Vladimir Putin's allies in Russia’s media realm have not shied away from wild accusations in the past towards Ukraine and the West. The latest theory alleges Ukrainians are fighting because of cannibalism.
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Wild accusation of cannibalism
What was supposed to be a lightning-quick ‘special military operation’ announced by Russian President Vladimir Putinback in February, has become the bloody war that has entered its tenth month.
Ever since Russia’s invasion of its neighbour began, Russian media pundits and Putin allies have stirred up wild allegations, from serving up fake news, and conspiracy theories, to issuing complete destruction threats, Newsweek reports.
The latest bizarre TV debate contribution on the ‘Vremya Pokazhet’ (Time will Tell) show on Russia's First Channel put up the question of why Ukrainians are actually fighting for.
The guest, Andrei Klinstevich, who serves as the head of the Center for the Study of Military and Political Conflicts, asserted cannibalism is motivating Ukrainian soldiers. He said:
‘Some young people have been, let's say, stupefied by the propaganda which has existed for a long time. We know that the propaganda is simply misanthropic and virtually linked to cannibalism, again cases of this have been recorded on the front.’
According to Klinstevish, Ukrainians are trying to break away from their Slavic background to pretend that they are different.
‘They are doing this within some kind of identity. Attempting to cut themselves off from the Slavs and their kindred people and say that 'we're entirely different.’
This is not the first time that the Russian public was confronted with the cannibalism argument on the side of Ukrainians.
Back in August, during a sham court trial of Ukrainian soldiers by the Supreme Court of Russia, Georgy Volkov, the chairman of the public monitoring commission of Moscow claimed thesoldiers were cannibals. He said, as quoted by The Daily Beast:
'They practice cannibalism in Azov. One of the captive fighters said that in his testimony.'
A similar discourse has surfaced in a Putin-ally country
In parallel to Russia’s media, a similar discourse in Belorussia, where the leader Alexander Lukashenko is a close Vladimir Putin ally.
Yevgeny Pustovoy, A pro-government commentator, has also pointed out cannibalism on the side of Ukrainians, Newsweek reports.
‘Ukrainians are now genuinely eating Russians’
Sources used:
-Newsweek: ‘Putin Allies Accuse Ukraine of Cannibalism: 'Genuinely Eating Russians’
-TheDailyBeast: 'Russia Now Claims Ukrainian Fighters Are Cannibals'
-Twitter: ‘On Russian state TV they're having real trouble working out what Ukrainians are fighting for’
-Twitter: ‘Belarusian state TV doesn't get much international attention, but it's just as bonkers as you'd expect it to be’