DISINFO: Russia prevented genocide in Donbas
SUMMARY
Russia is not an aggressor, but in fact, it was the only force that was able to stop the genocide of the population of [Donbas].
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine and the claimed genocide of ethnic Russians in Ukraine. Human rights missions that travelled to Ukraine in 2014 did not find evidence that the Russian minority would have been in danger. See, for instance, the Advisory Committee’s Ad hoc report on the situation of national minorities in Ukraine, adopted on 1 April 2014 by the Council of Europe; June 2014 report on the human rights situation in Ukraine by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; and statement by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities on her Visit to Ukraine published on 4 April 2014. The claim also disregards the extensive factual evidence confirming the ongoing Russian military presence in Donbas. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court stated that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation". This international armed conflict began, at the latest, on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government. The European Union stated in July 2014 that "arms and fighters continue flowing into Ukraine from the Russian Federation". At the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014 and at successive summits since then, allied leaders also demanded that Russia refrain from aggressive actions against Ukraine and stop fomenting tension along and across the Ukrainian border. See similar cases alleging that "in 2014 genocide against Russians began in Ukraine" and "Ukraine has legalised genocide against its citizens".