On Sunday, I came across a YouTuber’s latest video presentation – which in many ways is an exercise in deconstructing recent examples of Ukrainian war propaganda. Entitled ‘Propaganda BTFO’, this latest pro-Russian production of an American by the name of Gonzalo Lira who claims to be stranded in Ukraine also broaches upon the war crimes carried out by elements of the Ukrainian army on Russian prisoners of war (PoW). Recorded by these Ukrainian violators of the Geneva conventions of war, these recordings were presumably posted on social media by the assassins themselves (and subsequently reposted on various Internet platforms by other parties, I would assume).

Now, I must acknowledge that I have not succumbed to the temptation of viewing such material – firstly, out of respect for the deceased; secondly, because I did not want to be haunted thereafter by such graphic scenes (the thumbnails of various clips were sufficiently horrendous to dissuade me to want to click on ‘play’); thirdly, because publicity is needed for terrorism to succeed (and there is no doubt in my mind that such acts were terroristic* in nature); finally, because I did not really have any incentive to do so (after all, I am not an investigator of war crimes; I am just somebody who believes that pursuing the truth is a spiritual endeavour).

Before I provide my transcript of this excerpt from Gonzalo Lira’s video piece entitled ‘Propaganda BTFO’, I need to acknowledge the possibility that Mr Lira may be an agent on the payroll of the Russian Ministry of Defence. I have not done any research in the background of this man except for reading the following link (originally a Wikipedia article): https://www.businessinsider.com/author/gonzalo-lira. And having watched at this point no more than half a dozen of Lira’s video presentations, I simply cannot confirm or refute his self-professed statute of being a ‘neutral’ (or ‘independent’) observer with no vested interest in any of the warring parties simply caught in the crossfire, as it were. What is certain is that Gonzalo Lira knows how to use words and rhetorical devices to nudge his own audience – notice, for example, how his describing as a ‘pig’ one of the sadistic torturers of a Russian PoW put to death subtly puts the killing on a par with the way how pigs were traditionally bled to death. Of course, this could always have been unintended, as Mr Lira has used the word ‘pig’ in other clips (e.g. ‘The Daily Beast is trying to get me killed’).

Anyhow, even if he were a paid Russian propagandist, this would in no way weaken his concluding point, which is (if I may paraphrase Mr Lira) that by taking part in such acts of barbarism one de-humanises oneself, one damages one’s soul** probably irremediably.   

* Defined by the two-volume shorter Oxford English Dictionary as ‘the unofficial or unauthorised use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims’.

**