DISINFO: Russia is the only guarantor of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity
SUMMARY
Russia has been the only guarantor of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. When Russia established the Soviet Union, it gave Ukraine vast territories which had been historically Russian.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative concerning Ukrainian statehood and falsely casting Russia as a guarantor of peace and/or stability in what Moscow usually terms the "Russian world" - a territory roughly covering the former Soviet Union which Russia claims to constitute its exclusive "sphere of influence".
The history of Ukraine dates back to the era of the Kyivan Rus’ in the 9th-13th centuries. A fully independent Ukraine only emerged in the 20th century, after long periods of successive domination by Poland-Lithuania, Russia, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In the aftermath of World War I and the disintegration of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires two states were created: the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and the West Ukrainian People's Republic. They merged into a unified state - the Ukrainian People's Republic - on 22 January 1919.
Under Lenin's rule at the beginning of the 20th century, Ukraine was occupied by the Bolsheviks and was enrolled in the Soviet Union (USSR) under communist control. When the Soviet Union began to unravel in 1990–91, the legislature of the Ukrainian SSR declared sovereignty (July 16, 1990) and then full independence (August 24, 1991). With the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, Ukraine gained full independence.
Since then, Ukraine was repeatedly invaded by Russia, in obvious violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The first invasion in 2014 resulted in the annexation and ongoing occupation of Crimea and parts of East Ukraine. The second, full-scale invasion has been ongoing since 24 February 2022 and has resulted in the loss of additional territory by Ukraine and countless military and civilian deaths.
See related cases: Russia protects the territorial integrity of Ukraine from Polish expansionism; Russia has been the sole guarantor of Armenian statehood; Russia is the main guarantor of the existence of Azerbaijan and Armenia; Russia is a guarantor of peace in Europe and the Middle East.