DISINFO: Kyiv monastery was hit by a US-made Patriot missile
SUMMARY
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Monday that the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves) was struck by a missile from the US-made Patriot air defense system. The system malfunction may have been due to Western countries supplying the Kyiv regime with missiles that had exceeded their service life. The Russian Armed Forces do not plan or launch attacks against civilian infrastructure. The last major attack on Ukraine targeted facilities of the military-industrial complex and was launched in response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime. Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders rushed to blame Russia.
RESPONSE
No evidence is provided to support the claim, which remains unsubstantiated. Allegations made solely by Russian authorities cannot be considered as proof, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on faked or nonexistent evidences. Ukraine has accused Russia of deliberately targeting one of the most important symbols of Ukraine’s national and religious identity, in line with Russia’s campaign to erase Ukrainian identity.
Even in the case the allegation turned out to be true, Russia remains ultimately responsible for the incident, as it was the result of a massive air attack against Kyiv. 611 long-range strike drones and 70 missiles were launched against Ukrainian territory.
Russia has falsely framed this and other attacks, which regularly hit civilian targets, as a retaliation for “Ukraine’s terrorism”. Pro-Kremlin disinformation is deliberately blurring the line between terrorism and legitimate armed operations abroad, and pro-Kremlin media and officials regularly try to associate Ukraine with terrorism, aiming to undermine international support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion.
Russian attacks against non-combatants and civilian infrastructure have been a constant throughout the invasion, despite non-credible denials by Russian officials and pro-Kremlin disinformation. Since 2022, Russia has attacked civilian targets multiple times, including the city theatre in Mariupol, residential buildings, schools and energy facilities. On 5 March 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against two Russian top officials considered responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure" between October 2022 and March 2023, which are considered as war crimes.
After Russia’s illicit actions and war crimes, pro-Kremlin disinformation regularly tries to blame others for these wrongdoings and accuse them of provocations and false flag operations. See other examples, such as claims that Ukraine is responsible for the Tochka-U-missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station, that children's hospital in Kyiv was hit by Ukrainian air defence missile, that Ukrainians killed 16 people in Kostiantynivka and blamed it on Russia, or that claims that Russia attacked a pensioners queue in Yarova don’t hold up.