First and second, Associated Press and Reuters reports made available by 11 a.m. EDT, both linked to others. Third, an AP story from Tuesday on efforts to counter Russian propaganda. Then, Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, accuses Instagram and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally of shadow banning her messages. Next, a Wall Street Journal column from early this week. Finally, an unsigned TeleSUR analysis. — MCM
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Ukraine says 300 died in theater attack, hunger grips cities, by Nebi Qena and Andrea Rosa | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — About 300 people were killed in the Russian airstrike last week that blasted open a Mariupol theater, Ukrainian authorities said Friday in what would make it the war’s deadliest known attack on civilians yet. In a vain attempt to protect the hundreds of people taking cover inside the theater, “CHILDREN” in Russian had been printed in huge white letters on the ground in two places outside the grand, columned building to make it visible from the air. For days, the government in the besieged and ruined city of Mariupol was unable to give a casualty count for the March 16 attack. In announcing the death toll on its Telegram channel Friday, it cited . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia signals scaled-back war aims, Ukrainians advance near Kyiv, by Gleb Garanich and Natalia Zinets| Reuters BUCHA/LVIV, Ukraine — Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its ambitions in Ukraine to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists as Ukrainian forces went on the offensive, recapturing towns on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv. In the first big sign that Western sanctions on Russia were impacting investment from China, sources told Reuters state-run Sinopec Group, Asia’s biggest oil refiner, had suspended talks on a petrochemical investment and a . . . READ MORE . . .
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U.S., Ukraine quietly try to pierce Putin’s propaganda bubble, by Colleen Long, Amanda Seitz and Nomaan Merchant | The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Ukraine have knocked back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to falsely frame the narrative of his brutal war, but they are struggling to get a more accurate view of the Kremlin’s invasion in front of the Russian people. While the Russian military suffers thousands of deaths and fails to capture key cities, Putin is intensifying his two-decade crackdown on information. The Kremlin has shut down Russia’s last three independent media outlets, barred major social media platforms, created new laws against journalists who defy its propaganda and insisted on calling the war a “special military operation.” The result is a Russian public with little to no access to . . . READ MORE . . .
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Shadow Banned? Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, says she has been shadow banned on Instagram. Addressing “my many friends on Instagram” Gabbard states, in part, “Unfortunately, [Meta Platforms Chairman and CEO Mark] Zuckerberg is blocking you from receiving many of my messages. This mini-tyrant is also deprioritizing my name/account in the discover and search pages, and telling many who @mention me ‘this account has posted false information,’ but he fails to provide any examples of such so-called ‘misinformation.’ All of us will continue to be under this Big Tech dictatorship so long as cowardly leaders from both parties are in their pocket. I need your support. Join me at tulsi.locals.com and on platforms that believe in free speech and democracy.” A Bitchute video, HERE, shows Gabbard delivering the message, alongside a photo of Zuckerberg with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Shadowbans block Internet users or content without letting users know that they or content has been blocked.)
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Sanctions on Russia Pit the West Against the Rest of the World, by Walter Russell Mead | Wall Street Journal As the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war ricochet through global politics, the West has never been more closely aligned. It has also rarely been more alone. Allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plus Australia and Japan are united in revulsion against Vladimir Putin’s war and are cooperating with the most sweeping sanctions since World War II. The rest of the world, not so much. In a development that suggests trouble ahead . . . READ MORE . . .
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The U.S. Fuels the Ukrainian Conflict to Maintain its Hegemony, From TeleSUR. A month has passed since Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. The United States has not only failed to take practical measures to de-escalate the situation, but continued to “fan the flames” through weapon assistance and sanctions. The root cause of the outbreak of the conflict . . . READ MORE . . .
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TO BE CONTINUED