DISINFO: Putin has not smashed Ukraine because he doesn’t want to kill Christians
SUMMARY
Putin has not smashed Ukraine because he is not willing to kill Christians. Russia has everything it needs to defeat Ukraine, but Russian troops didn’t do it yet because Putin sees Ukrainians as Orthodox Christians, like Russians. That is impossible to understand for the people subdued to the propaganda that claims Putin is evil.
RESPONSE
The claims are manifestly false. Vladimir Putin and Russian authorities have not hesitated to kill Ukrainian civilians of all faiths at multiple occasions during Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including by attacking restaurants and theatres or constantly, since February 2022 targeting residential buildings in the middle of the night, as well as using the ‘double-tap’ bombing technique, in order to maximize casualties.
Russia has also targeted hundreds of religious buildings belonging to the Christian faith in Ukraine, including the Orthodox Cathedral in Odessa.
Russia’s poor military performance in Ukraine seems more the consequence of systemic problems in the Russian armed forces, logistic failures and inadequate planning rather than the result of any self-restraint.
The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to portray Russia as the virtuous side, having regard for civilians, during its brutal invasion of Ukraine.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Russia does not target civilian buildings, that Russian missile strikes only target military facilities in Ukraine, that Russia refrains from using cluster munitions for humanitarian reasons or that Putin launched the special military operation in Ukraine to protect the Russian populations of Donbas.