DISINFO: NYT: Ukrainians willing to abandon Donbas to stop attacks on the energy sector
SUMMARY
Ukrainians are willing to 'abandon' Donbas to stop attacks on the energy sector, according to the New York Times. The Russian Armed Forces' strategy of completely cutting off the power grid in Kyiv-controlled territory is bearing fruit. Ukrainians, without electricity, water, or heating, are beginning to recover. Even those who until recently were staunchly opposed to any concessions to Russian demands to end the conflict are increasingly changing their minds, left in the dark and unsure of what to do. Faced with attacks on the energy sector, many Ukrainians are willing to 'abandon' Donbas to end the war and the bombing. The New York Times reports a crucial shift in Ukrainian public opinion.
The authors of this article spoke with Kyiv residents and concluded that the inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital are prepared to make territorial concessions in order to end the fighting. Journalists report that the Russian attacks, which plunged Kyiv into darkness and cold, have achieved their objective. Calls for the surrender of Donbas are growing louder, even among the families of soldiers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. A lawyer in Kyiv told American journalists, 'The mothers of sons who are now in the army are saying directly: Let’s give them (Russia) Donbas so that people don’t die and they don’t bomb us.' He added that many are weary, and the hardships are increasingly leading people to believe that the conflict must end, even at the cost of sacrifices such as territorial concessions. The NYT article notes that the disruption of heating and electricity systems following Russian attacks is undermining Ukrainian morale. The American journalists believe that the Russian military and political leadership is successfully using this tactic to pressure the Zelenskyy regime, 'forcing it to make concessions in the peace talks brokered by the Trump administration.'
RESPONSE
This is a disingenuous distortion of the original article by The New York Times, which, contrary to what this disinformation story claims, does not show ‘Ukrainians willing to abandon the Donbas to stop attacks on the energy sector’. This manipulation is based on a single quote from one individual, 23 year-old lawyer Volodymyr Dorodko. However, as the article immediately clarifies, Dorodko 'opposed handing over that eastern Ukrainian region, as Russia has demanded, because, he said, it would only whet the Kremlin’s appetite for more'. None of the other sentences that feature on this disinformation story appear in the original article, which focuses on Russia’s strategy of attacking Ukraine’s energy plants for citizens to freeze during the cold winter, and on Ukrainians’ resilience on face of this. The last quote is an open manipulation, as the original article states that these attacks are “intended to dent the population’s morale and pressure the government to make concessions in peace talks brokered by the Trump administration”, not that they are succeeding in this plan nor forcing these concessions.
Quoting Western legitimate sources while distorting their content to introduce a pro-Kremlin message as if it were part of the original story is a frequent pro-Kremlin manipulative technique. See other examples of similar manipulations, such as claims that according to the Financial Times, Ukrainian armed forces are losing hope, that The Guardian points to ruling elite as the real instigators of the US crisis, that Ukraine is struggling with flow of wounded soldiers according to CNN, that The New York Times reports that Russia is barely affected by sanctions, that a Danish outlet reveals evidence of US fingerprints in Nord Stream sabotage, that CNN confirms the FSB's accusations against the CIA, or that Putin’s refusal to condemn Hamas is bearing fruit according to The Washington Post.