- A Russian TV host claimed that the UK is consuming squirrels over Ukraine war-related meals shortages.
- The declare seems to stem from unrelated studies advocating consuming gray squirrels.
- Gray squirrels are an invasive species within the UK, and teams wish to protect native crimson squirrels.
A Russian state TV host prompt this week that folks within the UK are being compelled to eat squirrels as a result of their nation is spending a lot cash on navy support to Ukraine.
“Right this moment it was revealed that some eating places in once-Nice Britain might be serving squirrels,” Olga Skabayeva stated on Russian information present “60 Minutes,” per a translation by Ukrainian inside ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko.
“In view of the truth that there are many animals within the parks, so why not eat them, taking into consideration the meals scarcity [in the UK],” Skabayeva stated within the video.
She added: “They [the UK] should not backing down from the choice to assist [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, to produce weapons. That’s, they’ll eat squirrels, however nonetheless provide howitzers.”
—Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 7, 2023
Skabayeva is one in all Russia’s most outstanding propagandists, as Insider’s Michell Mark beforehand reported, and often advocates excessive positions on the struggle in Ukraine.
The UK has been one in all Ukraine’s earliest and most outstanding backers since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, supplying coaching and navy and humanitarian support. It has dedicated $2.7 billion price of navy support as of February 2023.
The UK can also be experiencing shortages of some imported recent fruit and greens, which has been variously attributed to international climate patterns, electrical energy costs and Brexit crimson tape.
However Skabayeva’s feedback seem to stem from studies of nature conservation efforts that don’t have any acknowledged relationship to Ukraine or, certainly, the UK’s meals provides.
Skabayeva seized on a totally unrelated UK information cycle, which targeted on efforts of a small nature conservation group in south-west England. The Exmoor Squirrel Undertaking hit the headlines in early March with a proposal to place gray squirrel on the menu of some native eating places.
The group campaigns to protect the nation’s native crimson squirrels, that are endangered as a result of competitors by gray squirrels, thought of a non-native invasive species.
The group’s remarks have been reported in quite a few information shops — all in relation to efforts to cull gray squirrels with out waste.
“There is no waste there. They’re going to be put to some good use as a substitute of being put in a gap within the floor,” the group’s performing supervisor, Kerry Hosegood, instructed the BBC in late February.
