Imminent' Russian invasion of Ukraine appears more rhetoric than real, believe experts

Cautions of an ‘imminent’ #Russian “invasion” of Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks with politicians and experts joining the ranks fuelling rhetoric and aggression even as Ukrainian leadership has ruled out any imminent war.

A child and woman watch from a window as people carry a large Ukrainian flag as they mark a Day of Unity in Sievierodonetsk, eastern #Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he welcomed a security dialogue with the West, and his military reported pulling back some of its troops near Ukraine.

Social media are rife with pictures of war preparations in Ukraine, many of which are found to be false and have been called out. Ukraine’s own defense minister has said there are “no grounds” to believe war is imminent. Interestingly, the war rhetoric was called out by some of the renowned publications from the West.

“If the media were amplifiers, those talking up the danger, at the start at least, have chiefly been US and UK politicians. President Biden might have seemed at times unclear about whether an invasion really was a prospect – and if it was, whether it would really be that big a deal…,” according to an article titled “What the media gets wrong about Putin and Ukraine” published in the leading UK daily The Spectator. The article was written by commentator Mary Dejevsky who has served in th