The ABC, Australia's national broadcaster, aired the documentary Ukraine's War: The Other Side by Sean Langan, a UK journalist, on 18 March. The film covers the war through the eyes of the Russian occupiers, spreading the Kremlin's propaganda clichés. The Embassy of Ukraine in Australia and Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko have condemned the screening of the film.
In February, Ukrainian writer and filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk drew attention to the film, in which the British reporter decided to give the floor to Russian soldiers he visited near Avdiivka. At that time, British ITV1 broadcast it, and a review was published in The Guardian.
Quote: "We are not invaders," says one Russian soldier, justifying Moscow's bloody and unprovoked invasion of its neighbour. "We're just protecting what's ours," Tsilyk wrote about the film at the time.
So you get the idea. "Not everything is so clear-cut; both sides need to be heard, in particular, that the footage from Bucha is staged", blah, blah. And all this is broadcast on a UK TV channel. And the Guardian reports on this with understanding and sympathy," she commented.
Almost a month later, the Australian broadcaster ABC aired Langan's film on its Four Corners programme.
Cover image of Ukraine's War: The Other Side film
The Embassy of Ukraine in Australia and Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenkopublicly reacted to the screening. They called the film "the equivalent of a bowl of vomit" and noted that the broadcaster that aired "such total garbage" should be ashamed.
"It [the film] unquestioningly repeated and aired countless blatant lies, historical distortions, racist claims and propaganda narratives emanating from the Kremlin. Inasmuch, it completely served the interests of Russia’s dictator, Putin," the statement reads.
Miroshnichenko added that he would demand a meeting with ABC Managing Director David Anderson to understand how such propaganda material could be aired on Australia's national television channel.
The embassy's protest was supported by the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations. Activists and the Ukrainian community in Sydney held a rally in front of the ABC studio.
"It is nonsense for the ABC to pretend this was fearless journalism, bringing us ‘extraordinary’ access to the ‘other side’. It was a stage managed, Kremlin controlled media exercise, which sought to justify Russia’s heinous invasion of a sovereign country," the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations said in a statement.
Protest against Ukraine's War: The Other Side film Photo: Australian Federation of Ukrainian organisations on Facebook
In turn, ABC continues to defend the film, which, according to a company spokesperson, offers the audience "a rare insight into the lives of Russian soldiers." However, the comments section in the tweet with the announcement and trailer of the film was disabled.
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