I find myself in a very uncomfortable place. While I am prepared to believe that the people of Russia are being fed Mr Putin’s version of what is happening, I am concerned that we may not be getting the full facts either.
Our mainstream media has a track record of feeding us what our government want us to know. Not being a linguist I have to rely on the reporters wording of the translation. It has been known in the past for only partial translation to be reported, which can alter the impression of what is going on.
I feel heart sorry for the ordinary people on both sides of this war. A Russian woman interviewed had been widowed and was adamant that her husband could not kill anyone. The trouble with living in a dictatorship is that if you are called to fight, you fight or get penalised, possibly by death. When a leader takes you to war you have to participate.
A slightly worrying twist in the past week has been the Keenness of Britain to be associated with the war. All of a sudden a Military Strategist is keen to let us know how involved the British troops have been in training the troops of Ukraine. Then we have our Prime Minister walking along the street with Volodymyr Zelenskyy wearing only a suit, in a war zone. He can’t come to Scotland without protective clothing! I sincerely hope he isn’t using their war to boost his political profile.
This week we get the party fines issued, conveniently when Westminster is on the Easter break. The citizens of the UK are divided on whether their government have taken them for fools. Fingers crossed enough of them use their protest at the local elections.