Ukrainian Analyst Proposes Murdering Russian Journalists in Sniper Attacks

Ukrainian journalist and political analyst Yuri Romanenko says it's time for Ukraine's Armed Forces to start a deliberate campaign of murdering Russian journalists in Donbass, for the purpose of attracting global media attention.

Recalling a recent meeting at Harvard University on his Facebook page, Romanenko noted that he recommended to his colleagues that Ukrainian army snipers suppress Russian coverage of the war in Donbass by deliberately targeting Russian journalists operating in the region.

The political analyst noted that as the conversation turned to the powerful role played by information warfare in the present conflict, speakers began lamenting about how Ukraine has been falling out of the American media space recently. It was then that Romanenko decided to "inject some new life into the debate."

"I know how to resolve the problem of waning attention and to bring media attention to a new level. The Ukrainian army must selectively and carefully eliminate Russian journalists covering the situation in Donbass. We need to direct Ukrainian army snipers to shoot people wearing PRESS helmets, making them priority targets," Romanenko wrote, recalling his comments before the Harvard audience.

"Since the media represent a destructive weapon and allow Russia to operate not only in the war zone, but across Ukraine, taking out several dozen journalists in the conflict zone will reduce the quality of the picture presented in the Russian media and, therefore, reduce the effectiveness of their propaganda."

The political analyst explained that such an action would quickly bring Ukraine back into the center of the American media's attention, noting that while on the one hand this would serve as "bad PR" for Ukraine, "all the same, PR is PR, and we must do everything possible not to fall out of the US media's focus in the context of [its] presidential campaign."

The analyst noted that his Harvard hosts rejected his proposal outright, noting that the deliberate murder of journalists is a violation of international law, to which, in Romanenko's recollection, the Ukrainian delegation "happily grinned."

The analyst noted that when Russia repeatedly violated international law in relation to Ukraine, "you didn't seem too worried…so why should you be worried now? The intensification of the conflict, and bringing it to a new level, unable to be ignored by the US and Europe, serves as our magic wand."

Romanenko stated that following the meeting, "one man from the [Ukrainian] diaspora" told him "you are completely right; this is just the way to save Ukraine."