The Kremlin disinformation about the war in Ukraine

The Kremlin and its agents are offering disinformation narratives to reinforce the case of the war in Ukraine.

As tempting as this may be, Russian President Vladimir Putin simply cannot launch a new phase of the war against Ukraine without first providing the rationale for his aggression.

As many analysts have pointed out, Putin continues to be unstable and perhaps warnings of harsh sanctions seem to be changing the Kremlin’s calculations. However, the rhetoric continues unabated and comes from high-level sources, particularly from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Disinformation have been spread by Russian state television for a local audience and distributed around the world by Kremlin apologists.

The issue of the Russian language in Ukraine

The purpose of this disinformation is to present Ukraine as divided, comparing the Russian-speaking east with the Ukrainian-speaking west.

It is true that Ukrainians speak different languages, though not entirely divided along regional lines. However, the overcoming that propagandists want to make of this is that a large part of the country is dissatisfied with the state’s official language policy.

The reality is that Ukrainians are united by an indifference to language choice. Ukraine is not divided by the issue of language. Almost everyone is happy with each language. Bilingual conversations are common. Russia wants to portray the Russian language and consequently Russian speakers as oppressed. But the fact that the only state language is Ukrainian has no impact on the lives of every citizen in Ukraine.

It is obvious that some newly arrived Western correspondents report with some surprise that Russian-speaking cities do not want to be part of Putin’s imperial plans.

Ukraine plans to retake Dombas by force

This disinformation is manufactured entirely in Russia. It is highly plausible that Russia plans to organize a provocation as an excuse to send more troops across the border in order to ostensibly protect its citizens in the Donbas, who have been provided with Russian passports for the past three years.

The notion that Ukraine has military plans can be dismissed by credible and independent parties.

Since the outbreak of the war, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has had a team of international observers (including 25 Russian citizens) to report everything they see on the ground in eastern Ukraine. The OSCE reports are a presentation of facts and are independent.

If Ukraine were to deploy military equipment or manpower to retake the Donbas by military force, OSCE observers would be immediately aware and would report it.

Russia is in danger

President Putin likes to portray himself as a man of great power and as a victim.

The only threat to Russia is that of the Putin regime. But to appease the skeptics, consider what military action against Russia might look like. We know that the Ukrainians are ready to fight in the territorial defense regiments in the face of the growing noise of war.

Nothing in the 31-year history of modern Ukraine indicates that its leaders would order military action leading to mass suicide.

Ukraine is populated by supporters of Nazism and Fascism

There are two ways in this fabrication and one main reason to use it now. This reason exists because it is easier to kill another person after they are inhuman. Wars require soldiers to kill the enemy, an action that becomes much easier if the enemy is a fascist or a Nazi.

One of the roots of the propaganda lies in the fact that during World War II some Ukrainians decided to oppose the Red Army by joining the Germans. This is a very simplistic version of that story, but suffice it to say that those Ukrainians did not seek a German presence to fight against the Red Army, nevertheless, they would have done so.

The second reason stems from the fact that some Ukrainians are motivated by far-right ideologies. Unfortunately, such people can be found everywhere. Extremists are disgusting regardless of their nationality, but such views are proportionately much less common in Ukraine than in other countries, even European ones.

Ukraine refuses to respect the Minsk Agreement

This current propaganda narrative is being pushed back by Russia as a justification for its belligerent behavior.

There is disagreement between the parties on how this agreement should be implemented. The timing and conditions for the local elections provided for in the agreement are one of these disputes.

What we have seen from Russia is a repeated mistrust when it comes to the goal stated in the Minsk Agreement – the return to the control of the Ukrainian Government of the territories up to the international border. Instead of working towards this goal, Russia is setting it on fire. This has allowed the Kremlin to deepen control over the territories it occupied almost eight years ago.

The main issue to be noted is that Russia refuses to adhere to the point of a ceasefire and withdrawal of all armaments.

“The Minsk agreements are the best protection of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. “Based on the commitment of both sides, Russia and Ukraine, we now have the opportunity to advance the negotiations,” said President Emmanuel Macron during a recent visit to Kiev.

Perhaps it is worth noting that, 6 years and 364 days since Russia agreed to halt its armed aggression, so far it has refused to do so.

/ CEPA / The Geopost /