DISINFO: Russia is destroying NATO forces in Ukraine
SUMMARY
Western hopes for a proxy victory by Ukraine are diminishing due to the effectiveness of the Russian military and defense industry created with the intention of direct confrontation with the NATO forces.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, claiming that NATO is directly involved in the war against Ukraine.
NATO is a defensive political and military alliance. The primary aim of the alliance is to maintain peace and safeguard the freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states. Ukraine is neither de facto nor de jure a member of NATO.
NATO as an organisation is not involved in this war and does not supply Ukraine with weapons. Many nations, including some NATO member states, support Ukraine with military and financial aid for the country’s solid self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter Article 51.
Ukraine is an independent state that fights to defend itself against the armed Russian aggression. Ukraine receives weapons with the sole aim of restoring its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Western instructors are teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to use modern weaponry, but there are no NATO troops fighting on the front.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukrainians are fighting Russians for NATO interests; NATO needed Ukraine to be a battering ram to weaken Russia; Ukraine is forced to fight on behalf of NATO; NATO was turning Ukraine into an enemy of Russia.