Disinformation Board List Misserves Ukraine’s Democratic Aspirations

WASHINGTON—The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft’s President Andrew Bacevich released the following statement in response to a list published recently by the Ukrainian government which accuses a variety of individuals of spreading ‘Russian propaganda’:

“The pressures on Ukrainian officials as they fight for their nation’s survival in the face of Russia’s criminal assault are nearly unimaginable.  By and large, the efforts of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government have been effective and admirable. Kyiv’s newly-created Center for Countering Disinformation is an unfortunate exception. It represents a serious misstep by a government that aspires to stand for democratic values such as freedom of speech.

“The apparent purpose of the center’s new list is to silence those in the United States and elsewhere in the West whose analysis differs from that favored by the Center for Countering Disinformation. One such critic is Professor John Mearsheimer, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute. Mearsheimer is a prominent and articulate critic of U.S. policy leading up to this war. The Quincy Institute leadership is adamant in insisting on his right to state his views. To hold otherwise—to attempt to discredit or silence him—is to make a grave error unworthy of the cause that the Zelensky government represents.”