DISINFO: Maia Sandu has advised Zelenskyy to start a military campaign against Donbas
SUMMARY
The new President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, advised Volodymyr Zelenskеy to start a war with Donbas, because Ukraine, in her words, will not achieve anything by “soft actions”. […] In fact, she calls for stepping up hostilities and, as they say, “crushing” the DPR and LPR, destroying the Republics completely.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the war in Ukraine.
Maia Sandu did not propose to start a military campaign against Donbas. In an interview with a Ukrainian online news outlet Evropeiska Pravda (the European Truth), she told that Moldova's experience in solving the situation in Prydnistrovya (Transnistria) may be useful for Ukraine. She also mentioned that in the case of Moldova, "soft actions" were not absolutely positive, and suggested that an international peace-keeping mission might be a better option.
"Despite all these steps, so far we got nowhere. And this experience can be useful to Ukraine in considering its actions on Donbas," Sandu told.
See similar disinformation cases on the war in Ukraine alleging that Biden's presidency will lead to a new war in Donbas, that Kyiv might launch a military "adventure" in Donbas, exploiting the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, or that Ukraine is organising provocations in Donbas.