DISINFO: Russia is getting its city Kharkiv back
SUMMARY
On 10 May 2024, Russia began an incursion in the Kharkiv region. It liberated nine localities within days. The principal goal ahead of the Russian army is to get Kharkiv, the city that was considered Russian even in the worst times of Ukrainisation, back to Russia.
RESPONSE
This article offers an absurd interpretation of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The newly occupied Ukrainian territories in the Kharkiv region are not "liberated" as the article claims, but temporarily occupied territories as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Russia's unjustified military invasion of Ukraine is a clear violation of international law.
In this disinformation piece, Russia’s recent assault in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine is justified through the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the Russian world/civilisation which proclaims Kharkiv as a ‘Russian’ city. Kharkiv is a major cultural, educational, and industrial centre of Ukraine, the second-largest Ukrainian city. It was the first capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, from December 1919 to January 1934, after which the capital relocated to Kyiv.
Russia has been coming up with different explanations and pretexts for its aggression. Putin launched a wide-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 citing NATO’s military infrastructure approaching the Russian border as a pretext. Official Russian statements named the “demilitarisation and denazification” as another pretext.
Read more disinformation cases about Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.