DISINFO: Moscow does not participate in the internal Ukrainian conflict
SUMMARY
Relations between Moscow and Kyiv have deteriorated against the background of the situation in Donbas. The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of the state. In January 2015, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a statement in which the Russian Federation is called the "aggressor country".
Russia denies the charges and calls them inadmissible. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it does not participate in the internal Ukrainian conflict.
RESPONSE
Recurrent negation of the role of Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is not a civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014.
There is irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in Ukraine. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government."
The European Union stated in July 2014 that "arms and fighters continue flowing into Ukraine from the Russian Federation".
According to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Russian special forces and troops operated to mobilise, lead, equip, and support separatist militias in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine from spring 2014 to the present, although their presence was denied by Moscow. On top of that, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Russia's military presence in Ukraine in 2015.
NATO Summit Communiqué issued by the Heads of State and Government in June 2021, stated:
"We reiterate our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova within their internationally recognised borders. In accordance with its international commitments, we call on Russia to withdraw the forces it has stationed in all three countries without their consent. We strongly condemn and will not recognise Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, and denounce its temporary occupation.
We are also stepping up our support to Ukraine. We call for the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements by all sides... Russia, as a signatory of the Minsk Agreements, bears significant responsibility in this regard. We call on Russia to stop fuelling the conflict by providing financial and military support to the armed formations it backs in eastern Ukraine."
Read also similar cases: The conflict in Ukraine is internal and has no relation to Russia, Russia is not a conflict party in Ukraine, There is a civil war in Ukraine, Russia is not a part of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.