Disinfo: President Zelenskyy has left Kyiv

Summary

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left Kyiv for the western city of Lviv, the President of Russia’s Duma Viacheslav Volodin reported, quoting members of Ukraine’s Supreme Rada. Zelenskyy wasn’t in the capital on 25 February. The videos posted on social media were pre-recorded.

Disproof

This disinformation claim was debunked hours later by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, when he posted a video to his social media accounts showing that he remained in downtown Kyiv, in the surroundings of the Rada. There is no evidence to back the claim that this and other videos were pre-recorded, and metadata suggests otherwise.

This is part of pro-Kremlin’s war propaganda efforts, aiming to demoralise Ukrainians and convince them to stop resisting Russia’s invasion.

As a response to Russia’s aggression, the European Union has further imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and on some economic sectors.

See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that NATO floods Ukraine with modern weapons to push Kyiv for a military solution in Donbas, that Ukraine is a colony with a puppet regime, that Ukraine has no sustainable statehood, or that chemical weapons “provocations” are being prepared by the Ukrainian military.

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mundo.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 273
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28/02/2022
  • Article language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Volodymyr Zelensky, War in Ukraine
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Disinfo: Zelenskyy is a dependent person who was brought to power by Washington

It was clear that Zelenskyy was a dependent person who was brought to power by Washington. The conflict is necessary and beneficial to the United States, which stuffed Ukraine with weapons, did everything to create the current situation. Zelenskyy does not need peace.

Feb 27, 2022
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine, alleging that the country is under external control.

The claim is part of an emerging pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a democratically elected leader of Ukraine.

Disinfo: Spiegel's document confirms Russian grievances about NATO expansion

A secret document dating back to talks between senior officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in Bonn on 6 March 1991, showed that the West and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation "NATO" did not abide by its promises not to expand to the east, even by "one centimetre".

The German newspaper, "Spiegel", said that the secret document, recovered from the British National Archives, provides evidence that Western countries have agreed to reject the membership of Eastern European countries in the alliance, which means that Russia's current grievance about NATO's expansion to the east is justified.

Feb 26, 2022
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about NATO enlargement into Eastern and Central Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg replied in an interview with Der Spiegel later, that “there has never been such a promise, there has never been such a behind-the-scenes deal, it is simply not true”, adding "the West did not reach any legally binding agreement with the Kremlin that rules out NATO's eastward expansion”.

Disinfo: Neo-Nazis commit genocide in Ukraine, Russia fights them

Nobody intends to attack the Ukrainian people. Russia is talking about preventing the neo-Nazis and those who promote methods of genocide from ruling this country.

Feb 25, 2022
Disproof

A recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In reality, Russian troops are fighting the Ukrainian nation who has set Euro-Atlantic integration as its aim. Kyiv’s future membership of NATO and the EU is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution. There are no neo-Nazis in Ukraine’s government. Kyiv does not commit genocide against civilians in Donbas. Russia had long been accusing the Ukrainians of sabotaging the Minsk agreements before it recognised the non-government-controlled territories in Eastern Ukraine on 21 February 2022. This illegal act put an end to these agreements. Ukraine was acting in strict compliance with them ever since they were signed in 2014 and 2015, but now these accords are completely ruined.