Clayton Morris is a former Fox News journalist. Together with his wife, Natali Morris, he has the Redacted YouTube channel, which spreads openly pro-Russian narratives.
In the new video, the presenters distinguished themselves with a new batch of anti-Ukrainian theses:
“American Javelins ended up in the hands of Mexican gangs. Weapons provided to Ukraine end up on the black market. The US does not track her movements at all.”
“Ukraine has been bombing ethnic Russians on the territory of its state since 2014.”
“There are many newcomers in the Ukrainian army. Much military personnel note that they were not trained. They don’t want to go and die on the front line when it’s their first combat experience. Ukraine also throws 15-16, 65-year-olds into battle, and those who are not fit for service are not released from the country with their families.”
“As a result of the Russian missile attack on Kyiv [June 1, 2023 — ed.], there are casualties… but the anti-aircraft defense at that time shot down all the ballistic missiles. It was debris from downed missiles that caused damage and casualties, injuring six and killing three. There is no evidence that Russia is targeting civilians. It was Ukraine that fired at them. This is the consequence of the fact that you [USA — ed.] send weapons to unprepared people.”
“Russia reports on fighting in Donetsk region. It’s hot there now. Although the residents of the region voted to join Russia, Ukraine continues to attack them to keep the territory. Russia just wants to take those areas where people voted to join the Russian Federation. In this case, everyone would win: Ukraine will keep those territories that want to remain Ukrainian, and people will stop dying. Russia will win because those people who voted for the accession will be protected, and Russia’s economy will not suffer.”
“Zelenskyy puts pressure on NATO so that Ukraine becomes a member of the Alliance as soon as possible”
Let’s analyze these theses in more detail.
“Ukrainian weapons end up on black markets, in particular, Javelins ended up in Mexico”
The Morrises used a news story from a Spanish TV channel, which talks about a Javelin [portable anti-tank missile system manufactured by American companies — ed], which was spotted in the possession of a member of a local gang. Ukraine receives such weapons from its Western partners.
This story was analyzed by analysts of the AP Fact Check project and found that there is no information in the story that it is a weapon from a batch of American military aid. The presenter only mentions that the same Javelin is used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In addition, the journalists incorrectly identified the weapon: in the video, it is not a Javelin, but an AT4 — a Swedish disposable hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, which is widely used by many militaries around the world.
“In this way, the propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and disrupt the supply of armed aid from NATO countries. Like, Ukrainians resell it on the black market and it falls into the hands of criminals. However, military experts responded to AP Fact Check’s request that drug traffickers probably bought weapons in a way unrelated to Ukraine,” Detector Media fact-checkers report.
The Ukrainian Review has previously written in detail about the sale of weapons coming from Western partners to black markets and control over their movement.
“Ukraine has been bombing ethnic Russians on its territory since 2014”
On the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which were the first to come under Russian occupation in 2014, the share of Ukrainians prevailed: 56% and 58%, respectively.
That is if Ukraine bombed these territories, then it also bombed Ukrainians. But did Ukraine bomb these regions for 9 years?
The Ukrainian Review has already written about this.
Olena Mokrenchuk, officer of the Public Affairs Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also commented on this thesis:
“I myself am from Donbas. She was born in Snizhne, which has been under occupation since 2014. I escaped from there not from Ukrainian, but from Russian shelling. The Russians began to destroy my homeland, I defended it as much as I could. Having been there constantly — first as a volunteer, then as a serviceman, I will say one thing: Ukraine has never fired at civilians. There was shelling of specific objects, when they knew for sure that the Russians were there. It was because of this that Russians began to settle in schools, hospitals…or, for example, in Kharkiv Oblast, they already did this: they kept civilians on the upper floors of buildings, and they themselves hid on the lower ones. Or vice versa. Especially so that they are not fired upon. Because 200% knew that Ukraine would not shoot at civilians. If they didn’t know that, they wouldn’t do it.
When I talk to acquaintances who are against Ukraine and say that we are shelling them, I ask them to name a specific date and address. But they have nothing to say in response.
My daughter is an artilleryman. We were standing near Avdiivka. They laughed so hard at the “news” that we bombed a house in Makiivka. At that time, we had 2S1, and 2S3 [Soviet self-propelled howitzers — ed.] — they shoot a maximum of 16 km if you try hard —18. And Makiivka is 50 km from us. We laughed so much that we are so cool: we fired a cannon, the range of which is 16 km, as far as 50 km.”
The U.S. Department of State also says the following:
“There is no credible evidence that any ethnic Russians or Russian-speaking citizens were under threat from the Government of Ukraine. However, there is reliable information that in Russian-occupied Crimea and Donbas, Ukrainians faced suppression of their culture and national identity and lived in conditions of brutal repression and fear.”
“Residents of the occupied territories voted to join Russia”
The Ukrainian Review has already explained why referendums held in Russian-occupied territories are illegal.
“The referendum is manipulation. St. Petersburg will join Germany in a referendum, and a large part of Asian Muscovy will join China. But this is not the way to change borders.
To settle these issues [border changes], there is international law, part of which is the Final Act to the Helsinki Protocol, signed in 1975 [and signed, by the way, by Leonid Brezhnev, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1960-1964 and 1977-1982 years], which fixed the principle of inviolability of borders after the Second World War. There is a ratified (recognized by the parliaments of the countries — nowhere above) agreement “On friendship, cooperation, and partnership…” signed in 1997 by the presidents of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which also recognized the borders. However, all this international law has been violated by Russia,” comments Dmytro Boguslavsky, a lawyer.
“Ukrainian soldiers go into battle without training, among the soldiers are 15-16-year-old boys”
“There are no 15-16-year-old soldiers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, I declare this to you responsibly as a person who has been fighting since 2014. People under the age of 18 are not accepted into the Armed Forces, since the age of conscription [for conscription] is from 18.
Now there is a contract army in Ukraine. But you cannot sign a contract if you are not in the ranks of the Armed Forces. To do this, after your 18th birthday, you need to complete a one-year term of service, and only then sign a contract. That is, the person will be at least 19 years old.
Regarding preparation. Here it depends on what to call preparation. During these almost 10 years of war, 60% of our country is in one way or another related to the Armed Forces: some helped, some fought. That is, most of our people are trained in fact. There are many people who had training (private), TRO training before a full-scale invasion (they had shooting days 1 or 2 times a month). Also, a person who goes through the military commissariat receives an assignment to a military unit and gets trained there. He undergoes training there for 1-2 months. It takes place at the level that is needed for this fighter. Another thing is that someone may not be able to master everything in such a time, since each person has his own pace of learning. Then a person gains experience directly at the front.
Another thing is the emotional state and household items. I will say from my own experience. I came to the war not completely unprepared: at one time I was in shooting circles, I went to competitions, and I knew how to shoot. But there was a lot that I did not come across. But you won’t learn them, no instructor will explain… until you feel the shelling, you won’t feel what it’s like when a projectile flies at you, what you feel at that moment, what you’re doing at the same time, how your body will react… Therefore, when a person falls on the front feels that he or she is not sufficiently prepared. She begins to gain experience and asks her colleagues. This moment is present in absolutely everyone, even those who have been fighting for 9.5 years feel that they do not know a lot and need to learn in order to save their lives, the lives of those around them and to win,” — Olena Mokrenchuk explains.
Also, regarding the training of the Ukrainian military, it is worth adding that the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also undergo training abroad. For example, in May 2023, up to 5,000 Ukrainian military personnel underwent training in Sweden.
Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defense kills civilians
During the threat of missile attack in regions where there is danger, an air alert is announced and citizens must take shelter. This is done in order to protect people’s lives and health.
Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, explains why it is necessary to hide and the danger of debris:
“Hundreds of kilograms of explosives. Yes, the missile may be hit, but the warhead may not explode in the air. This also happens with drones. The glider itself is damaged, and the combat unit may not be damaged by the impressive fragments of the anti-aircraft missile. When shot down, a cruise missile, since it flies higher, can explode higher, on the other hand, a ballistic missile, in particular “Iskander-K”, can fly 100-200 meters in the air and explode there. However, it doesn’t matter much unlike damage from debris. They pose a huge danger to the civilian population, therefore, during a danger signal from the air, Ukrainians must follow the rules and be sure to stay in shelter.”
According to the Kyiv City Council, on June 1, 2023, debris from a rocket fell near a medical facility in the Desnianskyi district, which caused the death of people.
“The fragment of the rocket fell at the entrance to the medical facility 4 minutes after the announcement of the air alert. And people went to the shelter,” noted Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv.
Later, information appeared that the shelter was closed, based on this report, the Desnianskyi District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Kyiv opened criminal proceedings.
“Zelenskyy is putting pressure on NATO for Ukraine to become a member of the Alliance as soon as possible”
For a comment on this thesis, we turned to Anatoly Kurnosov, an expert at the Center for Political Studies “Doctrine”:
“You can answer yes and no. First, “no” because it is impossible to put pressure on NATO. There is no single decision-making center in the North Atlantic Alliance. This is not a Kremlin bunker, like which the Russians are constantly looking for analogues in other countries and alliances. A country seeking to become a member of NATO submits an official application for membership, and later, at the Alliance summit, the leaders of NATO member states decide to invite both countries to become NATO members. No single state or even a group of states solves this issue, which is clearly visible at least in the example of the problems with obstacles to the membership of Finland and Sweden, created by Turkey and Hungary. Moreover, the position regarding Ukraine’s readiness to become a member of NATO is getting stronger. Thus, Kristi Raik, deputy director of the Estonian Strategic Analytical Center CFDS, is sure that the arguments that are most often formulated against Ukraine’s quick accession to the Pact are losing their relevance. The war has already proven that Kyiv has armed forces capable of effectively resisting Russia, which refutes the objections that were often raised earlier that Ukraine’s accession to NATO would increase the burden on other countries of the Pact without giving anything in return.
Undoubtedly, the Ukrainian army currently has the most combat experience in Europe and, in addition, is rapidly implementing the standards of the Alliance. Franklin D. Kramer, former US Deputy Secretary of Defense, today an expert at the Atlantic Council, believes that Ukraine already meets almost all the conditions set during previous NATO expansions, including when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined the Pact, with the exception of ” border stability”. However, US President Joe Biden’s statement on June 17 that Washington will not simplify the process of Ukraine’s accession to the alliance, because for this Kyiv needs to meet the general terms of accession, once again confirms that there are no exceptions to compliance with all NATO standards. At the same time, yes, the President of Ukraine is pressing. Because it is his direct constitutional duty to exert influence and pressure, using his position as the Head of State and representing the state in international relations, directing the foreign policy activities of the state. That is, along with defense, the president is also responsible for foreign relations and diplomacy, he is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and submits to the Verkhovna Rada a proposal for the appointment of the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. According to Chapter V of the Constitution of Ukraine, the President is the guarantor of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and, accordingly, the guarantor of the implementation of the strategic course of the state to acquire full membership of Ukraine in the European Union and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is also enshrined in our Constitution. Therefore, to do everything necessary for this — to persistently convince partners and even put pressure on other states — this is his job.”
The Redacted YouTube channel traditionally plays along with Russian propaganda and spreads provocative, false information about Ukraine and the war unleashed by Russia.
Anya Ostymchuk
