John Mark Dougan and Maria Lelyanova: Cognitive Dissonance

John Mark Dugan is an expatriate American investigative video-journalist/podcaster based in Russia reporting on the Civil War in Ukraine from the front lines of the Donbass. This is his powerful interview with Maria Lelyanova, who had been a fierce Russian, anti-war protester. The iron-curtain (if it ever really existed) dissolved long ago. Russians, contrary to what many Americans believe, are not isolated and are well aware of the western media propaganda narrative and what people who believe that narrative think about their country, especially those Russians that speak English. Maria, who has close ties with Ukraine (like most Russians) had been listening to mostly what she called “pro Ukraine“ sources and had strong beliefs. Dugan convinced her to go to the Donbass as his translator and see things for herself. The result is one of the most remarkable examples of cognitive dissonance I have ever seen. What does it take to confront the fact that everything you believe is 180% the opposite of reality? The civil war in the Donbass that has been going since 2014 (when the war actually began) is the key to understanding the conflict in Ukraine. That’s why you never hear a thing about it in the western press and no mainstream reporters report from there. To do that, you must rely on a handfull of intrepid American and western journalists who live there like John Dugan, Eva Bartlett, George Eliason, Regis Tremblay, and Patrick Lancaster who show you what’s actually happening on the ground- the only way you will ever know. (Дата премьеры: 12 янв. 2023 г.)