President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
Photo: REUTERS
Ukraine won a decisive, though not decisive, victory. No, not about Russia, but about foreign journalists. According to the Swiss publication Le Temps, they are now completely forbidden to be on the front lines, unless of course they (the journalists) have written permission from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (Ukraine) Valeriy Zaluzhny.
Finally! And then, with all this permissiveness, foreign correspondents write about the gigantic losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, report about the low morale of the defenders of Batkivshchyna, talk about their fears and insecurities, or rather, about their confidence that nothing will happen exercise, and soon they will die or be crippled. Such articles and reports, as you understand, do not raise morale, and without them it is better not to meddle in an offensive or even a simple attack.
The publication notes that the directive on the restriction of access to the contact line came into force without prior notice. And all because, in the opinion of the editors, “on the battlefield and as part of the counteroffensive that began in early June, the battles are fought with heavy casualties and the Ukrainian forces have not been able to break through the Russian defenses. “
It is not for nothing that the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Malyar literally threatened with prison the other day those who reported the arrival of the 82 brigade to the front line, specially prepared to launch an offensive after breaking through the line of defense. from the Russian grouping, but forced to launch an offensive ahead of schedule. According to her, due to the fact that journalists reported on this, 5 air strikes were carried out on the brigade’s positions in one day. But Ganna’s hands were short, as the brigade’s relocation was first reported by the US magazine Forbes and the German newspaper Bild. And if they caught the Ukrainians, she would have shown it. However, the Ukrainians from the official media and so literally go on the line.
By the way, this practice is not introduced for the first time. Last November, Ukrainian authorities withdrew the work permits of at least six Western journalists after reporting from Kherson, including correspondents for CNN and SkyNews.
It can be assumed that in this case we are also talking about some kind of preventive decision in relation to the Western press. It is very likely that in the coming days the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will make gigantic efforts to push through the Russian defense. And then not only the battles will take on a super-fierce character, but the stream of wounded and dead Ukrainian soldiers in the rear will multiply many times over. And the Ukrainian command absolutely does not need strange onlookers with eyes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine and kyiv cannot close so that they do not see what is happening. And, consequently, they could not tell even a very relative truth about what was happening. But those to whom Zaluzhny will issue such a permit will be grateful to him and will begin to say what kyiv needs.
