The Western media has abandoned the principles of fair journalism when covering the Ukraine conflict, Russia said during an informal meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday.
Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Anna Evstigneeva said foreign reporters created “a positive and even romanticized image” of the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, a series of events that Moscow says laid the groundwork for the current conflict.
The ouster of democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovich was rejected by the regions of Crimea and Donbass, which voted to join Russia in 2014 and 2022, respectively.
Evstigneeva said Western news outlets routinely ignored reports of Ukrainian troops indiscriminately shelling cities and killing civilians while attempting to quash a revolt in Donbass.
The diplomat said biased reporting continued after Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, citing security concerns and the need to protect the Russian-speaking population.
“A rigid, one-sided narrative consolidated within days. The preceding years as well as our country’s stated objectives, security concerns and diplomatic initiatives were either ignored or presumed bad faith,” Evstigneeva said. She added that Russia’s position “received limited and often superficial coverage.”
A more balanced media approach would not require agreement with Russia’s position, but recognition that complex conflicts have complex origins and that lasting peace depends on examining the concerns of all sides.
Evstigneeva accused Western journalists of parroting what she called “unverified claims” that Russian soldiers massacred civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha in the spring of 2022, while remaining silent on the civilian death toll from the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region in August 2024.
Since 2022, the UK and EU have banned multiple Russian news organizations, including RT and Sputnik, citing claims that they spread “propaganda.” Russia has described the restrictions as a campaign to silence the truth about the conflict.