government was accused by Russian media of "genocide" and "pogroms" against the large Russian-speaking population in eastern and southern Ukraine. These "pogroms" were said to have been directed at churches and synagogues, though local Jewish communities denied that any pogroms had taken place. Russia-1 and RIA Novosti claimed in 2014 that the "pogroms" and "anarchy" resulted in a "humanitarian crisis" in Ukraine, and predicted that refugees would "flood in". In early March 2014, prior to the war in Donbas, Russian channels said large numbers of refugees were fleeing the "chaos" in Ukraine and portrayed the new Kyiv authorities as "fascists". RT declared that Russian military intervention was "aimed only at saving Russian lives". Channel One presented footage from a Shehyni border crossing between Ukraine and Poland, as Ukrainians escaping to Russia. Russian state channels depicted Donbas civilians as under attack by Ukrainian forces and made no mention of insurgents firing from residential areas. They described the Ukrainian army's operations as "punitive" and presented the war in Donbas as a "civil war". News presented as actual events is frequently hearsay, from anonymous blogs, intentionally staged videos, and selectively quoted materials, omitting anything critical of Russia. Russian fighters On Russian citizens fighting against Ukraine, Russian media "repeated the official line that the troops (were) "volunteers" or had traveled to Ukraine on leave rather than in any official capacity" and described foreigners fighting for Ukraine as "mercenaries". There were frequent mentions of "Slavonic unity" and "Russian brotherhood". A group of Russian nationalists prepared an international exhibition Material Evidence, presented with highly anti-Western and pro-Russian bias. Russian media claimed that western media ignored the apparent "violence", and that demonstrators in Crimea were protesting for democratic rights. Russian sources consistently refer to the events as the "Russian Spring", harking back to pro-democracy movements like the Prague Spring and Arab Spring. The annexation of Crimea was portrayed as the will of the people and a "reunification". Pro-Russian protesters in eastern Ukraine, including those who were armed and had taken journalists hostage, were portrayed as peaceful "pro-federalization" activists. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, OSCE observer Paul Picard said: "We often see how Russian media outlets manipulate our statements. They say that we have not seen Russian troops crossing the borders. But that only applies to two border crossings. We have no idea what is going on at the others" (Russia had refused to allow the OSCE