DISINFO: Ukraine's invasion of Donbas was inevitable
SUMMARY
[Russia President Vladimir] Putin was right when he said that sanctions and everything we see right now before our eyes was inevitable. On February 22, two days before the outbreak of the war, Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy issued a decree on general mobilisation. This meant that Ukraine's invasion of the Donbas region became inevitable in a matter of only a few weeks. If Russia hadn't intervened, the fighting would have taken place in Donetsk and Luhansk, with hostilities on the part of the West.
Putin had to decide between two bitter options.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, trying to legitimise Russia’s invasion of the country. This narrative of claiming that Ukraine is responsible for the war is part of a campaign aiming to justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has been violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of armed aggression since 2014.
Contrary to the claim, the general mobilisation did not come “two days before the outbreak of the war”, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying on 22 February “There is no need for general mobilisation today”, but was indeed announced on 3 March throughout the country in response to the large-scale military assault.
On February 24, Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, which he called a special military operation under the pretext of the “demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine, which the EU condemned in the strongest possible terms 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.
Read more cases in our database claiming that the Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine helps liberate the world from Western neo-colonialism; or that the operation is in accordance with the UN Charter; or that Russian action in Ukraine is to prevent Third World War; or that the military operation was launched because Kyiv did not implement Minsk agreements.