They trotted out frightened elderly civilians who were unwilling to evacuate because those homes were all they have. And some claimed to welcome the Russians and claimed Ukraine had been shelling them for years.
But there is several problems with this.
“They see Russia is advancing and don’t want Russia eliminating them. So they pretend to welcome the Russians.”
Anything’s possible, but their performances top-notch if they’re acting, and they don’t look like actors.
“Remember the turncoats in France who welcomed and worked with the Germans.”
Depends where in France. If it was a German area in France, maybe they weren’t turncoats.
“These cities are pretty far from the rebel occupied territory and I don’t believe there was much fighting in those areas since 2014. I can’t find any references to fighing in Sievierodonetsk that is before the war started in 2022.”
Probably the case - The Neocon-run Ukraine rolled over this Russian-speaking area, and life has sucked then. And then you have the Azov-types that the Russian-speakers have to deal with.
“I think these scared elderly people are saying what the Russians want them to say because they have been occupied by the Russians.”
If and when Russia makes it to Ukrainian-speaking areas, that will have more likelihood.
“International observers said the Russian claims about Ukraine shelling civilians in the rebel occupied areas weren’t true. Which again makes me think these are bogus claims made under duress in order to survive the Russian occupation.”
The above claims were published throughout the Western media BEFORE 2022 (when there wasn’t a clear-cut bias), so given the credibility of the West and the media since this war started, I wouldn’t trust ‘International Observers’ one bit at this point.
Of course they are. And there are a few of the elderly people who lived under the tyranny of the Soviet Union and actually liked it. For whatever reason there are people who like tyranny, no freedom, and the experience of living under communism. I had a cab driver once who extolled the virtues of living under Ceaușescu. He thought all of the problems here in the USA could be solved if only we had communism.
But you are right. Most of these people will say whatever they think the people who are giving them food want to hear as they are nearing starvation.