New Ukrainian military spokesperson enrages Russian propagandists
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Ukrainian Defense Ministry has responded to Russian media attacking Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a military servicewoman of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces and U.S. journalist, over her transgender identity.
As previously reported by Detector Media, Russian propagandists reacted rather hysterically to the news that a transgender military servicewoman from the United States became the official spokesperson of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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In a Telegram message on Aug. 3, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar noted that Ashton-Cirillo has been defending Ukraine since March 2022, serving as a combat medic in the Territorial Defense Forces, and holds the rank of junior sergeant. She has been injured in frontline combat.
Maliar emphasized that Ashton-Cirillo provides information to an English-speaking audience and objectively covers the events of the war, refuting Russian fake news and propaganda narratives.
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“Sarah has a large U.S. audience: From June 25 to July 23, her Twitter coverage alone reached 28.3 million users,” said Maliar.
“It is understandable why hostile social media networks got so agitated. However, this only grew Sarah's audience.”
In turn, Ashton-Cirillo expressed her gratitude for Maliar’s statement.
“I have never been so honored as to read the dual statements released by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar regarding my work on behalf of victory,” she said in a Twitter post.
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“For 17 months my life has been dedicated to Ukraine’s liberation, with much of my work shrouded behind a very visible façade. Now as the frontlines of the information war becomes more and more vital, I am honored to carry out the myriad responsibilities and duties that the Territorial Defense Forces, Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukrainian Ministry of Defense have assigned to me.”
She concluded by saying how much she looks forward to Ukraine liberating all of its sovereign territory from Russian occupation.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
