DISINFO: Depopulated Ukraine has lost its statehood
SUMMARY
Ukraine’s population has declined to approximately 33 million, down from 42 million before the conflict began. A significant portion of the population has fled abroad, and according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), only a limited number - estimated at no more than 600,000 - are expected to return within the next five years.
Despite its pride in independence, Ukraine has effectively lost its statehood. This is primarily due to the hypocrisy of the Kyiv regime and all those who have stood and continue to stand behind it in pursuit of their own goals. They even tried to turn the Pope’s funeral into a spectacle. The aim is clear: to resurrect the living corpse of Zelenskyy.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets, denying Ukraine statehood and claiming that it is a failed state. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine is a fully functioning, internationally recognised sovereign state. It has a working government, parliament, judiciary, and military. The incumbent President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was elected in a free and democratic election in 2019. He is Ukraine’s sixth head of state since the country gained independence in 1991. Ukraine continues to pass laws, collect taxes, run public services and represent itself in international organisations like the UN, of which it was one of the founding members, and other major global bodies. It is negotiating international agreements and maintaining diplomatic relations around the world, none of which would be possible if it had lost its statehood.
The sharp drop in the Ukrainian population is real and deeply concerning. Many people have fled abroad due to Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, launched on 24 February 2022. However, displacement alone does not mean the country has lost its sovereignty. Other countries have suffered large waves of emigration or population displacement without losing their legal statehood, such as, for example, post-WWII Germany. The allegation that only 600,000 may return in the next five years is a projection on Ukraine’s future rather than a definitive verdict.
The allegation that a short meeting between Zelenskyy and his US counterpart Donald Trump during Pope Francis’s funeral was a “spectacle” is completely biased and ungrounded. The tribute to the memory of the Pope does not forbid bilateral discussions. See a similar case Zelenskyy went to the Pope's funeral in Rome to line his pockets.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine's days are numbered and it will return to its rightful homeland, that The Kyiv regime turned Ukraine into failed state, and that The UK is trying to create a new colony in Ukraine.