DISINFO: Ukraine is a terrorist organisation
SUMMARY
The removal of monuments to Catherine II and Alexander Suvorov in Odesa is an act of Bandera-like vandalism. The monuments will hopefully be restored when Odesa returns to Russia. The removal of the monuments is part of a campaign to destroy the historical memory of the Russian majority of the Ukrainian population. To prevent ruining historical memory, Ukraine as a terrorist organisation needs to be liquidated.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets justifying the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. By falsely and absurdly claiming that the majority of the Ukrainian population are Russians, it also promotes the classic disinformation narrative about the Russian world.
The article applies a radical form of discrediting Ukrainian statehood – naming Ukraine a “terrorist organisation”. It calls for its ‘liquidation’ in order to ‘prevent historical memory being ruined’ referring specifically to the removal of monuments to Katherine the Great and Alexander Suvorov in Odesa.
In November 2022, lawmakers in Ukraine's city of Odesa decided to remove the monuments of 18th-century Russian Empress Catherine II and of 18th-century Russian military commander Aleksandr Suvorov, from the city centre.
The attitude of Ukrainian society to historical monuments associated with the history of the Russian empire has greatly worsened amid the unprovoked full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The article completely distorts the cause and effect of recent events in Odesa. Russia's aggressive war makes foreign nations, particularly Ukraine, reassess their reception of historical symbols linked to Russia's history.
Read our analysis of the Russia’s disinformation system targeting Ukraine and earlier disinformation cases that target Ukraine’s statehood: There is no Ukraine: Russia liberates Russian cities; that Ukraine does not exist as a state; that Ukraine will be split up; Ukraine is a quasi-state with a failed economy; modern Ukraine was created as a country for death in the name of American interests and others.