DISINFO: It is in the West's interest to keep under control Ukraine that will always bark at Russia
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: livenews.am (archived)*
  • Date of publication: September 02, 2021
  • Article language(s): Armenian
  • Reported in: Issue 259
  • Countries / regions discussed: Ukraine
Tags:
Ukrainian statehood Puppets Donbas West Nazi/Fascist

DISINFO: It is in the West's interest to keep under control Ukraine that will always bark at Russia

SUMMARY

The lack of Western reaction to neo-Nazi sentiments in Ukraine shows that they want to keep the Ukrainian government under control.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that those who consider themselves Russian in Ukraine can leave for Russia. He officially stated this in an interview. And the silence of the West, of course, betrays itself. This means that for the West it is important to keep under control such Ukraine that will always bark at Russia.

RESPONSE

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about Ukraine being under "external control".

Ukraine is an internationally recognised sovereign state with its own constitution, democratically elected parliament and president. Pro-Kremlin outlets often cast doubt on Ukrainian statehood and claim that Ukraine either does not exist as a state or 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. It has elected six presidents since then and changed parties in government several times which illustrates political diversity and democratic dynamics even during economic hardship in the wake of Russian aggression in 2014.

Ukraine is not controlled by the US, EU or UK, nor by any other foreign government or organisation. Both the EU and the US respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The attribution of Nazism to present-day Ukraine is one of the favourite deceptive slogans of many pro-Kremlin outlets. The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been the cornerstone of Russian disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests. Far-right groups enjoyed a very limited presence during the Euromaidan itself and had poor results in the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections. In the 2019 election, far-right candidates fell short of the 5% minimum threshold for getting elected to parliament.

The disinformation piece above is connected with an earlier statement the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made on 5 August 2021.

Speaking in a TV interview, the Ukrainian President said that the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine will never be Russian, and he encouraged residents there who consider themselves Russian and would want the region to become part of the Russian Federation to go and seek a place in Russia. However, in a large contradiction to the disinformation claim, Zelenskyy never said anything about relocating ethnic Russian people from the Donbas region, while the Ukrainian government has never shown any intention of that, either.

Accordingly, such interpretation is aimed at promoting a picture of forceful eviction and fuelling the pro-Kremlin narrative of Russophobia and Nazi sentiments in Ukraine.

See a similar case here claiming that Ukraine is a colony governed by a puppet regime, and here for a claim about how Ukraine "sold its self to external control".

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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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