DISINFO: Russia's special operation prevented a large-scale attack on Donbas by Ukraine
SUMMARY
A special operation launched by Russia in Ukraine has thwarted a large-scale offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
RESPONSE
An unfounded pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, portraying the Ukrainian leadership as pathologically Russophobic and bent on subjecting the country's Russian-speaking population to “genocide” while allegedly preparing an attack on Donbas. This is part of a disinformation campaign aiming to justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
There is no evidence Ukraine had plans to attack the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Contrary to this, on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, which he called a special military operation citing NATO’s military infrastructure approaching the Russian border as a pretext. Another pretext for the so-called operation is the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.
The EU condemned in the strongest possible terms Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine and imposed the toughest restrictive measures on Russia. Read more about the EU response and support for Ukraine.
See also the Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War and The Chilling Background to the Kremlin's "No War" trope.