WAR ON UKRAINE - Videos #3 [13-17]

Welcome to a third special edition of our Media Insights newsletter, "War on Ukraine". This issue features five short videos reflecting different aspects of the war:
->Believe them, mothers don't lie
->Who will pay for the war?
->Saving private Raccoon
->Criminals released, words behind bars
->Russia will become less secure and poorer

All videos are available on our Telegram channel 'На самом деле медиа'. For more than 6 months it has offered a unique perspective - how the Russian state media interpreted the ongoing "special military operation" in Ukraine, and how the same war events were covered by the independent media.

Our regular newsletters on the website provided a detailed weekly overview of these two different perspectives (through mid-August) and a summary of the topics of the day presented by our Telegram channel 'In fact, the media' (since mid-August until mid-November). You can find all the previous issues on our website.

[Believe them, mothers don't lie]
Russians have taken to the streets to protest against the mobilisation of Vladimir Putin. Although demonstrations are attended by people from all walks of life, Russian women are usually the most influential. What could be worse for a mother when her son comes home from these senseless wars in a coffin?



[Who will pay for the war?]
94 states voted in favour of a UN resolution that finds Russia responsible for damage to Ukraine as a result of a full-scale military invasion and calls on the Russian Federation to make reparations - compensation payments that a state pays for damage caused by its criminal actions. In early September, Ukraine estimated the direct physical damage caused to the country by the war at $326 billion. A total of $105 billion will have to be spent to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. That's a combined $431 billion. This means that each Russian will have to pay about $3,000 for reparations.



[Saving private Raccoon]
What has the Russian army achieved in Ukraine? Instead of capturing Kiev in the first week of the war, the Russian army was forced to retreat - the missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, sank in April and our soldiers were forced to flee the Kharkov region and more recently Kherson. At the same time, Russian soldiers stole a lot of stuff from Ukraine, with the most recent theft - of seven raccoons, two female wolves, peacocks, a llama and a donkey from Kherson Zoo - has moved it into the realm of farce.



[Criminals released, words behind bars]
How the law really works in Russia - you get 15 years for mentioning one word; while you can be released from prison, even if you are a felon who has committed serious crimes.



[Russia will become less secure and poorer]
Thanks to oil production, Russia was one of the most prosperous countries in the former Soviet Union, and in terms of purchasing power it was comparable even to some parts of the EU. Now all that is about to change. In a matter of months, Putin's unfair and ill-conceived war has wiped out the achievements of the past three decades. The country has lost its international prestige, its citizens are more governed but less free, less secure and more poor. It is estimated that Russia will not return to its prewar size even by the end of this decade. Or even further?


For more information on daily news throughout May-November, please visit our Telegram channel 'In fact, the Media' (@nasamomdelemedia).