INX2020

“Russia’s wide-ranging assault on Ukrainian military targets in the early hours of the morning has surprised Western capitals even as they repeatedly predicted an imminent attack. Propaganda machines on all sides are turned up to maximum,” says the Ron Paul Peace Institute (RPI). Could all of this have been avoided? Who is really responsible for this fatal breakdown in diplomacy? Daniel McAdams, the Director at RPI speaks to RT International and assesses the Western influence on the crisis.

On this episode of Going Underground, host Afshin Rattansi challenges the former Vice-Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia’s Duma Natalya Narochnitskaya over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The challenges posed to the former Russian politician include the Kremlin assuring the world Russia was not going to invade Ukraine, whether Vladimir Putin’s Russia is acting like the US and NATO in their wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, the painting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and part of the population as Neo-Nazis, why Putin didn’t answer Zelensky’s efforts for talks before the invasion, civilian casualties in Ukraine and more.

The Russian president’s decision to formally recognise the independence of the two Ukrainian separatist regions of the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, has drawn stern condemnation from Western leaders. Following the dramatic events of this week, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has begun weighing in with his comments on Western sanctions, among other issues, following Moscow's recognizing the Donbass republics.