Ukraine surprised many with its counter-offensive in the north-east near Kharkiv. In the last few days, their troops managed to recapture towns and villages occupied by Russians. But it remains difficult to get a clear picture of the situation. Foreign editor David Nauer explains how this is possible.
SRF News: The situation in Ukraine is confusing. How can you get an independent picture at all? How do you inform yourself?
David Nauer: It’s not that easy. I have a large number of different – also of varying reliability – sources. On the one hand, I speak to people I know personally on both sides of the front line; on the other hand, I read a lot of classic media.
Unfortunately, official sources bring little.
But I’m also very active on social networks. It’s teeming with eyewitness reports, assessments, videos and fake news. A motley potpourri of information. Unfortunately, official sources bring little. Because the Ukrainians are often very tight-lipped when it comes to commenting on the fighting. And the Russians are very often not very particular about the truth, to say the least.
Official sources are therefore not very helpful for objective information. What other sources are more productive?
The Telegram app plays an important role. The communication app, similar to WhatsApp, has the function that someone can run something like an info channel. This is very popular in Ukraine and Russia. There is an unmanageable number of information channels. They are often very wild and partisan. They just post every video and photo they can get their hands on and comment on it either pro-Russian or pro-Ukrainian. It has little to do with journalism, you have to be very careful and very critical when dealing with these channels. But they are immediate sources of information.
But it remains vague as long as you’re not actually there?
I wouldn’t say vaguely, you definitely get a picture of the situation. But on site everything looks different than you thought. This war differs from previous wars in that we are almost witnessing it in a live ticker: people, including soldiers, are constantly filming and taking photos with their smartphones. So you can get the feeling that you are there live in the war. You only get a distorted picture. Accordingly, on-site research is the best way to understand what is happening.
As a journalist, do you always run the risk of being exploited?
Yes, there is a risk. But in general you have to say that the Ukrainians do very professional media work. As a Western journalist, you can travel freely through the country, talk to important government officials and report whatever you want. That creates sympathy – above all, of course, given that the situation in Russia is different. There, journalists risk imprisonment if they criticize the war or the Russian army.
Just because someone is morally right doesn’t mean everything he or she says is true.
There is an imbalance in how the warring parties treat journalists. You have to be aware of that. You have to be careful not to let yourself be taken in. Because just because someone is more sympathetic in their dealings, because they are morally right in a war like the Ukrainians, does not mean that everything they say is true.
The conversation was conducted by Simone Hulliger.