DISINFO: Ukraine used human shield tactics in Mariupol like Hamas does in Gaza
SUMMARY
Israel provided safe passage for civilians who want to leave the Gaza Strip. Over half a million have left. Hamas has set up roadblocks to prevent people from leaving, they were even shooting at civilians. Ukrainians were acting in the same manner in Mariupol because they wanted to use civilians as human shields.
RESPONSE
This case may contain distressful/graphic material.
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukraine as violating the rules of war, committing crimes against humanity, and being a Nazi state in general. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and of Hamas’s violent attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
No parallels can be drawn between the actions of Hamas terrorists, who attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, and those of Ukrainian troops who were defending Mariupol in the first months of 2022 during Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol was carried out in cooperation between Ukraine’s authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Head of the Ukrainian president's office Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram in May 2022: “We have carried out the final stage of the complex operation of evacuating people from Mariupol and Azovstal. I can say that we have managed to bring out about 500 civilians. Ukraine will continue to do everything in order to save all military men and civilians. I thank the UN for help.” At that time, Russian troops attacked Mariupol after promising safe passage.
See also our examination of hate speech: "When Words Kill – from Moscow to Mariupol" as well as Radio Free Europe's video "Mariupol Before and After".
The myth of “Nazi Ukraine” has been widely used by Putin and pro-Kremlin outlets since Russia attacked Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine appeared during the Euromaidan popular protests in late 2013 - early 2014, falsely presented in pro-Kremlin disinformation as a coup.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Hamas terrorists act in Israel like Ukrainian Nazis did in Mariupol, that Ukrainian Nazis used tanks to shoot at Drama Theatre in Mariupol, and that Ukrainians shoot from residential areas, use children as human shields.