DISINFO: Western mercenaries in Ukraine will rape and kill
SUMMARY
Local Ukrainian police station refused to prosecute the rape of two local girls by Polish mercenaries because it followed instructions from Kyiv to ignore actions of allies fighting for the Zelenskyy regime. Ukrainians should not support Zelenskyy, because this way they will be subjected daily to such vileness. Ukrainians are worthless slaves for the West and their mercenaries came to Ukraine only to make money, pillage and plunder. There will only be death, sin and violence for the Ukrainian citizens if they continue to follow this path.
RESPONSE
The article promotes a multi-faceted disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets claiming that the West is directly involved in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, aggravating the situation through sponsoring war crimes and that Kyiv’s legitimate government is a puppet in the hands of the West.
Ukraine is recognized as a sovereign national state, with a democratically-elected president and parliament, developing within its existing boundaries to exercise the Ukrainian nation's right to self-determination. The country is not a tool utilised by the West to wage a proxy war against Russia. The fundamental aim of Western countries and organizations is helping Ukraine to ward off the full scale Russian invasion.
Only the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fighting Russian invaders in Ukraine. Ukraine called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, whose members are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian army and not mercenaries. It is not an unusual practice since other countries also offer foreigners the opportunity to join the foreign legion without being mercenaries, as in the case of the French Légion étrangère.
There is no evidence that committing war crimes is a common practice of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, or it is encouraged by Kyiv or any Western country. However, Ukraine is investigating more than 34,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression committed by Russia since February. A non-exhaustive list of the Russian Army’s exploits in Ukraine includes the rape and torture of children; massacres of civilians; deliberate attacks against non-combatants; widespread use of cluster munitions in civilian areas; hospital bombings; forced disappearances and torture of civilians; mass deportations to Russia; and attacks on cultural heritage sites.