Clearly, Ukraine's war effort will suffer even further setback given that the attention of international media coverage has seemingly in an instant switched from the Russia-Ukraine war to the shocking scenes to have emerged from Israel. The world has pivoted from the battlefields of the Donbas to beholding scenes of southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.
On social media for example, masses of Americans have switched their Facebook profiles from Ukrainian flags to Israeli flags, or on the other side of it... to Palestinian flags. Perhaps trying to regain some of the lost spotlight and media focus, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has bizarrely laid blame on Russia for the outbreak of fresh conflict in the Middle East.
Zelensky bizarrely blames the Israel conflict on Putin.
— I AM (@i_Beth1) October 9, 2023
"Russia is interested in triggering a war in the Middle East." 🤡🤡🤡 pic.twitter.com/uww0EeF3i2
Zelensky said in Monday statements that Moscow stoke war in the region in an effort to weaken global unity and spread destabilization.
"Based on available information -- very clear information -- it is in Russia’s interests to inflame war in the Middle East to create a new source of pain and suffering that would weaken global unity, create divisions and help Russia in undermining freedom in Europe," Zelensky said in a nightly video address.
Of course, he cited no evidence for the claims. The new talking point seems a desperate attempt to link 'the current thing' to the Russian invasion and the plight of Ukrainians. Zelensky in a series of messages has expressed solidarity with Israeli victims of Hamas terror.
Our position is crystal clear: anyone who causes terror and death anywhere on the planet must be held accountable. pic.twitter.com/uqE3bffNJG
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 9, 2023
The Kremlin rejected the unfounded allegation, and instead described the roots of Mideast conflict in the context of Washington policy and its consequences. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, according to a Russian media translation:
"I believe many would agree with me that it is a glaring example of the failures of the US Middle East policies. They tried to monopolize the peace settlement, but unfortunately paid no attention to searching for compromises that would be acceptable for both parties."
He added that the US "never took into account the core interests of the Palestinian people," and thus tensions have exploded into fresh violence.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has alleged that Russia is carrying out war crimes after a recent bombing campaign:
UN Security Council members from around the world have condemned Russia’s bombing of a village wake that killed 52 people.
Hroza, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, lost over 15 per cent of its 300 population when a cafe holding a memorial service for a Ukrainian soldier was targeted by a Russian Iskander ballistic missile on Thursday.
"This is one of the deadliest strikes by Russia against Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion last year," said US deputy ambassador Robert Wood in Monday’s UN Security Council meeting, as he stressed his country’s support for investigators gathering possible evidence of war crimes.
Not Ukraine, but Gaza. pic.twitter.com/9SepQSJBpH
— Muhammad Smiry 🇵🇸 (@MuhammadSmiry) October 9, 2023
Moscow has countered that it targets military installations and locations for military support purposes. Both sides continue to hurl accusations of atrocities against the other. But again, at the moment, the Western world appears exclusively focused on what's happening with Israel-Gaza.
via zerohedge
