One of the many pitfalls of journalism that journalists must be wary of his misinformation. Although misinformation can at times be attributed to honest mistakes, the term is occasionally used interchangeably with disinformation which seems to denote a much more malevolent form of misleading people.
One form of altered information that humans have been using for decades upon decades in the modern era is propaganda. Propaganda can often twist the truth or manipulate public perception in the pursuit of making individuals believe a certain way.
Russia, relatively recently, initiated a war with Ukraine in which Russia invaded Ukraine‘s land to occupy it with no justifiable reason.
Although the invasion began in Russia’s favor their advantage has began to stagnate as much of the territory they originally took from Ukraine has been won back. After a year of invasion with their progress diminishing Russia is utilizing tactics that are aimed at passing false information off as fact.
Russian is allegedly using propaganda by quoting Scott Ritter, who was a former UN weapons inspector. His words have been translated to approximately mean "Russia is winning. This war is finished" which Russia's RIA Novosti State News Agency quoted during a YouTube program named the "U.S. Tour of Duty."
His claim does not capture the entire truth, however, as Russia did make commanding moves in the beginning of the war, the war front has maintained a fairly stable state as Russia lost much of the territory that it had originally taken with the last major territorial transfer occurring in November of 2022.
Scott Ritter has undeniably proven himself a less than reliable source in this particular matter as he has produced a nearly identical claim more than one year ago today on April 6, 2022 when an interview was conducted by the United National AntiWar Coalition.
Last year he was quoted as saying "Russia has won this war. I believe they are in the process of completing one of the most stunning military victories in modern history." Detailing this issue is Polygraph.info with additional information.
Although Russia did quickly take over invaded lands from Ukraine, at the time of Ritter's quote, Russian troops had already began their retreat from some of the northern territories of Ukraine.
This usage of Ritter's comments is a willful disregard of the true progression of events as they have happened. Russia is not a guaranteed winner in this war nor have they proven that they will be able to take out all of Ukraine. This is a tactic that can be utilized to great effect by powers such as Russia that wish to claim some degree of prideful warmongering skill while attempting to shift individuals perceptions of their position in the war.
This demonstrates the issue with propaganda as well as blatant disinformation and the power hungry groups that can use true or false information to further their own agendas. Using an individual who seems qualified to spout off quotable diction that is indeed false when it is touted as undeniable truth, allows unjust powers to use disinformation as a weapon to bludgeon its own people into submission.
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