Amid allegations by US intelligence of an impending “Russian invasion” of Ukraine, the cable channel CNN has already altered the country’s borders, labeling the eastern city of Kharkov a part of Russia.
The label appeared on CNN International’s show on Tuesday, as anchor Christiane Amanpour interviewed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the current situation in Europe.
Showing footage of armored vehicles driving through a winter landscape, sourced to the Russian Defense Ministry, CNN put up a location label that said “Kharkiv [sic], Russia.”
Stoltenberg told Amanpour that NATO is willing to discuss “arms control, disarmament, transparency on military activities, risk reduction mechanisms and other issues which are relevant for European security,” with Russia, but ruled out any discussion of “core principles” such as expansion of membership.
As the US, UK, and Canada began evacuating some embassy staff from Kiev on Monday, the Ukrainian government downplayed any talk of an impending Russian invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was “no need to panic.”
Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov told Ukraine’s ICTV channel on Monday that “as of today, there is no such threat,” even as he thanked NATO for tons of weapons and other military aid sent over so far.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Alexey Danilov told the BBC that the panic over an impending invasion may have been due to the Washington Post misinterpreting his words back in October.
“This is their territory, they have the right to move left and right there,” Danilov said about the Russian troops allegedly massing on the border. “Is it unpleasant for us? Yes, it’s unpleasant, but it’s not news to us. If this is news to someone in the West, I apologize,” he added.