Another day, another lie about Russia’s war against sovereign Ukraine. From its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 to Moscow’s ongoing aggression today, Russia has conducted a long and state-coordinated disinformation campaign targeting the local population, Russia’s neighbors, EU countries and beyond. The goal is clear – to influence public opinion.
In the state media and the Moscow-controlled ecosystem, the Russian authorities have spared no effort to denigrate Ukraine, pose a threat to global security, and attack international attempts to support Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty.
That is why the specialized site eudisinfo.eu presented the most common and dangerous myths created by the Kremlin propaganda machine. Myths and outright lies aimed at destabilization.
Myth one: The current war is the result of persistently aggressive behavior by Ukraine and its allies in the West. Russia is doing nothing but defending its legitimate interests and is not responsible for this conflict.
False. The facts show that Russia continues to violate international law, as well as other agreements with which it has committed itself. By illegally annexing the Crimean peninsula and carrying out acts of armed aggression against Ukraine, Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has violated at least 12 international and bilateral treaties. These include the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter, which guarantee sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states, inviolability of borders, refraining from the use of force and the right of states to choose their own security measures.
In other words, Russia’s actions undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, especially in Crimea and Donbas, are illegal.
So far, Ukraine has suffered horrific losses in a protracted conflict with Russia since 2013. Moscow’s aggression has killed a total of about 14,000 Ukrainians and injured many more.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Myth two: Ukraine has provoked this conflict. There is evidence that Ukraine is committing atrocities against the Russian-speaking population in the eastern part of the country. Russia must also intervene because Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere of influence. “
False. Allegations that Ukraine is attacking and persecuting its own citizens in any way are absurd. To stimulate domestic support for military aggression against Kiev, Russian state media have been relentlessly trying to denigrate Ukraine, accusing it of genocide, drawing totally unfounded parallels with Nazism and World War II.
There are many such fictional stories, and the best illustration is a report on Russian television that accuses Ukrainian forces of crucifying a young boy in eastern Ukraine at the beginning of the conflict. Repeated inspections have shown that the story is completely fabricated.
There is no evidence that Russian-speaking residents of eastern Ukraine have faced persecution, much less genocide. This is confirmed by reports of Council of Europe, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights And OSCE.
Second, the claim that Ukrainians and Russians are one people is often promoted. Looking back shows that this argument is, to put it mildly, invalid. Despite the common roots of Kievan Rus, which existed from the 9th to the 13th century, it is incorrect to claim that 800 years later the two countries are “one nation”. Despite long periods of foreign rule, Ukraine has a national culture and identity and is a sovereign state under all the rules of international law.
The idea of an all-Russian nation without political borders is an ideological construction dating back to imperial times and has been used as a tool to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty and national identity. This myth has been re-cultivated by the Russian government since 2014.
Myth three: “Ukraine must turn to Russia because the EU and the West are not interested in it and have abandoned it. “
False. The EU and Ukraine have a Strategic Partnership Agreement consolidated by the Comprehensive Free Trade Association Agreement. The EU is Kiev’s largest trading partner and generates 40% of Ukraine’s trade. Under the Eastern Partnership flag, the EU is implementing a wide range of programs in Ukraine and assisting in carrying out the necessary reforms.
Since 2014, the EU has provided more than € 17 billion in loans and grants to Ukraine.
Myth four: “The current war is the fault of the West. If they had kept their promise not to expand the Alliance, Russia would not have felt threatened. “
False. Such a promise has not been made by NATO, nor has it ever been formally requested. Kremlin-controlled Russian media often claim that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was given a “verbal” promise that NATO would not expand beyond an already united Germany. In fact, Gorbachev himself denied this claim in an interview from 2014 when he said that “the topic of NATO enlargement has not been discussed at all and has not been raised in those years.”
“I say this quite responsibly. No Eastern European country has raised the issue, even after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991.”he says.
The so-called “oral agreements” are just a fiction. NATO members have never made political or legally binding commitments not to expand the Alliance beyond the borders of a united Germany.
NATO, as a defense alliance, is not expanding in the imperial sense that is being used. Decisions on NATO membership are made by candidate countries, and all 30 current NATO members have made their decisions within their own countries.
Myth five: “Due to NATO’s aggressive enlargement, Russia is now “surrounded by enemies” and “must defend itself.”
False. No country or union has planned or ever planned an invasion of Russia. No one has threatened Russia. In fact, the EU and Ukraine are strong supporters of the established post-war security order. Russia, for its part, is the largest geographical country in the world with a population of 144 million and has some of the largest armed nuclear forces in the world. It is absurd to present Russia as a country under acute security threat.
In terms of geography, less than 1/16 of Russia’s land border is with NATO members. Of the 14 countries bordering Russia, only five are members of NATO.
In addition, there is no argument to suggest that military force is the only solution to possible problems. There are several international organizations, bilateral agreements and formats in which Russia can engage in joint and peaceful dialogue – for example, within the OSCE and the various arms control regimes. The EU has always kept the channels of communication with Russia open.
As a sovereign state, Ukraine has every right to choose its policy and alliances. The idea that Russia has some veto power over Ukraine’s sovereign decisions is unfounded. In this regard, neither the EU nor NATO claim to have a veto over which countries have the right to be members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Myth six: “In any case, Russia is not responsible for the current tensions in Ukraine. Ukraine has deliberately violated the Minsk agreements and the West is further arming Ukraine. Russia had to react quickly to defend its borders. The provocation comes from the West. “
False. The truth is that it is Russia that has deployed 140,000 troops and their heavy military on Ukraine’s borders, including in the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula.
Russia is a party to the Minsk agreements, and these are the latest official documents in which Russia has confirmed Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia has not fulfilled its part of the obligations under the Minsk agreements. Russia and its deputies did not cease fire, did not withdraw all heavy weapons, did not realize – to exchange political prisoners and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid on the basis of an international mechanism.
On the contrary, Russia is stepping up its armed forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia does not allow unimpeded access to OSCE observers, including along its border with Ukraine, where even the organisation’s severely limited mission was suspended due to a Russian veto in the summer of 2021.
Without the full implementation of the ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and the implementation of a permit for full access to all territories for OSCE monitoring missions, it is difficult to talk about Minsk II.
However, Ukraine has implemented as many of the Minsk agreements as it makes sense to make a country that has no control over its entire territory. Moreover, Ukraine has made constitutional changes to give more autonomy to territories that are currently out of its control.
Myth seven: “The EU is weak and inappropriate. Why does anyone bother to talk to the EU at all. “
False. Russia’s political establishment is working hard to portray the EU as weak. In January 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov even accused the EU of “impotence.”
However, the fact is that Europe enjoys peace after the end of WWII. The EU, in coordination with the UN, NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, G7 members and other international partners, is doing its utmost to ensure peace and security in the world, including in Ukraine.
The EU is also the world’s largest integrated economic zone and Ukraine’s largest trading partner.
–
