Today's D Brief: Russia continues port strikes, threatens civilian ships; Wagner trains in Belarus; MI6 assesses Ukraine’s advance; And a bit more.
Defense OneAug 02, 2023
Critics and Dissenters Punished in Russia, Ukraine
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Image copyright: Ukraine's Presidential Press Office [via Wikimedia Commons]
The Facts
As the Russia-Ukraine war has continued [nearing the 17-month mark], both countries took steps to punish critics and dissenters this week.
In Ukraine, Pres. Zelenskyy fired his country's ambassador to Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, on Thursday. Prystaiko had been critical of Zelenskyy's response to British defense minister Ben Wallace earlier in the week.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Putin's war in Ukraine has not only disrupted the lives of millions of ordinary civilians, it has had a calamitous effect on journalism and free speech. Because of this war, Ukrainian journalists have to face the daily prospect of potentially being killed in a war zone. Meanwhile, Russian journalists face the prospect of a jail sentence if they ever publish criticism of the Kremlin. Sometimes, the outcomes are even more severe.
Establishment-critical narrative
While Russia and Ukraine's limiting of freedom of expression is regrettable, the West needs to reexamine some of its own policies on this. For instance, Russian media is now banned and censored in dozens of Western countries. How can the "rules-based order" promote freedom of speech on the one hand while contradicting this policy on the other?
