Weaponised: mural of a Ukrainian serviceman firing a US-made Javelin anti-tank missile, Kyiv, July 2022
Sergei Supinsky · AFP · Getty
Volodymyr Zelensky is calling the shots in many Western media. His daily videos set the agenda; his talking points and targets are picked up and repeated in the hours that follow by outlets as diverse as the New York Times, Le Monde, Arte, Paris Match, the rolling news channels and public radio. When Western arms shipments were slow to arrive, Libération communicated Kyiv’s grievance to the Élysée: ‘Military aid, especially from France, is falling well short of its needs’ (20 July).
When Western interest in the conflict seemed to be waning, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko complained in L’Opinion. France Inter’s press review amplified her appeal: ‘She’s…
