The tenacity of Western attempts to give the Ukrainian crisis an explicitly anti-Russian slant has been noted by a German political satire show, which ridiculed the apparent manner the United States presents its evidence.
The host of Extra 3, the comedy show aired by German TV channel NDR, got the program going with a few pieces of 'evidence': a US-photographed satellite image that supposedly depicts Russian complicity in cross-border fire with Ukraine, and a picture that appeared to be drawn by a child with color crayons.
Christian Ehring pulled no punches when sharing his frank belief that the coverage of the Ukrainian crisis by the Western media has been full of holes since its start in February.
“Mr. President!” he said, impersonating a White House staffer rushing to bring evidence to President Obama – “I’m pleased to inform you that we finally have evidence! …I apologize, this is a picture my daughter drew… oh, here it is: I drew this one myself!” Ehring proclaimed.
“Really, that’s their only proof? This picture? The American and the West have hundreds of agents in eastern Ukraine. What are they doing there? Keeping an eye on those who violate parking rules in the center of Donetsk?” he added.
Another thing that got the satirical treatment was the situation around the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash near Donetsk in conflict-ridden eastern Ukraine.
“Nobody knows what really happened to MH17 flight,” Ehring stressed. “Was there another plane in the air or not? And how could it happen that a passenger jet was flying over a war zone? This region is a ‘powder keg’ – everybody knows that. Even birds of passage dig underground tunnels to avoid flying over eastern Ukraine.”
“But the West is absolutely sure that Putin must be stopped. Putin should take our European values for a model,” he added.
The host remembered the 1988 case of the United States downing an Iranian passenger plane, the Aerobus-300, killing around three hundred people, which prompted the following question: “Remember those tough economic sanctions imposed on the USA then? No? Neither do I.”
“I have a feeling that all sides are trying to use this plane tragedy to their benefit,” Ehring stressed.
The show then visits a 'spin doctor' who explains how media bias is generated and for what purpose.