Today’s blog entry will be about Reuters Fact Check, specifically about the claim they debunk in this article.
The article goes over the recent news of Germany of the United States sending war tanks to Ukraine to help aid in their battle against Russia. In order to debunk that, Reuters went ahead and looked at the address made by Germany’s minister Annalena Baerbock. A lot of what she said was taken out of context by those who viewed it, and several people ran to Twitter to claim that Germany declared war even though it was evident that they did not. Bearbock merely encouraged European nations to not divide themselves, and to stick together to help aid Ukraine in this battle against Russia. She stated “Yes, we have to do more to defend Ukraine…the crucial part is that we do it together.” Up until this point, Germany has been wary of moves that could prompt Russia, but as of January 25th, they would supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. That is all.
Now, lets take a look at two different sources and explain how credible they are.
The first article is by Rob Picheta, published on CNN. In this article, Picheta talks about only factual information: why the tanks are needed, how will they be used, how many will be sent, why did it take so long, etc. This article strictly states the facts that Baerbock when over in her address and puts them in a format that is easy to read, quick to understand and truthful.
On the other hand, we have this very politically biased article by Vladimir Kozin on Modern Diplomacy. The article starts off by stating the numerical facts of how many tanks were sent, what types of military supplies are being provided and a couple others facts. Then in the second paragraph, Kozin immediately calls out a half of Germany that he claims to be “fascist Germany,” for not declaring war like current Germany did on January 25th. He continues to claim that “German tanks will appear in Ukraine and Russia like ion 1941-1945,” which is true, but there is not declaration of war behind said tanks. He continues to go on a rant, stating that by destroying these weapons as they cross onto land will “save destruction and lots of innocent lives.” Even though Russia clearly wasn’t worried about that when they invaded Ukraine and began a war because as we all know, innocent lives are lost in war.
