Russian troops disobey orders to shell towns: truth or propaganda?

“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”
― Garry Kasparov

According to reports, Russian troops in the invasion of Ukraine have been disobeying orders to bomb civilian targets and have been left in tears over these orders. They have even disobeyed central command, says a new report.

We need to be careful what we believe that is told to us about war, because "all warfare is based on deception," said Sun Tzu in "The Art of War." I want to believe the Russian troops refused to kill civilians because it gives us hope about humanity; but it sounds too good to be true.

Vladimir Putin's invasion [he called it a "special military operation"] a week ago, insisted his bombardment of Ukraine would pose no threat to civilians and only be intended for military infrastructure. That was propaganda and we have visual proof of the lie as seen in the destruction in the two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, and other cities as well. Hospitals and schools have been destroyed, and hundreds of civilians killed, including children, along with scores of serious injuries.

The Russians struck down a TV tower in Kyiv and hit a Holocaust memorial site, killing at least five civilians. In Zhytomyr, four civilians were killed when missiles struck residential areas and a maternity home, according to foreign ministry. In Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, at least 21 people were killed and 112 injured, officials claimed.

So is this true? Did some Russians refuse to participate in this war? Did 13 Ukrainians bravely hold out on Snake Island telling the Russian warship to go f**k themselves before they died? We know the latter was propaganda, but we don't know the entire story.

The Telegraph reported voice recordings of Russian troops on the frontline of the invasion suggesting that they're "operating in complete disarray," left "crying in combat" by central command's orders. At least there is evidence this really happened. 

Other evidence of intercepted radio messages obtained by a British intelligence company include verbal commands to shell Ukrainian towns and complaints over lack of supplies. Also, a video apparently shows Russian soldiers walking back across the border, but was it staged? Is it real? Probably, but it could be propaganda to demoralize the Russian troops.

'The only thing I want right now is to kill myself,' one Russian soldier apparently texted to his mother.

One thing we do know is that the Russian Armed Forces is made up of young draftees who were not prepared for the Ukraine invasion. Some were alleged to punch holes in the fuel tanks of their vehicles in order to not be able to reach the battle grounds. Is this true? Perhaps.

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We would all like to believe that the claims made on behalf of the Ukrainian side are true, but we need to maintain some skepticism to bolster us from catastrophic disappointment that could come at any time. 

We have been told the Russians are operating in total disarray. We are told that some don't even know where they are going and how to effectively communicate with each other.

Pray for Ukraine and tell your politicians to reopen the Keystone XL Pipeline and stop buying oil from the enemy of democracy and freedom.

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