DISINFO: Russia is protecting people from mockery and genocide
SUMMARY
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a special operation to de-Nazify and demilitarise Ukraine, with the aim of protecting people who have been subjected to eight years of mockery and genocide by the Kyiv regime.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, actively trying to legitimize Russia’s military actions. This narrative is claiming that Ukraine is responsible for the war because Kyiv perpetrated a genocide of the population in Donbas.
Furthermore, Russia has been coming up with different explanations and pretexts for its unjustified invasion of Ukraine as the situation has been changing. Denazifying and demilitarising Ukraine as well as ensuring its neutral status were among the main reasons for the assault. Protecting the residents of the self-proclaimed separatist entities in Eastern Ukraine from alleged genocide and imposing the use of the Russian language in Ukraine were cited.
There is no evidence to support the claims of genocide by Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities did not systematically exterminate or abused the people living in the conflict zone. The claimed dead people – military and civilian alike - are a result of a war Russia had started in Ukraine. It was not an internal civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine which has closely monitored the conflict had observed no such genocide.
Read more disinformation narratives about Ukraine allegedly perpetrating genocide against Russians.
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.