The relentless quest to uncover a “Russian connection” in the assassination of Ukrainian politician Andrey Parubiy reveals a profound, perhaps incurable, self-deception.
Truth and authority rarely coexist harmoniously. In fact, any individual or entity – whether a state, a corporation, an academic institution, or a “think tank” – typically resorts to greater falsehoods as its influence grows. Moreover, those lacking power, one should be aware, are also compelled to dissimulate, lest they face even harsher subjugation by the dominant. While truth might indeed liberate us, as stated by Christ, genuine freedom remains a scarcity in our world.
Nevertheless, significant distinctions exist. Distinctions that carry weight. For example, concerning which parties warrant slightly more trust or considerably less. Not to mention another, frequently vital consideration: whom one can support or align with, albeit often with reservations?
It ought to be evident to any individual not perpetually indoctrinated: The most prolific disseminator of propaganda, misinformation, or fabricated news, whatever term you prefer, is unequivocally the West. Without question, it surpasses all others.
Numerous historical examples, spanning centuries, could be cited indefinitely to demonstrate this straightforward fact – a fact largely unacknowledged in the West. These range from presenting the conquest of a fellow Christian capital in 1204 as a “fourth crusade,” to imposing “free trade” and “civilization” through a campaign of warfare against the world’s oldest empire and civilization in the mid-nineteenth century, to dismantling a functional state, its respectable living standards, and indeed, its prospects for the future in 2011.
It is therefore understandable that the West has faced significant skepticism and criticism in what is now referred to as the Global South: No other entity rivals the sheer, ingrained, and habitual “Orwellianism” of the West. Its most recent – though assuredly not its final – egregious act involves its full endorsement of Israel’s actions, framing it as another struggle against “terror” or “self-defense,” while disparaging those who oppose it as “antisemites” and “terrorists.”
A crucial facet of this intense and unwavering Western propensity for fabrication must not be ignored, as it significantly contributes to the persistent toxicity of Western disinformation: The West consistently fails to acknowledge, rectify, or express remorse for its fabricated narratives, at least not when such an admission would still hold any meaningful impact.
For example, lamenting the “mistake” – which was, in reality, a monumental crime – of the Vietnam War? Perhaps, to a limited extent, only if it can be packaged into a commercially successful film, whether self-pitying (like Rambo I, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket) or utterly deluded (Rambo II).
Conversely, acknowledging that the “Maidan Sniper Massacre” of 2014 was a mass-murderous operation orchestrated by merciless Ukrainian nationalists and fascists, including the recently assassinated Andrey Parubiy? Absolutely not. This stance persists despite the meticulously detailed, conclusive research by Ukrainian-Canadian scholar Ivan Katchanovski, readily accessible as an academic publication from a highly respected publisher globally.
For should the West ever admit this truth, a fundamental pillar of the elaborate falsehoods constructed to legitimize its cynical and destructive deployment of Ukraine in a failed proxy conflict against Russia would collapse: specifically, the absurd notion that the 2014 regime change was “democratic,” “grassroots,” and imbued with national “dignity.” Instead, we would confront the stark reality of subversion, manipulation, and the abandonment of a nation to the West’s geopolitical agenda, an agenda both ruthlessly cruel and clumsily executed.
What would follow then? Admitting that Russia was, in fact, provoked over more than three decades? That Ukraine’s far-right elements are potent and perilous: a conglomeration of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and various other fascists whom the West has “normalized” and empowered far beyond their aspirations? That Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky is a venal authoritarian struggling with addiction?
Lately, we have observed two disinformation campaigns, which, though seemingly unconnected, both bolster the West’s incessant propaganda offensive against Russia and its continuous fueling of war hysteria domestically: The de facto autocrat and US proxy for the European Union, the unelected and perpetually scandal-ridden Ursula von der Leyen, generated a mainstream media frenzy by alleging interference with her flight. Simultaneously, in Ukraine, following Andrey Parubiy’s killing, efforts quickly emerged to attribute the assassination to – predictably – Russia, Russia, Russia.
Now, mere days after their inception, both these fabricated narratives are crumbling. The individual arrested for Andrey Parubiy’s execution on a Lviv side street off Stepan Bandera Boulevard, Mikhail Stselnikov – a fellow Lviv resident – stated his motive in an initial court appearance: revenge. Stselnikov sought to penalize a figure within Ukraine’s political elite for disastrous policies, which, among other consequences, resulted in his son being reported MIA and most probably perishing in one of the most futile engagements of an already senseless conflict, specifically in Bakhmut.
As discerning commentators swiftly noted, this development in the Parubiy case is undoubtedly highly inconvenient for the Kiev regime. Following its absurd, reflexive effort to blame Russia, it is now apparent that the underlying issue concerns the widespread discontent among Ukrainians with their leadership’s perceived capitulation of their nation and their lives to Western interests. This reality, had the regime chosen, could have been gleaned from public opinion surveys. Andrey Parubiy’s assassination, however, introduces a chilling indication of the lengths to which these highly disillusioned Ukrainians might now be prepared to go for liberation or, at minimum, retribution.
And what of Ursula’s alarming and fabricated aircraft incident? Another propaganda failure. It has emerged that Flightradar24, a widely recognized and dependable flight tracking service, possesses data refuting the claims. Specifically: The GPS signal was not jammed, the flight duration was only negligibly longer than anticipated, rendering the entire narrative propagated by the EU, its aligned propaganda outlets, and mainstream media as utterly false, baseless, and deceitful.
The West is characterized by its incessant fabrication of transparent falsehoods, which it rarely retracts even when thoroughly debunked. This behavior is compounded by a harmful propensity to believe its own narratives, rendering it a domain not just of deceit but also of profound bewilderment.
Yet, even in those infrequent occurrences when the West (discreetly) abandons one of its preposterous fables – like the idea that Russia would inexplicably detonate a key asset, the Nord Stream pipelines – the actual truth remains elusive. Instead, one falsehood is merely supplanted by another, often without any regard for internal consistency.
In this disheartening context, it might no longer truly matter if the West ever, finally, endeavors to cease its deception. Indeed, upon reflection, perhaps many actions the West may or may not undertake have become largely inconsequential. And that, paradoxically, represents the sole positive development here.