim they had “witnessed” a Donbass coal miner being blown up by the Ukrainians themselves, shelling the man as he went to work. According to Gazdiev, “A coal miner, who was headed to his shift, reportedly, was killed there. It was a horrifying scene. The bottom half of his body, however, was not found. He was killed in a direct hit.” 

Fact check: This poor Ukrainian victim was killed in a “direct hit” and you still found the “bottom half” of his body? We weren’t there, but readers can decide that one for themselves. 

Ukrainians Will Give Up… Every Day Now

Nick Fondacaro, NewsBusters Deputy Managing editor pointed out that RT’s Gazdiev also made an outrageous claim Monday. He claimed that fighting units “belonging to the regular military” were “choosing to negotiate” and “lay down their arms and return to their homes.”

Continuing the Russian propaganda lie that Ukrainians are “happy” to be invaded, Gazdiev spun: “There are certainly civilians who have been happy to see Russian forces, but there – but there have also been those who have been less than happy to see, again, Russian troops advancing through Ukraine.” 

Fact check: It is an understatement to say that the Ukrainians are not happy. The Ukrainians are not completely surrendered, however. 

Kremlin Puppet, or RT Journalist 

One common thing you see on RT is the “journalists” simply parroting the exact talking points coming out of the Kremlin. Here’s Ilya Petrenko on March 1 repeating that, one, Claims of war crimes are “nonsense,” two, if the Ukrainians just surrender, everything will be fine, and, three, claims of cluster bombs being used against the Ukrainian people are “complete lies” (click “expand” to read more):

The Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov also spoke briefly to us, while he was answering questions from reporters. Let me now make a few points. The Kremlin has denied that Russia is guilty of war crimes. Dimitri Peskov added that this is a new fact. Russia considers Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine. That other message for the Ukrainian leadership that came from Dimitri Peskov was that if  Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the leader of Ukraine, agrees to lay down arms, in that case, there will be no victims on either side. We also learned from the Kremlin Press Secretary, that Russia’s accusations of using vacuum or cluster bombs are also lies. 

Fact check: Human rights groups and Ukraine’s ambassador have accused Russia of using cluster and vacuum bombs. A blast wave is created by vacuum bombs that can vaporize people. The United States hasn’t yet confirmed their use, but maybe Russia and RT aren’t authoritative sources on this? The International Criminal Court continues to investigate war crimes. 

DirectTV carried the propagandistic, lying RT through March 1, 2022. Perhaps corporate media outlets should direct their anger where it is needed: Towards falsehoods being spread from RT.