Into the Arms of Strangers by Mark Jonathan Harris

“They understand Western media,” one observer says, “better than we do ourselves.”

When Ukrainian troops, expected by everyone to fold, rose to the occasion, Russia responded with a shrewd propaganda war that echoes the disinformation campaigns it has used in the U.S. One week after Yanukovich fled the country, Russian troops, officially insisting they were local separatists though soldiers are seen on news footage telling reporters they are Russians, made a naked land grab. The most chilling interview is with investigative reporter Tetyana Chornovol, who vividly describes the circumstances of being severely beaten by pro-government hooligans. scholar Timothy Snyder noting “there’s never been anything like it people died for a united Europe.”

With interviews from a range of people, including that theater director, Andriy Sharaskin, “Breaking Point” shows how the violence at Maidan gradually ramped up, culminating with 123 killed, with U.S. The protests began with small groups of students quietly occupying Maidan and began to escalate when the government sent the Berkut, a tough special forces unit, to roust the students. When Russian President Vladimir Putin took advantage of Ukraine’s chaos to invade, he did not just send troops, he unleashed a chilling disinformation campaign that looks from this vantage point like a trial run for the one in this country during the last presidential campaign.Įverything started late in 2013 when Ukraine’s prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, refused to sign a painstakingly negotiated deal that would have moved Ukraine closer to the European Union and instead indicated Putin’s Russia was his partner of choice. It enables viewers to catch up on one of the most highly dramatic situations of recent years, a heartening revolution in Ukraine that was as sweeping as it was a complete surprise.īut “Breaking Point” is not just a history lesson.

Thorough, impressive and smartly put together, joining dynamically edited verite footage with a series of thoughtful interviews, “Breaking Point” serves a pair of interlocking purposes.

Into the Arms of Strangers by Mark Jonathan Harris