A tattered Ukraine flag flies amid Russia’s destruction of Mariupol in southeast of country (Reuters/File)

I joined BBC Scotland on Saturday to analyze the latest developments, inside and beyond Ukraine, in Kyiv’s resistance of the 21 1/2-month Russian invasion.

The other guest is Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at London’s Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Listen to Discussion from 14:57

Russia’s propaganda is being parroted not only by pro-Kremlin activists but in articles — including this morning on CNN — in Western media. Republicans in Congress are blocking further US aid, while Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is blackmailing the European Union over its funding for Kyiv.

So is there any prospect of maintaining both reliable information and the defense against Vladimir Putin’s aggression?

We in the media fall into the trap of whipping up the notion of “war fatigue”. Outlets buy into a lot of the white noise of “stalemate” or “Ukraine is losing”.

And of course Russia, and the activists supporting Russia, exploit that.

That toxic environment tends to obscure the facts.

Orysia Lutsevych says concisely, “If Ukraine crumbles, we’ll not be spending less. We’ll be spending significantly more.”