DISINFO: Ukraine’s statehood is legal nonsense
SUMMARY
Ukrainian statehood is legal nonsense. It has never existed. Ukraine received its statehood from the Soviet Union. So if the Ukrainians are trying to abandon Soviet legacy and carry out decommunisation, then decommunisation will put an end to Ukrainian statehood, and the West will be very happy about it.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying Ukraine its statehood and questioning its independence. Denying this has become an obsession for Putin in his attempt to legitimise the war of agression. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine is recognised in international law as a sovereign nation-state with its own flag, citizenship, language, democratically elected presidents and parliament. The history of Ukraine dates back to the era of the Kyivan Rus in the 9th-13th. Kyiv was a principal city back then, to which other surrounding city states including Moscow were closely linked. Moscow as well as some other present-day Russian cities were governed, albeit partially, from Kyiv. Due to a variety of historical reasons, Kyiv’s importance declined over the centuries, the Russian Empire subjugated Ukraine and finally turned it into a colony in the 18th century.
In the early 20th century, after the collapse of the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ukrainian National Republic proclaimed independence and united with the Western Ukrainian National Republic. This new state was short-lived, and a new and fully independent Ukraine appeared on the world map after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia itself was among countries who recognised Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence within its post-Soviet borders.
In violation of international law, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, illegally annexing the peninsula of Crimea and instigating a separatist revolt in some parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
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