UA
  • News
  • Popular
  • Search
  • Apps
download white apps
Download

NYT posts report from Russia's Kursk Oblast on Ukrainian "invasion"; Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry responds

www.pravda.com.ua
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 18:29:28 +0300
NYT posts report from Russia's Kursk Oblast on Ukrainian "invasion"; Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry responds

On 12 July, The New York Times released a report from Russia’s Kursk Oblast, near the border with Ukraine, in areas reportedly retaken by Russian forces. The article’s author, Nanna Heitmann, was accompanied by fighters from the Akhmat special unit, a Chechen formation fighting for Russia. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticised the report, describing it as manipulation comparable to the work of Walter Duranty, who was notorious for pro-Soviet reporting.

Source: The New York Times; Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, on X (Twitter)

Details: The NYT article is titled A Landscape of Death: What’s Left Where Ukraine Invaded Russia, and it begins with the line: "Last year, Ukraine turned a corner of Russia into a battlefield. It is now a place of desolation and death".

The report states that Heitmann spent six days in frontline areas of Russia’s Kursk Oblast, accompanied by soldiers from the Akhmat special unit, who were tasked with evacuating civilians from the area.

"When I visited the area in March, the fields were scattered with carcasses of cows and pigs, and with the corpses of civilians and soldiers. The uniforms visible among the fallen were mostly Russian," the article reads.

The piece also notes that "fighting raged around the civilians trapped here for months, including bombardment by the Russian military".

Heitmann writes that the destruction has fuelled anger in the local community not only towards Russian authorities, but also towards Ukraine and its Western allies.

She describes Kursk Oblast as a "rare place in this war where Russian civilians found themselves under the control of Ukrainian forces, while large areas of Ukraine still remain occupied by Russia". Yet, the article makes no mention of civilian casualties or destruction in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, nor does it acknowledge that Ukraine’s actions in Kursk Oblast were a response to years of unprovoked Russian aggression.

Heitmann quotes a local woman who says the Ukrainians could not reach Moscow, so "they hit their own. Their neighbours," claiming that "half of our relatives are Ukrainian".

Another local resident blames NATO’s expansion for the war and describes Ukrainians as "victims of propaganda who blamed everything on" Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The article says that Russian officials and media blame Ukraine for the deaths of civilians in Kursk Oblast but rarely provide evidence. Meanwhile, it cites a statement from Ukraine’s defence forces saying that Ukrainian troops fully complied with international law during the operation in Kursk.

The journalist adds that people she spoke to in Sudzha, "during the occupation", generally described the Ukrainian troops' conduct as respectful, mentioning some instances of medical and other forms of assistance.

The report says that by holding territory in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian forces aimed "to divert Russian soldiers from battles inside Ukraine and provide a bargaining chip for future negotiations".

It also notes that locals hoped US President Donald Trump would "force peace", and now expect Putin to fulfil promises to rebuild Kursk Oblast. One resident cites Chechnya as an example, saying it was destroyed by Russian forces and later turned into one of Russia’s "most modern cities".

A significant portion of the article focuses on Akhmat unit fighters’ accounts of how they reached the town of Sudzha through a gas pipeline and were later treated for poisoning.

The journalist quotes an Akhmat fighter saying that in Kursk Oblast, "for the first time in my life, I saw civilians who came out to meet us, hugged us, cried", in contrast to the treatment they typically received as occupiers in Ukraine.

Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, has expressed outrage at the article.

Quote: "Whoever at The New York Times thought it was smart to report alongside Russian war criminals made the dumbest decision. This isn’t balance or 'the other side of the story'. This is simply letting Russian propaganda mislead the audience. Sad to see Duranty-level manipulation return to NYT."

For reference: Walter Duranty was an Anglo-American journalist who led The New York Times’ Moscow bureau from 1922 to 1936. He conducted an exclusive interview with Joseph Stalin in 1929 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his reporting from the Soviet Union. He persistently denied the existence of the Holodomor, a man-made famine by Soviet authorities, in his work.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon !

Read in full

Latest news

Austrian Foreign Minister Meinl-Reisinger: Russia should be forced to sit down at negotiating table
Austrian Foreign Minister Meinl-Reisinger: Russia should be forced to sit down at negotiating table
Russia is not showing any willingness to engage in serious peace negotiations, and the international community must force it to do so.
censor.net
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:30:00 +0300
New Russian drone strikes settlement 100 km from Dnipro, raising security concerns
New Russian drone strikes settlement 100 km from Dnipro, raising security concerns
A Ukrainian serviceman with the callsign Muchnoy reported this on his Telegram channel. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, Serhii Lysak, alsoconfirmed the information.M...
global.espreso.tv
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:26:00 +0300
Parubii will be buried on 2 September at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv
Parubii will be buried on 2 September at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv
Former Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andrii Parubii, who was shot dead in Lviv on August, will be buried at Lychakiv Cemetery.
censor.net
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:23:00 +0300
Modi meets with Xi Jinping: India-China cooperation will pave way "for welfare of all mankind"
Modi meets with Xi Jinping: India-China cooperation will pave way "for welfare of all mankind"
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tianjin, China, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
censor.net
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:15:00 +0300
Murder of Andriy Parubiy. Where and when will the politician be buried?
Murder of Andriy Parubiy. Where and when will the politician be buried?
Where and when will Andriy Parubiy be buriedLviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi made a statement on this occasion.He officially confirmed that on Monday, September , at PM, a parastas a funeral serv...
news.online.ua
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:08:54 +0300
Chemical plant warehouses are burning near Moscow, and in Sochi there is a traffic collapse
Chemical plant warehouses are burning near Moscow, and in Sochi there is a traffic collapse
Whats happening in Russia on August According to opposition Russian media, the area of the fire in Balashikha, Russia, is , sq. m.In addition, it is noted that Mi- and Ka- helicopter...
news.online.ua
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:08:04 +0300
Russians shelled destroyed building of Kherson Regional Military Administration again: fire was extinguished throughout night. PHOTOS
Russians shelled destroyed building of Kherson Regional Military Administration again: fire was extinguished throughout night. PHOTOS
On August, Russian troops fired artillery at the building of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, which had been destroyed by air strikes earlier.
censor.net
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:04:00 +0300
Civilian vessel damaged by unidentified explosive off Odesa coast
Civilian vessel damaged by unidentified explosive off Odesa coast
Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy,reported the incident to Suspilne.According to him, none of the crew members were injured. Specialists are currently inspecting the vessel, a...
global.espreso.tv
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:00:00 +0300
Tusk and von der Leyen visited Polish-Belarusian border despite warnings about Belarusian military. PHOTO
Tusk and von der Leyen visited Polish-Belarusian border despite warnings about Belarusian military. PHOTO
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the security services had advised him and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to cancel their visit to the Polish-Belarusian border becaus...
censor.net
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 14:48:00 +0300
Creamy Cauliflower Delight
Creamy Cauliflower Delight
This delightful creamy cauliflower dish is a perfect blend of rich flavors and nutritious ingredients. The dish features fresh cauliflower florets cooked to tender perfection and enveloped in a lus...
toastpad.com
Sun, 31 Aug 2025 14:40:26 +0300
додати ще новини more news

Top news

In Lviv, an unknown person shot and killed former head of the Rada, Andriy Parubiy
In Lviv, an unknown person shot and killed former head of the Rada, Andriy Parubiy
Video shows Parubiy’s killer in Lviv, shooter fled on electric bike
Former Ukrainian parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy shot dead in Lviv
According to decision of US State Dept, Ukraine may receive satellite communication services for $150 mln
Gerasimov cynically promised an autumn offensive by the Russian army in Ukraine
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Rules of use
  • Apps