this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2025
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[–] npdean@lemmy.today 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Brought to you by the unbiased news source - kyivindependent.com

[–] Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world 49 points 1 month ago (2 children)

"Brought to you by the unbiased news source – kyivindependent.com"

This kind of snarky dismissal is a textbook example of the genetic fallacy. It's rejecting an argument or claim solely because of its source, rather than engaging with the content, the evidence, or the reasoning behind it.

Yes, The Kyiv Independent is Ukrainian, and yes, it likely carries national bias. Just like literally every national outlet does during wartime. That doesn’t automatically invalidate every fact it reports, especially when those facts are supported by third-party evidence and international bodies.

In this article, for example, the claim about the child adoption "catalog" is backed by:

Screenshots from Russian occupation websites, figures from Save Ukraine ( a long-standing NGO) and references to internationally verified abductions; numbers confirmed by Ukraine's ombudsman, the ICC’s arrest warrants, and other human rights organizations)

So even if you don’t like the outlet, you're still responsible for engaging with the facts, not just rolling your eyes and calling it propaganda.

Dismissing credible, corroborated claims with a one-liner is lazy and cowardly. If you're going to talk about war crimes and mass abductions, do better than a meme-level deflection and actually engage the facts. This isn’t some Internet drama without consequences; it’s the systematic erasure of children.

[–] npdean@lemmy.today 2 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Dismissing Russian media reports occurs way more commonly but no one says anything then.

[–] bigboismith@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Russian media rarely if ever cites their sources, and when they do they are dubious at best

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 1 month ago

and mostly because putin control what russian media puts out as well.

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

These ones certainly aren't.
From the people who gave us the Ghost of Kiev and the Snake Island fantasy

[–] loudwhisper@infosec.pub 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Did they report on those at all?

I searched their websites and I got 0 hits on the Ghost of Kyiv, and 1 hit on Snake Island (this).

[–] Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

Ah, so now we're on to classic whataboutism fallacy. Pointing out that Russian media gets dismissed (often for good reason) doesn’t make it logically valid to dismiss any report just because of its origin.

If you think The Kyiv Independent is questionable, that's fine! Interrogate the claims. Ask:

What are the sources?

Are they independent?

Can they be verified elsewhere?

The same rules apply to Russian media and every other claim.

But using other fallacies doesn't justify your response. Saying “Well, people dismiss Russian media too” isn’t a defense. It’s just avoiding the argument again.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 month ago

What-aboutism. I love how generic and useless you're being.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 8 points 1 month ago

Russian sources arnt legitimate, and are filled with propaganda, so its generally ignored. it would be deleted on reddit as it would here as well.

[–] FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Your point is?

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Definitely impartial:

"its contributing editor, Liliane Bivings, used to work and write for the NATO think tank The Atlantic Council, specifically covering Ukraine. Producer ​​Elina-Alem Kent worked for the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv in 2017; not exactly the background one would associate with grassroots, independent media. Chief financial officer Jakub Parusinski was previously employed by the International Center for Policy Studies, a Ukraine-focused think tank sponsored by numerous Western governments. In 2020, culture reporter Artur Korniienko was awarded a fellowship to work for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an organization that The New York Times once described as a “worldwide propaganda network built by the CIA.” Meanwhile, contributor to The Kyiv Independent Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland previously worked for the Council on Foreign Relations, was given a scholarship by the State Department to study Ukraine, and also worked at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, an organization directly funded by the U.S. government.

The unquestioned star of The Kyiv Independent, however, is defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko, who, in a short time, has built up a following of over 1.1 million people on Twitter. From the front lines, his tweets and videos go viral daily and provide the basis for much of the Western media’s reporting on the conflict. Yet Ponomarenko is far from a neutral actor, and spends an inordinate amount of his time embedded with the Azov Battalion, the Neo-Nazi group whom he describes as his “good friend[s]” and his “brothers in arms.”

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Here's another older source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/trump-ukraine-children-russia-war-kidnapping-evidence-b2717730.html

Children from Eastern Europe have been considered prime trafficking victims for several decades now. They are usually white and easily accessible, often sitting out on the streets.

Here's a documentary about Romanian street children: https://youtu.be/HDiIrdzFGCY

Here's Robert Maxwell trafficking them: https://www.nli.org.il/he/images/%20nnl_archive_al990040300950205171/NLI#$FL45875197

There is substantial evidence that torture, snuff, rape, bestiality, and CSAM materials coming from Russia are made by Putin's request and put out by his request to accrue blackmail on the people who view them online. A large part of what many world leaders want today are just straight up children and babies as a commodity.

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Hey, out of curiosity- is Putin a bad person? Can you say something negative about Putin?

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, I don't have the simplistic thinking of the western mouthpieces.
He is simply the lesser evil, and that's not hard when the other side is the worstt imperial aggressive country to ever exist.

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Worse than imperial China? The Mongols? Alexander the Great? The Dutch and Dutch East India Company? The British? The French? The Spanish?

There is no "lesser evil." There are assholes in charge who kill and enslave people just living their lives. There are rulers and enforcers who work together to trick the public en masse that any one of them is better than another. When at its core, owning and harming others is inherently wrong with no middle ground and benevolent slavers are still slavers.

Just like it isn't the Russian people who want war or want to fight in war, it is Putin and the wealthy who want it, to kill their own men and to thin the herd. They can then take their money and stuff after they die. It's not just about what they gain from Ukraine, it's also about an attack on their own people.

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

LOL you're a joke. enjoy your BS

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I accept your loss due to an inability to form a good faith argument.

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You write the most insane stuff and you expect me to engage with that?
You're some political illiterate US lib.
Zero understanding of history or geopolitics.
And with the pretentiousness of an american you think you know what the Russian people think or want.
"they are made to go to the meatgrinder for evil Pootin!"
Simplistic and pathetic statements.
Only worthy of ridicule, which I sometimes enjoy.
Stick to commenting on games, smash burgers or whatever it is you peasants do, but geopolitics is not for you.

Take your own advice and...
"go to Bluesky" LOL

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Again, I accept your loss due to an inability to argue in good faith.

[–] FelixCress@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Independent is not a tabloid you fucking Russian propaganda troll.

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

"its contributing editor, Liliane Bivings, used to work and write for the NATO think tank The Atlantic Council, specifically covering Ukraine. Producer ​​Elina-Alem Kent worked for the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv in 2017; not exactly the background one would associate with grassroots, independent media. Chief financial officer Jakub Parusinski was previously employed by the International Center for Policy Studies, a Ukraine-focused think tank sponsored by numerous Western governments. In 2020, culture reporter Artur Korniienko was awarded a fellowship to work for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an organization that The New York Times once described as a "worldwide propaganda network built by the CIA." Meanwhile, contributor to The Kyiv Independent Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland previously worked for the Council on Foreign Relations, was given a scholarship by the State Department to study Ukraine, and also worked at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, an organization directly funded by the U.S. government.

The unquestioned star of The Kyiv Independent, however, is defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko, who, in a short time, has built up a following of over 1.1 million people on Twitter. From the front lines, his tweets and videos go viral daily and provide the basis for much of the Western media's reporting on the conflict. Yet Ponomarenko is far from a neutral actor, and spends an inordinate amount of his time embedded with the Azov Battalion, the Neo-Nazi group whom he describes as his "good friend[s]" and his "brothers in arms."

There's your "independent" nazi bootlicking cunt

[–] FelixCress@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Did you say anything Bumhole? All I heard is a Russian troll making with their mouth sounds usually associated with an arse.

[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

The neanderthal nazi expresses itself in the only way he can.
vulgar attempts at insults, yet he lacks the brains to not look like the dummy he is.