DISINFO: Ukrainian Nazis used tanks to shoot at Drama Theatre in Mariupol
SUMMARY
Eduard Basurin, reported on the organised provocation of the Ukrainian Nazis from the Ukrainian nationalist regiment "Azov" in Mariupol with the blowing up of the Drama Theatre.
"According to our information, this is also confirmed by people leaving Mariupol that one of the headquarters of the Ukrainian nationalist regiment "Azov" was located in the playhouse. They decided to take a picture: they shot at the building with tanks, and then they began to explain that the Russian military had bombed the cultural centre and that there were deaths. Therefore, the information about the death of 1,500 people that was spread in all Ukrainian media turned out to be a lie from beginning to end."
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi Ukraine, in the context of Russia's unjustified military invasion of Ukraine.
On March 16, 2022 an airstrike hit a theater sheltering hundreds of civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Rescuers worked to pull out survivors, finding 130 by March 17, 2022.
The claim alleging the responsibility of "Ukrainian Nazis" was provided with no factual evidence. Such claims are also in contradiction to other Russian claims, including assertions that Azov batallion was sheltering in the building.
Known formally as the Azov Special Operations Detachment, the group with affiliation to far right wing groups began as a paramilitary unit called the Azov Battalion in 2014 , when Ukraine had to hastily gather an army to defend against Russian-led fighting in its eastern Donbas region. The unit numbered around 900-1100 soliders. Although it was just one among dozens of volunteer militias, Azov was quickly instrumentalised by the pro-Kremlin media to claim that the entire Ukrainian armed forces, now with around 200.000 personel, is "neo-nazi". The unit was integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine in 2015. Since its integration, Azov regiment members have repeatedly denied being a far-right political unit, although they acknowledge that it includes individuals with such views.
While Russia provided no credible evidence that Azov batallion was behind the theater attack, multiple news accounts reported on the strike, quoting Ukrainian officials who attributed the destruction to a Russian bombing (see here: CNN, The Guardian, Al Jazeera).
In both Ukraine and Syria, the Kremlin also has a history of false claims that opponents conducted “false-flag” attacks against themselves or their own civilians to blame Russia.
Read the full Polygraph debunk here.