The military dimension of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine seems to have stabilized for now, with opposing fronts drawn with relative clarity in the Donbas. In the information war surrounding the conflict, meanwhile, the Kremlin is shifting up: To match the more or less frozen conflict, Moscow-aligned media is working to entrench a permanently negative view of Kiev's actions in the region - one that links to the shared history of ethnic Russians still sensitive to the memories of World War II.
A recent entry by the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda illustrates this trend with a report from the small town of Gorlovka, outside Donetsk. According to the report, the Ukrainian military hit a residential building, instantly killing a young family of four people. The title of the article leaves no doubt on how to interpret the actions of the Ukrainian military: "Despicable Ukrainian death squads continue to kill children in Donbas."
The article cites similar tragedies and suggests that civilian deaths are of no concern to Kiev and its allies in the West:
"Last week, according to residents, a young woman and her daughter were killed by a shell ... There were many killings earlier as well. No one saw OSCE observers or the International Red Cross in Gorlovka, so Ukrainian propaganda ascribes such killings to the pro-Russian militia. It is easy to calculate where the artillery shells came from - Kiev is all too accustomed to Western observers and journalists not bothering to investigate such incidents."
The author says the killings were mere "drunken fun" by the Ukrainian military. He goes on to accuse Kiev of deliberately creating fear among the pro-Russian population of the country's eastern regions:
Another, more "humane" version for chaotic killings of civilians is that Kiev is trying to expel as much of the population of Novorossiya in order to clear this land for future settlers from Western parts of the country ... There will be more victims at the hands of Ukrainian military, and more kids will be killed by Ukrainian shells, because there is no one to stop and shame Kiev. The progressive Western public today sided with the sadists.
Meanwhile on Friday, the Parliament of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic was in session, and its chairman, Andrei Purgin, indicated that while hard times are ahead for the region, there is now turning back - the region will not again be part of Ukraine. Pugin:
"You need to finally realize and accept the fact that the desire of the people of our Republic for freedom, justice, and happiness is natural, inalienable and inviolable ... For the blood of our fellow countrymen, for their houses burned and torn down, for destroyed factories, mines, schools, hospitals - for all of that, you will incur inevitable responsibility as war criminals. We will never forget."
