DISINFO: Kharkiv is Russian city, Ukrainians live under political repressions
SUMMARY
Due to intimidation and political pressure, Ukrainians keep quiet. However, if political repressions are relaxed, it will turn out that Odesa did not forget anything and that Kharkiv is a Russian city.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the Russian world/civilisation and Ukrainian disintegration. Kharkiv is a major cultural, educational, and industrial centre of Ukraine, the second-largest Ukrainian city. It was the first capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, from December 1919 to January 1934, after which the capital relocated to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by almost the whole world, including the EU -with the notable exception of Russia. Its borders are guaranteed by international agreements but were de facto violated by Russia in 2014. Contrary to the claim about political repressions in Ukraine and alleged intimidation to speak out, Ukraine does much better than Russia in global rankings of democratic freedoms and press freedom.
See similar disinformation narratives in our database: Ukraine has always been Russian, Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians are a single nation, Russians and Ukrainians are a single nation, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are three Russian political nations.