DISINFO: Hysteria around the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a cover for Ukraine’s attack on Donbas
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: sputnik-ossetia.ru (archived)* geworld.ge (archived)*
  • Date of publication: December 14, 2021
  • Article language(s): Russian, Georgian
  • Reported in: Issue 271
  • Countries / regions discussed: Ukraine, Russia, Georgia
Tags:
West Donbas War in Ukraine Eastern Ukraine Russo-Georgian War Anti-Russian Provocation Abkhazia South Ossetia

DISINFO: Hysteria around the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a cover for Ukraine’s attack on Donbas

SUMMARY

Ukraine has followed the path of Georgia in 2008.

All this hysteria around the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a cover for the attack of Ukraine itself on Donbas.

As for Russia's preparations for a military invasion: it is a lie. It is more like Ukraine prepares for a military operation in Donbas (again at the instigation of Western confrontational forces).

RESPONSE

This article is part of a current disinformation campaign aiming to deflect attention away from Russia’s military build-up on its border with Ukraine since late October 2021 by accusing Ukraine of “preparing an aggression”, a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative. Contrary to the claim, reports and expressions of concern about military preparations and mobilisation of Russian troops is not a “campaign against Russia”, but a fact confirmed by satellite images and intelligence of the US, Ukraine and NATO, among other countries and institutions. See the 16 December NATO statement calling Russia to immediately de-escalate tension.

Moreover, the story is consistent with the recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative trying to deny any role for Russia in the Russo-Georgian war, blaming Georgia and its political leadership, as well as, the West for the war which resulted in the further occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by additional military forces from Russia. The EU's independent investigative commission into the 2008 Russia-Georgian war confirmed that Russia had been provoking Georgia for a long time and "Much of the Russian military action went far beyond the reasonable limits of defence."

See similar cases in our database, such as claims that the campaign against Russia is a distraction from Ukraine’s military operation in Donbas, that under external control, Ukraine is doomed to escalate the conflict in Donbas, that NATO will help Ukraine to kill more people, that after the 2014 coup Ukraine committed genocide in Donbas, that violations by the Ukrainian army in Donbas are secret and nobody investigates them, or similar examples about Georgia that the Anglo-Saxons fooled Georgia into starting a war with Russia, that Georgia’s military adventure was encouraged by Western partners in 2008, that the Russo-Georgian war was openly provoked by Washington's protégé Saakashvili, that the 2008 August War is an example of how NATO poses threat to peace with its military exercises.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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