Disinfo: Decisions on Ukraine are not made by Zelenskyy, but by the high ranking officials in the US

Summary

It does not matter what President Zelenskyy thinks or hopes for. He does not make the decisions. Decisions are made in Washington, and by no means at the presidential level. Decisions are made by well-known high-ranking officials in the State Department, and, probably, even in the presidential administration.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative questioning Ukrainian statehood and sovereignty. Тhe statement was made in the context of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, trying once again to denigrate Ukraine as a non-sovereign puppet of the US.

The claim that decisions about Ukraine are made in the US is unsubstantiated. Pro-Kremlin media outlets often cast doubts on Ukrainian statehood and claim that Ukraine is not a real state and is going to tumble down very soon. In reality, present-day Ukraine has been on the world map since 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated.

Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically-elected president and parliament. Ukraine has a functioning government and economy, it is a member of many international organizations (e.g. United Nations, Council of Europe), and a party to international agreements. Ukraine has bilateral diplomatic relations with the majority of countries.

Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated by continuous acts of aggression by Russian armed forces since 2014 culminating in a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022.

Read more about the EU's response and support for Ukraine.

See our guide to deciphering pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's war.

See our account of the Kremlin's intention of the annihilation of Ukraine here.

Go to search

publication/media

tass.ru (Archived)
russian.rt.com (Archived)
RIA (Archived)
regnum.ru (Archived)
iz.ru (Archived)
ng.ru (Archived)
kaliningradfirst.ru (Archived)
life.ru (Archived)
censor.net (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 298
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28/06/2022
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, US
  • Keywords: Puppets, War in Ukraine, Invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, Sovereignty
see more

Disinfo: Strike on shopping mall in Kremenchuk is Bucha-like Ukrainian provocation

The striking of a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk is a Ukrainian provocation similar to that in Bucha.

Jun 27, 2022
Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets accusing Ukraine of killing civilians and staging provocations in order to deflect Russian responsability. This claim was made in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

In reality, there is evidence that it was Russian pilots who struck the shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk on 27 June 2022. Ukraine’s Air Force Command established that X-22 missiles were fired from far-range Tu-22 M3 bombers in the skies over Russia. The bombers scrambled from an airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region and launched the missiles when they were flying over the Kursk region in Russia. Ukraine’s interior ministry said the names of the Russian pilots who struck the mall are already known. At the time of writing this case, over 20 people were reported dead, 59 injured and 25 hospitalised. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned Russian reactions to the shopping mall strike.

Disinfo: Kyiv and Moscow will easily reconcile without destructive Anglo-Saxon influence

The current Ukrainian conflict has demonstrated the fact that if the Kyiv authorities, controlled and instigated by the Anglo-Saxons, had tried to become independent and implement policies driven by the interests of Ukrainian society, there would be no conflict today. In this situation, Moscow and Kyiv would have easily reached a strategic and long-term reconciliation.

Jun 27, 2022
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about war in Ukraine. This message also falsely presents Ukraine and Poland as the Anglo-Saxon puppets.

In pro-Kremlin outlets, the term “Anglo-Saxons” stands for the US and UK and often means “belligerent” and “morally corrupt” Westerners, as explained in our earlier analysis.

Disinfo: The New York Times reports that Russia is barely affected by sanctions

Western countries face a “growing economic pain” due to sanctions against Russia while this Eurasian country is barely affected by this punitive policy, the New York Times writes.

Jun 27, 2022
Disproof

This story is a disingenuous distortion of the original article of The New York Times, which states: “Four months into the war in Ukraine, the countries aligned against Russia face growing economic pain even as sanctions and energy embargoes are showing little impact on Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s military campaign or his political standing at home”. This is very different from saying that “Russia is barely affected by sanctions”, a sentence that never appears in the NYT article.

Portraying sanctions on Russia as useless is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative. Also, distorting articles in Western media to make them appear as supporting pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives is a frequent technique of pro-Kremlin outlets.