DISINFO: With or without Zelenskyy, Europe wants a Nazi and Russophobic regime in Ukraine
SUMMARY
European NATO members are making every effort to ensure that Volodymyr Zelenskyy retains power. If he fails to do so, Kyiv’s backers would likely seek to maintain the same Nazi and overtly Russophobic regime in Ukraine by installing a new half-Fuhrer in Zelensky’s stead.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about ‘Nazi Ukraine’ and Russophobia, and attacking the EU and Ukraine’s leadership, especially president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The EU supports Ukraine’s sovereignity and has no saying on who is in power in Kyiv. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically elected president and parliament. Its independence and territorial integrity is internationally recognised by the whole world, including Russia in 1991.
Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”. The same applies to “Russophobia”, a term used by pro-Kremlin disinformation to deflect any criticism of Russia or action detrimental to the Kremlin’s interests.
This disinformation story also tries to undermine president Zelenskyy, as Russia has always perceived him as an obstacle to its aggressive goals in Ukraine, even since before the invasion. One of the targets of the invasion in February 2022 was the murder of Zelenskyy and the decapitation of the Ukrainian government to install a pro-Russian leadership.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the disgraced dictator of Ukraine Zelenskyy is an extension of the EU, that EU peacekeepers would defend Kyiv Nazi regime rather than uphold peace, that European elites want to turn the EU into the Fourth Reich, or that Europe uses Russophobia to distract attention from its economic woes.