As the voices calling for more direct NATO involvement seem to be a) unable to put a sock in it for one moment and b) happy to manipulate and twist reports coming out from Ukraine to bolster their calls for intervention, it falls to us and other anti-imperialists to do what we can to balance things out. We’re not doing this to score points or to ‘be clever’. We’re doing this because, as we’ve said more times than we care to remember, direct NATO involvement will escalate the conflict towards a world war. That would make nuclear war more likely.

You shouldn’t need us to tell you that there will be no winners in a nuclear war. That’s why we’re doing what we can to challenge the seemingly relentless barrage of propaganda that’s pushing for direct NATO involvement. We’ve got grandchildren and if it’s all the same to the powers that be, we’d like to see them grow and develop. Selfish? Yes, probably but there are times as a political activist when you really do have to fight your own corner and the present, dystopian madness we’re having to live through is one of those times.

It’s in this spirit that we present the three readings below, each of which in their own way are an attempt to get behind the headlines and establish as far as is possible in the fog of war, what actually happened. If that loses us more followers, then so be it – quite frankly, we’re past the stage of caring about the sensibilities of those who oppose us.

Dave – the editor

New witness testimony about Mariupol maternity hospital ‘airstrike’ follows pattern of Ukrainian deceptions, media malpractice – Kit Klarenberg | The Grayzone | April 3, 2022

A key witness to the widely publicized incident at the Mariupol maternity hospital has punctured the official narrative of a Russian airstrike on the facility, and raised serious questions about Western media ethics. Meanwhile, news of a massacre in the city of Bucha contains suspicious elements.

On March 9th, shocking news of a deliberate Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, began spreading widely via social media and news outlets.

March update: Ukraine experiences full scale hostilities, refugees and far right terror – Dmitri Kovalevich | New Cold War | March 29, 2022

Russia’s military action in Ukraine has been going on for more than a month, and there appears to be little hope of a solution any time soon. Meanwhile, Russian troops have moved deeper into Ukraine and Ukraine reports counter-offensives and the Russian army is using the tactics of encirclement and blockade of large cities. The Ukrainian army, which has lost almost all its aviation, does not release civilians from these cities, since without a human shield it could become an easy target. Civilians have to fight their way out, negotiating minefields en route and many have been killed while trying to leave the cities. In this exclusive piece for the New Cold War website, our Ukraine expert Dmitriy Kovalevich details events in and about Ukraine up to and including March 29, 2022.

Mariupol—Civilians denounce the crimes of the fighters of the neo-nazi Azov Regiment – Christelle Néant | Modern Review | March 28, 2022

On 20 March 2022, while we were conducting a humanitarian mission near Sartana, on the north-eastern outskirts of Mariupol, we came across many civilians who had recently fled Mariupol thanks to the advance of Russian and DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) troops. One of them, Nikolay, agreed to talk on camera about the crimes committed by the neo-Nazi Azov regiment against the inhabitants. A testimony confirmed by other civilians who managed to evacuate the city.

As we deliver the last of our food supplies and baby nappies to the fifth village in our humanitarian mission near Sartana, a man comes out of the house where he is staying and starts talking to us. We discover that he has recently managed to flee Mariupol, after three weeks of horror.