DISINFO: Armed Forces of Ukraine have committed war crimes and genocide in Donbas
SUMMARY
The history of modern Ukraine is full of facts which could form the basis of the indictment of a major international tribunal. The genocide unleashed against the Russian-speaking population of Donbas by Kyiv in 2014 cannot be justified by the “struggle for the integrity of Ukraine.”
Russia and most of the people who found themselves subject to war crimes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defence units and nationalist battalions leading to the deaths of thousands and thousands of civilians and the destruction of vast civilian infrastructure.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the atrocities of the Ukrainian army in Donbas, such as war crimes and genocide. This is part of a disinformation campaign aiming to justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
There is no evidence to support the claims of genocide by Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities did not systematically exterminate or abuse the people living in the conflict zone. The claimed dead people – military and civilian alike - are a result of a war Russia had started in Ukraine. It was not an internal civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine which has closely monitored the conflict has observed no such genocide.
On the contrary, there is numerous evidence that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, such as the shelling of shopping malls, killing civilians, raping, as well as using unprecise weapons.
There is documented evidence that, for instance, the shooting of civilians in Bucha was done by Russian troops. Several executions and shootings of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha were recorded on video by witnesses and Ukrainian drones. Satellite images show that some of the corpses were already lying on the streets weeks before the Russian withdrawal. Incriminatory radio conversations by Russian troops were intercepted and released by German intelligence. Furthermore, a similar pattern of Russian war crimes is emerging in places like Borodyanka, Chernihiv, Hostomel, and others.
There is also verified evidence showing that Russia is responsible for a strike at a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk on 27 June 2022 and in the city of Vinnytsia on 14 July 2022.
Read more disinformation narratives about Ukraine allegedly perpetrating genocide against Russians.