DISINFO: While Ukraine fails to abide by Minsk agreements, DNR builds its own statehood
SUMMARY
Ukraine is unable and unwilling to implement the Minsk accords. While Ukraine is not fulfilling them, the Donetsk People's Republic is building its statehood.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media, accusing Ukraine of non-adherence to the Minsk agreements and trying to blame Kyiv for the recent escalation on the Russian-Ukrainian border. In reality, Ukraine strictly adheres to these accords. It is Russia and its proxies in Eastern Ukraine who continually violate them. The Donbas separatists use banned weapons, undermine Ukraine's peace efforts and violate human rights.
The situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border was very tense in April after Moscow had amassed tens of thousands of its troops there. Military analysts were predicting a Russian invasion of Ukraine under the pretext of Ukraine’s alleged war preparations with NATO’s participation. Ukraine's Armed Forces had been really put on alert, but the only reason for that was the Russian military build-up along its border.
The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic were created in the occupied Ukrainian region of Donbas in 2014. These illegal entities have some reductive simulacra of branches of power, but the development of their statehood is out of the question because they are not internationally recognised. They are not recognised even by Russia, which nonetheless supports them with weapons and other military equipment.
Read more disinformation cases about Ukraine’s alleged failure to fulfil the Minsk accords.