On March 13 at least one pro-Ukraine protester was killed and others were injured during violent clashes between pro-Moscow and pro-Kyiv demonstrators in Donetsk.
Horrifying video shot by Vice News in the eastern Ukrainian city, shows an angry pro-Russian crowd shouting "On your knees!" as they try to break through a police cordon protecting a small group of Ukrainian demonstrators huddled in the middle.
They eventually break through and attack.
From its official statement, this is how the Russian Foreign Ministry saw the event:
"Armed right-wing radical groups [Ed. Note: Pro-Ukrainian protesters] attacked peaceful demonstrators [Ed. Note: Pro-Russian demonstrators], who wanted to express their attitude towards the destructive position of people who named themselves as the Ukrainian authorities. As a result of the clashes, one person died and many people were injured.”
WATCH: Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists clash in Donetsk
On the Unspun blog we make every effort to be fair, without presenting false equivalencies.
The Russian Foreign Ministry statement does not appear to have any basis in reality.
But it may have a different goal: provide a pretext for a Russian incursion into eastern Ukraine.
Indeed, perhaps more ominous than the Foreign Ministry's denial of the reality on the ground is the warning that "Russia realizes responsibility for compatriots’ lives in Ukraine and reserves the right to protect these people."
-- Glenn Kates
Horrifying video shot by Vice News in the eastern Ukrainian city, shows an angry pro-Russian crowd shouting "On your knees!" as they try to break through a police cordon protecting a small group of Ukrainian demonstrators huddled in the middle.
They eventually break through and attack.
From its official statement, this is how the Russian Foreign Ministry saw the event:
"Armed right-wing radical groups [Ed. Note: Pro-Ukrainian protesters] attacked peaceful demonstrators [Ed. Note: Pro-Russian demonstrators], who wanted to express their attitude towards the destructive position of people who named themselves as the Ukrainian authorities. As a result of the clashes, one person died and many people were injured.”
WATCH: Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists clash in Donetsk
On the Unspun blog we make every effort to be fair, without presenting false equivalencies.
The Russian Foreign Ministry statement does not appear to have any basis in reality.
But it may have a different goal: provide a pretext for a Russian incursion into eastern Ukraine.
Indeed, perhaps more ominous than the Foreign Ministry's denial of the reality on the ground is the warning that "Russia realizes responsibility for compatriots’ lives in Ukraine and reserves the right to protect these people."
-- Glenn Kates