BREAKING BBC gave Putin ‘Trump therapy’ with ‘Ukraine falsehoods’, says Russia official
Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine today seized upon the BBC turmoil, spinning the situation to serve Russia’s own disinformation agenda.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova launched a barrage of baseless and unverified claims against the British broadcaster’s Russian coverage following the departures of director-general Tim Davie and news chief executive Deborah Turness.
She alleged the corporation had fabricated reports on Russian war crimes in Bucha, despite overwhelming evidence showing hundreds were brutally tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered by Putin’s troops during Ukraine’s invasion.
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Zakharova also capitalised on the controversy surrounding the manipulated Donald Trump footage and other bias claims to cast doubt on the BBC’s reporting of the 2018 nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia by Russian GRU operatives.
Additionally, she targeted the broadcaster’s coverage of Putin’s 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the Syrian war. “The falsification in Bucha was ‘edited’ in exactly the same way, but in reality it was the BBC that fabricated the information,” she claimed.
“They also invented incredible stories about Russian fans ahead of the Sochi Olympics, fakes about Syria, inflated absurd rumours about the Skripals, and much more.”
Fellow Putin mouthpiece Kirill Dmitriev joined the attack, branding the BBC as “warmongering” over Ukraine and falsely claiming the corporation is “steered” by the British government.
He wrote on X: “BBC is still steered by a govt pushing mass migration, warmongering, digital IDs & early prisoner releases. New management may just try harder not to get caught in too obvious truth distortions. But hopefully I am wrong.
“Steered by a government advocating mass migration, warmongering, digital IDs & early prisoner releases. New management may just try harder not to get caught in too obvious truth distortions. But hopefully I am wrong.”
Regarding the 2022 Bucha atrocities, a UN human rights mission documented unlawful killings and summary executions of civilians in areas under Russian control at the time. These acts are suspected war crimes.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and other organisations recorded summary executions, enforced disappearances, and torture on the ground in Bucha days after the Russian withdrawal.
The BBC has been approached for comment.
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