A university professor has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda. Tim Hayward, professor of environmental political theory at the University of Edinburgh, tweeted a link to an article which suggested that the Russian attack on a theatre in Mariupol was a false flag operation.
According to The Times:
The article claimed that the attack on the theatre may have been carried out by Ukrainians to instigate public outrage and provoke direct western military intervention.
Hayward also quoted a Russian government official describing an earlier attack on a maternity hospital as “#fakenews”.
The article Hayward linked to appeared on the news website the Grayzone, which has previously denied the Uighur genocide and published articles in support of the Kremlin.
Its claims, including that Ukrainian fighters were using civilians as human shields, have been debunked by the open-source intelligence group Molfar….
Hayward had previously spread pro-Assad disinformation and conspiracy theories promoted by Russia that claimed video evidence documenting Syria using chemical weapons on its own citizens had been fabricated.
He was a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media and used the hashtag #Syriahoax when discussing chemical attacks in the country….
This month Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the Commons education committee, named Hayward among academics spreading “pro-Putinist propaganda at some of our leading universities”.
Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said that his department “is already contacting those universities”. He said: “Putin and his cronies are a malign influence on anyone in this country buying their false . . . and dangerous narrative and we will crack down on it hard.”
For now, the University of Edinburgh is backing Hayward. A spokeswoman told The Times that the University doesn’t comment on individual staff members and that Hayward was speaking for himself and not on behalf of the institution.
Hayward reminded The Times of the false claims of the UK government and the mass media that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
He told the newspaper:
“I do not claim to know the answer. Whatever the answer is, there can be no justification for the invasion by Russia. My interest is only that we can trust the veracity of news reports. Truthfulness is more conducive to peace than untruths are.
And peace in Ukraine should be the dearest wish of all of us. I am certainly not pro-Putin. I have tremendous sympathy with Ukrainians, and especially those in Edinburgh, and obviously including my Ukrainian friends.”
