DISINFO: West lured Russia into Ukraine war
SUMMARY
The West has lured Russia into a dangerous game in Ukraine, assuming it would mark the end of Moscow. However, "if you dance with a bear, the bear decides when the dance ends." Moscow is unlikely to sit idle while Ukraine develops drones capable of striking deep within Russian territory.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukraine as a Western-controlled vassal since the 2013-14 Euromaidan revolution. Such claims aim to justify Russia’s unprovoked invasion by framing Moscow as a "saviour" and the West as the instigator of the war.
Ukraine is an independent country, that has an independent foreign and security policy, which is not dictated from the outside. Pro-Kremlin outlets often use this narrative of different countries being under the American thumb or as so-called 'Western puppets', to imply that their national sovereignty is under threat and that they have limited power; the classic "Lost sovereignty" narrative.
Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, which was launched on 24 February 2022 and which is Europe's largest military conflict since the Second World War, has caused serious damage to the security situation in the whole of Europe. Presenting it as the West's proxy war against Russia is an attempt to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian invasion is aimed at destroying Ukraine as a state and annihilating the Ukrainians as a nation. These plans were openly laid out in an article titled “What Russia should do with Ukraine” in April 2022. Along with calls to de-Nazify and demilitarize Ukraine, the article advocates its de-Ukrainization, meaning the eradication of Ukrainian culture and everything related to it, plans to divide Ukraine into several entities subordinate to Russia, but without the word “Ukraine” in their names. Thus, Russia is not protecting itself, or anyone else, in its war. Instead, some Russian politicians and experts are threatening to attack Western nations after Ukraine.
A broad coalition of more than 50 nations are providing Ukraine with military and technical assistance with the aim of repelling Russia's aggression. Kyiv is acting in self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter article 51.
See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.