Nicolas Cinquini

Truth is the first casualty in war

Ethel Annakin, 1915

The Russian special military operation in Ukraine has sparked a splendid illustration of PSYOP, disinformation, bad faith of Western media and hysteria in the West. This tragic case is emblematic, I open here a file.

The context

Mariupol is a coastal city on the Black sea, southeastern Ukraine. Its Russian-speaking region, the Donbass, is separatist and war torn since 2014. The Ukrainian shelling during eight years of nearby residential areas in Donetsk and Lugansk, which have killed about 3,500 civilians so far (United Nations), are one of the motives for the operation that Russia has started on February 24, 2022

Since the beginning of the war, the city is headquartering Azov regiment (2014–?), a Nazi formation within the Ukrainian national guard. It has been mostly recruited in western Ukraine and far-right militants from 22 different countries have also joined it. Here is, at the center, the badge of Azov, which is displaying the Wolfsangel (wolf hook), the same heraldic charge which was before the emblem of the 2. SS-Panzerdivision Das Reich (1941–1945)

The Russian army and local separatist Donetsk people’s militia are currently encircling and cleansing Mariupol. Via several social networks, the command of Nazi Azov regiment is daily calling worldwide sympathizers for help

The facts

On March 16, 2022, according to several official and non-official sources, one or several explosions have destroyed the Drama theater, maybe civilians inside. The building was then in a Ukrainian controlled area. Here are the detail of the communications and public documents on the subject. With no doubt, the tragic event is a Ukrainian PSYOP

• 1:00 pm UT, March 16

Russian channels on Telegram Messenger are sharing new information

[abstract] a Ukrainian fighter has defected and told that the Drama theater is headquartering Nazi Azov regiment in its basement [the shelter]. The lobby [not the shelter] is packed with civilian hostages, whom twelve gunmen are watching over

> At least amid the public, the Russians are regarding the theater as an enemy stronghold, with a risk of civilian casualties in case of strike or fighting.

• 4:05 pm UT

A Ukrainian channel on Telegram Messenger publishes the first picture (cf. title) of the destroyed theater with a laconic comment

here is photo, no more Drama [theater]

> @mariupolnow is usually sharing amateur videos which are showing the damage in the city. This local reporter, who takes credit for the photo, does NOT mention casualties, regrets the damage.

• 4:10 pm UT

The official channel in Mariupol of Nazi Azov regiment publishes its first statement about the theater, shares the previous picture, not an own one

The occupiers do not stop committing war crimes and genocide against the Ukrainian people. According to eyewitnesses, it became known that the Russian occupation forces dropped a heavy bomb on the Mariupol Drama theater.
The Drama theater, city’s cultural center, has been identified as a gathering place for refugees who have lost their homes and livelihoods […]
It is known that almost a thousand civilians from Mariupol were hiding in the theater. The number of dead and injured is currently unknown […] small CHILDREN [blah, blah, blah]
the world is OBLIGED to hear the cries of Mariupol [cf. in The context, the daily calls for help worldwide]

> The author knows a little for a CM of the force which is controlling the area. Objectively, the two previous messages were better reports. Whatever the facts, this text is not spontaneous, has been mostly prepared, is the beginning of the PSYOP. The twitter account of Azov will share the verbatim at 4:15 pm UT.

• 4:11 pm UT

Priamyi kanal, a private Ukrainian TV channel quotes Serhiy Taruta, member at the center-right of the parliament and former governor of Donetsk region

The Russian occupiers dropped a heavy bomb on the Mariupol Drama theater.
According to Serhiy Taruta, a huge number of citizens were hiding there it is unknown how many people died or were injured

> Serhiy Taruta is not in besieged Mariupol, rather in Kiev. In his first statement, he cannot be more precise than the local reporter or Azov. Journalists ask for his comment but he knows nothing.

• 4:34 pm UT

@mariupolnow adds

The Russian scum, of course, has found the ‘headquarters of Azov’ in the Drama theater. But there were about 1,000 civilians there. Information on the dead and injured is being specified

> The Ukrainian reporter quotes Azov, brings no new picture.

4:36 pm UT

To date the beginning of the Western hysteria is not an easy task, maybe now. On Twitter, BNO News shares the same first picture, writes

Mariupol city says Russian airstrike hit theater where hundreds of civilians were sheltering ; no word on casualties

> In the following tweets, messages, media papers, the words CHILDREN and KIDS will trend. It will smell Kuwaiti incubators (a famous story-telling in 1991, as guest star, the daughter of Kuwait ambassador to the US).

• 6:07 pm UT

ANNA News broadcasts videos where Russian reporters interview refugees who relate how the Ukrainian servicemen used to shoot at civilians who tried to leave the city. More will testify in the following days.

> Like anyone, I am eager to watch and hear the witnesses whom Ukraine could introduce about the destruction of the theater.

• 6:36 pm UT

Statement from the Russian defense ministry

On March 16, the Russian aviation did not carry out any task related to strikes on ground targets in the city limits of Mariupol.
According to reliable reports, militants of Azov nationalist battalion committed a new bloody provocation by blowing up a theater building they had previously mined.
It was previously known from refugees who escaped from Mariupol that Nazis of the Azov battalion could hold civilians hostage in the theater building, using the upper floors as firing points.
Given the potential danger to the lives of civilians and provocation with hospital #3 in Mariupol, which was already carried out by the nationalists on March 9 [the maternity case], the theater building in the city center was never considered a target for attack

• 8:00 pm UT

Irina Vereshchuk is the deputy prime minister of Ukraine. During her daily public report, while the Western media are already in fusion, she does NOT touch upon the Drama theater in Mariupol.

> Why is she inconsistent with Serhiy Taruta (cf. supra) and Azov ?

• 1:00 am UT, March 17

Statement from the Russian embassy to the US

We draw attention to the ongoing disinformation campaign in the American media about what is happening in Ukraine. Another example was the fake circulated in the local press about the alleged involvement of the Russian armed forces in the attack on the Mariupol Drama theater

• 8:00 am UT

On Facebook (hate of Russians on line), Serhiy Taruta (cf. supra) writes that the shelter was not damaged, people are safe and evacuating.

> Taruta is believed to have reliable sources in Mariupol but we don’t know them. The news are wonderful but also weird : according to him, the civilian refugees are leaving the theater at least 16 hours after the alleged Russian bombing. The event is glorious but even from a Ukrainian patriot, we receive no footage nor picture. The local reporter and Azov broadcast nothing new about the theater. So far, Ukraine has introduced no witness.

• 5:24 pm UT

Finally, about 26 hours after the destruction of the theater, Azov publishes new information, photos and short videos. All have been taken and recorded in broad daylight, the time is now 7:24 pm in Mariupol. No corpse, an only witness, alleged rescuer, who tells that Russians shot at the SBU (Ukrainian State security), have prevented its members from reaching the victims under the rubble.

> This story is inconsistent with Serhiy Taruta (cf. supra). I guess Azov is better informed, as the force which is controlling the area. But the story is still weird. If the Russians were close enough to shoot at rescuers, why are they not closer, since the assailants have gained more ground today ? No firefight in the videos, the vicinity seems quiet, even deserted. But I understand that this story is the simple reason why Azov cannot introduce more witnesses

My expertise

That’s all folks. The various Ukrainian versions are poor in facts, witnesses, evidences and above all, inconsistent. The Russian one is consistent, without vulnerability. I guess that Azov extremists have blown up the theater, hope nobody was inside.

Postscript

The Russian forces and Donetsk people’s militia defeat the Ukrainian garrison, liberate the city and its Azovstal steel mill, where the last defenders surrender on May 20, 2022.

In June, experts assert that the theater was mined. An inside explosion destroyed the concrete base on which the auditorium was standing. The explosive was in the basement, the shelter where the Nazis were headquartered before they left. Witnesses, whom Azov could not produce because they did not feed its narrative, testify now. No plane was flying, no bomb nor missile fell on the building. Sadly, refugees were in the auditorium. The total number of victims is still unknown.

On June 30, Amnesty International releases a report titled “CHILDREN”: THE ATTACK ON THE DONETSK REGIONAL ACADEMIC DRAMA THEATRE IN MARIUPOL, UKRAINE, a pdf file encapsulated in a web page which is claiming Ukraine: Deadly Mariupol theatre strike ‘a clear war crime’ by Russian forces. The destruction of the theater is indeed a war crime, would be a Russian one if a Russian airstrike or missile has targeted it. But clearly, the Russians did not. I have read the whole report, just hot air, a smokescreen with remote scientist artifacts to look serious, typical swindle. Nothing proves a Russian attack. The Ukrainian explosive was clearly in the basement, an Azov military post, but Amnesty has decided to explicitly dismiss the scenario for convoluted political reasons, an amateur and laborious investigation.

Aleksey Kutsurubenko is heading the investigation department of the prosecutor’s office in Donetsk People’s Republic. On July 19, he states that the Ukrainian forces mined the Drama theater, destroyed it after most refugees left the building. The explosion killed 14 civilian victims.

That false flag Ukrainian war crime and PSYOP, with complacency of most Western politicians and media, will be a model for other ones.