FAIR: 'Muddying a Murky Picture': NYT's Ukraine Kremlinology

There is a tendency to believe that Russian president Vladimir Putin is orchestrating the unrest in eastern Ukraine, sending in irregular Russian forces to stir up pro-Russian separatist sentiment. As guesses go, this might not be a bad one–but journalism is supposed to be about presenting evidence to confirm such speculation. The New York Times clearly has a hunch about deep Russian involvement in Ukraine. The ways it tries to confirm this hunch are curious.



Back in April, the Times got into some trouble (FAIR Blog, 4/23/14) with a "scoop" showing photos of people they claimed were Russian special forces and intelligence forces. A few days later, the Times was conveying skepticism about its own story–skepticism noticeably lacking in the original report.

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So the fighters raise "new questions" about Russian "role"–but there's no evidence the fighters are Russian soldiers. But Putin has such a "powerful will" that "motley assortments" of fighters wouldn't be there if he didn't want them to be there–so say the "experts."