DISINFO: Donbas has never truly belonged to Ukraine
SUMMARY
The DNR and LNR represent the result of the political and national will of the people of Donbas and the will of the Russian people as a whole. This will was expressed both in a referendum as well as in the form of direct state and military-political actions and is being continuously implemented. […] The borders of the DNR coincide with the borders of the former Donetsk oblast of Ukraine, and the borders of the LNR with the borders of the former Luhansk oblast, parts of which continue to be held by force as part of the Ukrainian state and must be reunited with the Republics of Donbas. […] After the collapse of the USSR into separate states in 1991, Donbas, along with other regions of Novorossia, became part of Ukraine against its will.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the war in Ukraine and the alleged lack of evidence of the presence of Russian troops involved, mixed with a narrative alleging that Donbas is a part of the Russian world and was forcibly joined to Ukraine.
On a Ukrainian independence referendum in 1991, 92.3% of Ukrainians voted for independence. The independence of Ukraine was supported by the majority of votes in all regions, including Donetsk oblast (83.9%), Luhansk oblast (83.86%), and Crimea (54.19%).
See similar disinformation cases in our database: Russophobic historical concepts, including so-called Holodomor genocide, have brought Ukraine to a civil war, Ukraine to launch an offensive against Donbas, war with Russia is the only reason for the existence of the Ukrainian state, the war in Ukraine started because the parliament did not want to vote for the law on languages, Ukraine has always been Russian, at least a half of it, Russia has the right to reclaim the original Russian lands from Ukraine.