Republic as "terrorists" and "separatists" and referred to the military operation against the DPR and LPR as an "anti-terrorist operation”. In September 2014, the Kyiv Post was critical of the West's response to the crisis, stating "Ukraine can never surrender its nation and the West should be ashamed of its ongoing appeasement of Putin, who is trying to veto the Western, democratic aspirations of Ukrainians who do not share his warped dream of recreating a version of the Soviet Union." The Ukrainian media published some fake news stories and false reports, including a dead rebel photograph with a Photoshop-painted tattoo which allegedly indicated that he belonged to Russian Special Forces and the threat of a Russian nuclear attack against the Ukrainian troops. Halya Coynash of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group criticized Russia for calling for "federalization" of Ukraine while quickly suppressing autonomy initiatives within Russia. Ukrainian media widely condemned the November 2014 Donbas general elections, comparing them to elections in the Soviet Union, and Oleksiy Matsuka, chief editor of Donbas News called the poll "votes for vegetables." Volodymyr Zelenskyy has used social media to post statements, videos and photos to counter Russian disinformation about him during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reactions In April 2014, historian Timothy D. Snyder stated that "Ukraine is now the site of the largest and most important free media in the Russian language, since all important media in Ukraine appear in Russian, and since freedom of speech prevails. Putin's idea of defending Russian speakers in Ukraine is absurd on many levels, but one of them is this: people can say what they like in Russian in Ukraine, but they cannot do so in Russia itself." In August 2014, BBC News stated that Ukrainian coverage depicted Russia in a "negative light but language has been restrained in comparison to that on Russian TV." They reported that Ukrainian media were increasingly airing "direct accusations" and "harsh criticism" of Russia but "alternative opinions are also aired, and presenters make no attempt to block dissent." Conversely, Joseph L. Black, the Distinguished Research Professor at the Carleton University, stated that Ukrainian media used dehumanizing language towards the rebels, referring to them as "Colorado beetles" and calling for their "extermination as vermin"; in his view, the "Russian official press releases and websites were less inflammatory in their language". Likewise, Mikhail A. Molchanov, professor and former chair of the Department