Vladimir Putin just concluded a lengthy speech all but declaring war on Ukraine. While the Russian President was announcing he considers two regions of Ukraine are Russian colonies, MSNBC was covering a Michigan college basketball brawl, Fox News was covering its own ginned-up trucker protest in Canada, and CNN (at least) was covering the Ahmaud Arbery case.
Putin’s remarks were dangerous and telegraphed violence, as the Financial Times’ Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon notes:
Meanwhile, most U.S. online media took its time to report the earth-shattering developments.
According to a Google News search, The Irish Times was first to report Putin’s remarks in an updated report: “Putin recognises two breakaway Ukraine regions as independent.”
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was the second, with an Associated Press report: “Putin recognizes independence of Russian-backed separatist regions in East Ukraine.”
USA Today was third with “Putin recognizes Ukrainian separatist regions Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.”
At least ABC News offered a special report:
International relations professor, political scientist, and CEO of the Rothkopf group, David Rothkopf commented:
Attorney Luppe B. Lupen:
Politico Defense Editor with a bit of a note of sarcasm on Putin’s remarks:
Here’s an important short explainer from CNN’s Senior Global Affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga:
Disinformation, and Russian and Eastern European affairs expert Nina Jankowicz, who has “advised the Ukrainian government on strategic communications” according to her bio at The Wilson Center:
And from The Washington Post’s foreign correspondent in Moscow, Isabelle Khurshudyan: