ROTHENBURGER: As we welcome Ukrainian refugees, the propaganda war rages

AS KAMLOOPS WELCOMES a growing number of Ukrainian refugees, I’m proud of our community for stepping up. According to media reports there are now more than 50 who have arrived in the city, a good number of whom are already finding employment as they settle in.

On the other hand, I’m astonished at the private messages I frequently receive defending Russia’s invasion.

The general thread is that NATO and the West are to blame for provoking Russia, that Ukraine deserves the war because of its treatment of the Russian-speaking population in Donbas, and that the media are to blame for demonizing Russia. Oh, yeah, and Ukraine is full of Nazis.

These claims are unfailingly supported with articles written by analysts with varying credentials and accepted as the “real” truth by those who send them out over the Internet.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.