BREITBART reported today that the world watches Russian rockets and shells rain down on Ukrainian cities, yet Russian state media are telling domestic audiences that Kyiv is “quiet and calm,” Kharkiv had “an ordinary day,” and footage of Russia’s savage attacks is all just a “background of lies from the Western media.”

The Moscow Times described Russian state media coverage of the war as downright “surreal”:

Taking their cue from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to the nation early Thursday morning, when he announced a limited “special military operation” to “demilitarize” Ukraine and protect citizens in the Donbas from what he said was a Ukrainian “genocide,” the country’s state TV channels have gone into overdrive to peddle a similar message to a somewhat hesitant Russian public.

“Ukrainians do not need to fear Russia’s special operation,” said a correspondent for rolling news channel Rossiya-24, as headlines flashed across the screen announcing Russia’s military successes and an apparent imminent Ukrainian threat.