It was another pounding drumbeat of propaganda that the war was “Putin’s unprovoked war of aggression,” which is demonstrably untrue. Baker’s colleague, Times Moscow Bureau Chief Anton Troianovski explained in an episode of “The Daily” podcast in March 2022 that prior to the invasion,
Zelensky took several inflammatory actions that were intended to alienate Russia.Here’s what Troianovski said:
So what happens is just days after Biden is inaugurated, Zelensky cracks down on a business tycoon in Ukraine named Viktor Medvedchuk. And that’s important because Medvedchuk is basically the closest link remaining between Ukraine and the Kremlin. Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter. Medvedchuk runs a political party that is fairly pro-Russian. He was running several TV channels that were pro-Russian, and early last year, Zelensky closes those TV channels, starts an investigation into Medvedchuk. Last May, Medvedchuk was put under house arrest under suspicion of treason. So Zelensky took all these steps that were very aggressive, and that was something that clearly annoyed Putin greatly and in retrospect was likely one of the factors that exacerbated the situation between Ukraine and Russia.
Baker would have his readers believe that Putin woke up one morning and said it looked like a nice day to start a war. That’s not what happened.When Zelensky closed down those TV channels just after Biden’s inauguration, he added insult to injury by tweeting at the time, “Ukraine strongly supports freedom of speech. Not propaganda financed by the aggressor country that undermines Ukraine on its way to the [European Union] and EuroAtlantic integration.” In effect, Zelensky was telling Putin their countries would not have relations, despite sharing a long history and, more importantly, many people on both sides of their border preferring a union of the two.
And then there’s the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an alliance that exists for the explicit purpose of consolidating the U.S. and Western Europe in opposition to Russia. Ukraine is one of the last two countries right on Russia’s border that isn’t a part of NATO, the expansion of which Russia has repeatedly stated is aggravating strained international relations. But after Joe Biden came into office with open arms for Ukraine, Troianovski said Zelensky “became more outspoken about wanting to join the NATO alliance.”
The timeline is clear. Biden comes into office, Zelensky feels emboldened to antagonize a much bigger and more powerful country under the belief that Ukraine will be protected by NATO (other nations’ armies and money), Russia reacts, and we end up funding Ukraine’s defense.
As for Zelensky being a “dictator,” it’s not like he outlawed political opposition, shut down places of worship that had traditional ties to Russia, forced the closure of media outlets critical of his administration, and indefinitely suspended elections to keep himself in power. Wait, let me re-check my notes. Never mind. He did do all of that in a process known in permanent Washington as “democracy and freedom.”
When people like Peter Baker claim that it’s “rewriting” history to acknowledge the truth, what they really mean is that the propaganda they prefer has been a failure.
How Media Are Lying Now: 'Rewriting' Ukraine War History Edition