Netizens call out 'Racist' media coverage of Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine's former deputy chief prosecutor David Sakvarelidze has been facing flack on social media for his recent comments in a BBC interview about the Russian invasion. Sakvarelidze has said that the war situation unfolding in Ukraine was "very emotional" for him because "European people with blue eyes and blonde hair" were being killed every day. 

Sakvarelidze comment about "European people with blue eyes and blonde hair" dying in the ongoing conflict has been interpreted as racist. It has also sparked a row about how war is covered in Europe as opposed to in Africa or the Middle East. 

US journalist Alan MacLeod on Sunday posted a Twitter thread of similar statements with racist undertones made across news channels about the Russian invasion of Ukraine 

In several of the clips, news anchors and quotes expressed shock because the war was happening in Europe as opposed to the Global South "With all due respect, this isn't a place like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflicts raging for decades... This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city where you wouldn't expect this," said a foreign correspondent on CBS news. 

"What's compelling is that these are prosperous, middle-class people. These are not refugees trying to get away from the Middle East or North Africa. They look like any European family that you'd live next door to," said an anchor on Al Jazeera. 

People on social media are calling out the emphasis placed by news presenters and guests on the European-ness of those affected. Netizens are calling out the relative apathy shown to victims of conflict in the Middle East or Africa, where the victims are not blue-eyed or blonde, by the global media. 

Here is a collection of netizens calling out such behaviour:

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