Sarah Aston Carillo has been suspended from her role as a Ukrainian spokesperson. Sadly though, her mistake wasn’t that she threatened journalists, it’s that she so crudely boasted about it in public.
Some time ago the Ukrainian government labelled me a Russian propagandist, spreading memes about me on their networks and analysis of my work. At the same time I received an official email from them cancelling my Ukrainian press accreditation.
A few days ago Sarah commented on a recent article of mine about Crimea. She then wrote to me “no hate to you Johnny. No hate for any journalists, even those who report with a slant.”
I don’t think she realised that when she said they would hunt down “Russian propagandists,” that means me. And other western journalists. Or does it? Who knows.
The Economist recently ran an article, “Inside Ukraine’s assassination Department” in which officials openly discussed killing “mid level” propagandists. Who are these “mid level” propagandists? The problem with assassination is that you don’t know for sure until it’s too late.
Dugina, Tatarsky… attempts on others. When I interviewed Frenchman Adrien Bocquet in a Donbass hotel lobby about the apparent attempt on his life in Turkey… it was chilling. Ukraine may well kill more journalists before this war is done.
Sarah’s mistake was not that she advocated the “hunting down” of journalists. It’s that she made the threat too brazenly for the Western sponsors of the war. You kill. You just don’t brag about it so crudely in public. People might get upset. And they might understand the true nature of Ukrainian extremism.
Is this war is about defending European values, or isn’t it? Europe must not support extremism. It’s a dark path to tread.
For the record, I do this work because I believed from the start, that it was not in European interests to arm Ukraine. Instead they should have pushed Ukraine to negotiate. I believe history will prove people like me correct. If that makes me a Russian propagandist, so be it.
Some time ago the Ukrainian government labelled me a Russian propagandist, spreading memes about me on their networks and analysis of my work. At the same time I received an official email from them cancelling my Ukrainian press accreditation.
A few days ago Sarah commented on a recent article of mine about Crimea. She then wrote to me “no hate to you Johnny. No hate for any journalists, even those who report with a slant.”
I don’t think she realised that when she said they would hunt down “Russian propagandists,” that means me. And other western journalists. Or does it? Who knows.
The Economist recently ran an article, “Inside Ukraine’s assassination Department” in which officials openly discussed killing “mid level” propagandists. Who are these “mid level” propagandists? The problem with assassination is that you don’t know for sure until it’s too late.
Dugina, Tatarsky… attempts on others. When I interviewed Frenchman Adrien Bocquet in a Donbass hotel lobby about the apparent attempt on his life in Turkey… it was chilling. Ukraine may well kill more journalists before this war is done.
Sarah’s mistake was not that she advocated the “hunting down” of journalists. It’s that she made the threat too brazenly for the Western sponsors of the war. You kill. You just don’t brag about it so crudely in public. People might get upset. And they might understand the true nature of Ukrainian extremism.
Is this war is about defending European values, or isn’t it? Europe must not support extremism. It’s a dark path to tread.
For the record, I do this work because I believed from the start, that it was not in European interests to arm Ukraine. Instead they should have pushed Ukraine to negotiate. I believe history will prove people like me correct. If that makes me a Russian propagandist, so be it.
Forwarded from Press TV
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▶️ Press TV’s @johnnyjamesmiller says Ukraine’s use of NATO-supplied missiles to attack Crimea is viewed as crossing one of Russia’s theoretical red lines.
@PressTV - #Ukraine #Russia
@PressTV - #Ukraine #Russia
Apologies I haven't posted for a while. During my recent reporting in Crimea I received highly sophisticated death threats targeting myself and my loved ones.
Russian media broadcast my material and did numerous interviews with me. I can only presume it was someone else with an extremely high technical capability who wanted to silence my reporting.
How much they know, who they target, the sophistication of the hacking.
I am now back in Moscow taking time off. Love!
Russian media broadcast my material and did numerous interviews with me. I can only presume it was someone else with an extremely high technical capability who wanted to silence my reporting.
How much they know, who they target, the sophistication of the hacking.
I am now back in Moscow taking time off. Love!
Media is too big
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“If Ukraine had a chance of winning, at least I would see the strategic purpose. But they don’t. And everyone knows it.”
The case for peace in Europe.
The case for peace in Europe.
Sorry I havent been posting on Telegram for some time. Mainly been posting on X. I will try to do more here in future. Peace
Media is too big
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"You can be any gender you want but you can't be Russian."
The case for reinstating the Russian flag at the Olympics. Oh, and for peace in Europe.
The case for reinstating the Russian flag at the Olympics. Oh, and for peace in Europe.
One evening in the biting winter cold of 2014, I went down to Maidan with my Ukrainian translator and her mother. It was packed, lively like a festival. "What do you think of all this?" My translator asked me as her mother waved a large Ukrianian flag above her head.
"It won't end well." I replied.
After covering Libya, Syria, you get to know the political movements that will only lead a country to ruin. An alliance of foreign money, oligarchs and ultra nationalist extremists was clearly in that bracket.
I asked my translators lovely mother why she supported it. She said something along the lines of "Europe is richer than Russia. And I like going on holiday there." She had little magnets of the places she'd been to on her fridge. London, Paris, Spain. They were sold a dream of a bright European future.
I was there when a statue of Lenin was pulled down in the late evening. With a truck and some chains. Down it fell and people cheered as it shattered on the ground. I picked up a piece. I think I've still got it at home. But most Ukrainians didn't want their statues pulled down. It wasn't what it was supposed to be about. Or rather it was. But they didn't know it.
The East rose. Crimea lost. More statues pulled down. And eight years later, the real slaughter began.
The ukrainians I know have already fled abroad. Those who claim to support Ukraine want them to stay and die.
The dream turned to ashes by the inevitable hammer blow of political reality and great nation politics. People manipulated and left for dead for a misplaced chess move on the geopolitical map.
And those who speak sense are silenced. Sometimes fatally. They'll silence the wise in order to manipulate the politically illiterate. Then give them flags to wave. And nations fall.
Blame whoever you want. But it's a hell of tragedy. Other nations beware.
"It won't end well." I replied.
After covering Libya, Syria, you get to know the political movements that will only lead a country to ruin. An alliance of foreign money, oligarchs and ultra nationalist extremists was clearly in that bracket.
I asked my translators lovely mother why she supported it. She said something along the lines of "Europe is richer than Russia. And I like going on holiday there." She had little magnets of the places she'd been to on her fridge. London, Paris, Spain. They were sold a dream of a bright European future.
I was there when a statue of Lenin was pulled down in the late evening. With a truck and some chains. Down it fell and people cheered as it shattered on the ground. I picked up a piece. I think I've still got it at home. But most Ukrainians didn't want their statues pulled down. It wasn't what it was supposed to be about. Or rather it was. But they didn't know it.
The East rose. Crimea lost. More statues pulled down. And eight years later, the real slaughter began.
The ukrainians I know have already fled abroad. Those who claim to support Ukraine want them to stay and die.
The dream turned to ashes by the inevitable hammer blow of political reality and great nation politics. People manipulated and left for dead for a misplaced chess move on the geopolitical map.
And those who speak sense are silenced. Sometimes fatally. They'll silence the wise in order to manipulate the politically illiterate. Then give them flags to wave. And nations fall.
Blame whoever you want. But it's a hell of tragedy. Other nations beware.
As Western hegemony rages against the dying of the light. Burnt out, broken on the bruised and battered fields of Donbass. I flew off to Siberia for a couple of weeks.
At the small airport in Chita. A line of young women holding gifts for the returning soldiers on the plane. Patriotic music blaring. The families welcoming their young men home. The mothers clasping their sons hard, gazing proudly up into their eyes. A sense of relief I will never understand. You don't really feel it in central Moscow. But in many parts of Russia there's a real sadness at all the lost men.
God only knows what it's like in Ukraine. I read glimpses in the mainstream press. But it's mostly covered up to carry on the slaughter. Let them all die. They don't care.
We drove out for hours into the Siberian wilds to a Buryat village. While leaning on a fence looking out at the hills and a herd of cows. A Buryat man came out from the house opposite, interested in this strange visitor to the village. "People are tough here." He said, pointing at the earth. Thirty men had been mobilized or volunteered out of a village of three hundred. Then he railed againat Biden, NATO and Ukraine. He did that farmers spit as he leant on the gate. It was strange hearing Bidens name cursed out in the wilderness amongst a herd of cows. Although maybe not that strange.
I was told people here had a real sympathy with Donbass. And wanted to help. This is a harsh landscape. The only way people survive is to help each other. That help seemingly extends three thousand miles. Closer to China and Mongolia here. Tough people. Like Glasgow in Scotland. Like the miners in Donbass. Some people are just tougher than others. Not like London or Moscow and the hipster cafes.
At the small airport in Chita. A line of young women holding gifts for the returning soldiers on the plane. Patriotic music blaring. The families welcoming their young men home. The mothers clasping their sons hard, gazing proudly up into their eyes. A sense of relief I will never understand. You don't really feel it in central Moscow. But in many parts of Russia there's a real sadness at all the lost men.
God only knows what it's like in Ukraine. I read glimpses in the mainstream press. But it's mostly covered up to carry on the slaughter. Let them all die. They don't care.
We drove out for hours into the Siberian wilds to a Buryat village. While leaning on a fence looking out at the hills and a herd of cows. A Buryat man came out from the house opposite, interested in this strange visitor to the village. "People are tough here." He said, pointing at the earth. Thirty men had been mobilized or volunteered out of a village of three hundred. Then he railed againat Biden, NATO and Ukraine. He did that farmers spit as he leant on the gate. It was strange hearing Bidens name cursed out in the wilderness amongst a herd of cows. Although maybe not that strange.
I was told people here had a real sympathy with Donbass. And wanted to help. This is a harsh landscape. The only way people survive is to help each other. That help seemingly extends three thousand miles. Closer to China and Mongolia here. Tough people. Like Glasgow in Scotland. Like the miners in Donbass. Some people are just tougher than others. Not like London or Moscow and the hipster cafes.
I met a doctor who had gone to Mariupol to help out when the fighting was still going on. "You can't ignore the Russian archetype." He said. "Russians are used to winning wars. When Stolenburg says the Russians think they have already won. That's how we feel it on a mental level." But wars don't end when they're won. Only when the killings done.
In a little village on Lake Baikal. Dusty dirt streets, and wooden shop fronts, like an American Wild West movie set, nestled next to a giant ice sea from another world. I met a tour guide. A bandana and low hanging earrings. A Russian version of the young hippie country folk I'd meet in England. "Russia is the best country in the world isn't it?" she said cheerfully.
We talked and I told her that covering the war was stressful. "You need to stop worrying about death." she said. "It comes to us all. If you live worrying about death. You won't be able to live. So many of our ancestors are already in the ground."
Losing just isn't an option. Or they'll bring the whole damn world down with them. Europe has made the same mistake again. As they've done centuries past. It's embarrassing. Our leaders unable to lead. They don't care about history. And history won't care about them. Unable to comprehend the very basics of the world we live in.
Despite all the war and toughness and all that. You know those places in the world where people are just really nice. Siberia is one of those places.
In a little village on Lake Baikal. Dusty dirt streets, and wooden shop fronts, like an American Wild West movie set, nestled next to a giant ice sea from another world. I met a tour guide. A bandana and low hanging earrings. A Russian version of the young hippie country folk I'd meet in England. "Russia is the best country in the world isn't it?" she said cheerfully.
We talked and I told her that covering the war was stressful. "You need to stop worrying about death." she said. "It comes to us all. If you live worrying about death. You won't be able to live. So many of our ancestors are already in the ground."
Losing just isn't an option. Or they'll bring the whole damn world down with them. Europe has made the same mistake again. As they've done centuries past. It's embarrassing. Our leaders unable to lead. They don't care about history. And history won't care about them. Unable to comprehend the very basics of the world we live in.
Despite all the war and toughness and all that. You know those places in the world where people are just really nice. Siberia is one of those places.
The war in Ukraine is another disastrous US led war. The only difference is that they messed with a country that had the power to strike first for strategic advantage. Many ‘Left’ and anti-war groups in the West never understood this. Which is why you don’t see much of an anti war movement.
The war in Ukraine was inevitable due to NATOs actions. Whether Russia invaded in 22’ or waited until Ukraine and NATO tried to take back Donbass and Crimea. Russia could never allow that. Either by design or incompetence, the US carried on regardless.
Now the Americans are spending another 60 billion for Europeans to kill each other. And we’re thanking them for it. Madness.
The war in Ukraine was inevitable due to NATOs actions. Whether Russia invaded in 22’ or waited until Ukraine and NATO tried to take back Donbass and Crimea. Russia could never allow that. Either by design or incompetence, the US carried on regardless.
Now the Americans are spending another 60 billion for Europeans to kill each other. And we’re thanking them for it. Madness.
Forwarded from Press TV
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▶️Russia says its major offensive in Kharkov aimed at creating a buffer zone
@johnnyjamesmiller reports from Belgorod.
@PressTV
@johnnyjamesmiller reports from Belgorod.
@PressTV
Two years ago I did a story about children, along with their home addresses, being placed on the Ukrainian extremist website, "Myrotvorets." I wrote to the website, asking for a statement. They never replied. They just put me on the list.
Whenever Faina, the girl I did the story about is in Moscow we go for coffee and cake. She's Fifteen now. She was thirteen at the time. She was put on it because she published stories she wrote promoting peace in Donbass. Her and her family were the only ones brave enough to speak out.
The website promotes the killing of those on the list. And marks western journalists as "liquidated," when they are killed. It has links to the Ukrainian government.
The New York Times wrote about the website in 2016, when their own journalists were put on the list. Britains Daily Mirror also reported on the story two days before the war began.
But the story of children being placed on the list has been ignored by the mainstream press.
At the time, I tried to push the story for greater exposure to a mainstream journalist i knew.
He shrugged. "I'm sure Russia has similar lists."
"No. It doesn't." I replied. "And if they did. You'd be all over it.
European states have the power to take it down. But they don't. Because it is helpful in intimidating those who promote peace.
Extremism has only brought ruin to Ukraine. It must not infect Europe. At the very least, they should take the list down! Its presence makes a mockery of Europe's claim to be a bastian of human rights. These are children for Christs sake.
On a plus note. Faina messaged me last week. She's got work experience at a news channel. Brave girls win.
Whenever Faina, the girl I did the story about is in Moscow we go for coffee and cake. She's Fifteen now. She was thirteen at the time. She was put on it because she published stories she wrote promoting peace in Donbass. Her and her family were the only ones brave enough to speak out.
The website promotes the killing of those on the list. And marks western journalists as "liquidated," when they are killed. It has links to the Ukrainian government.
The New York Times wrote about the website in 2016, when their own journalists were put on the list. Britains Daily Mirror also reported on the story two days before the war began.
But the story of children being placed on the list has been ignored by the mainstream press.
At the time, I tried to push the story for greater exposure to a mainstream journalist i knew.
He shrugged. "I'm sure Russia has similar lists."
"No. It doesn't." I replied. "And if they did. You'd be all over it.
European states have the power to take it down. But they don't. Because it is helpful in intimidating those who promote peace.
Extremism has only brought ruin to Ukraine. It must not infect Europe. At the very least, they should take the list down! Its presence makes a mockery of Europe's claim to be a bastian of human rights. These are children for Christs sake.
On a plus note. Faina messaged me last week. She's got work experience at a news channel. Brave girls win.
Media is too big
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RT made a film about Faina's story. Children being placed on what many call a Ukrainian "hit list." They interviewed me for it. Looks pretty good. If the West is serious about combatting "Russian propaganda." Take the list down. Might help!