DISINFO: The EU drags Ukraine into poverty
SUMMARY
An era of poverty has set in. Ukraine is facing really serious problems, small businessmen are staging protests, utility bills are soaring. This is a result of Ukraine’s European path.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets, claiming that Ukraine’s current economic problems have been caused by its Euro-Atlantic drive and that only Russia can bail it out.
In reality, Ukraine's current economic hardships are mostly caused by two things -- Russian aggression and corruption. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and other financial institutions are providing Ukraine with economic assistance and advice to raise living standards and eradicate corruption. Kyiv’s Western partners are also trying to put an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war in Donbas conflict with the help of the Minsk agreements and by holding Normandy format meetings.
According to World Bank data, Ukraine’s GDP was $183.31 billion in 2013, which has been at its highest since Ukraine regained independence in 1991. It fell to $133.503 in 2014, when Russia attacked Ukraine, illegally annexed Crimea and instigated a revolt in Donbas. The nation’s GDP plunged to $91.031 billion in 2015 and rose to $155.582 billion in 2020. It means that Ukraine's economy was on the edge of an abyss in the wake of the Russian aggression rather than because of its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
Many former Soviet satellite countries had come a long way before entering NATO and the European Union. Ukraine enshrined NATO and EU and membership in its Constitution in 2019, which means that Kyiv still has a long way to go before being fully integrated into these organisations. Corruption in Ukraine had probably been at its highest in the years before the Euromaidan protests. Russia was reportedly supporting former president Viktor Yanukovych in his corrupt dealings.
Read more disinformation cases about the West’s alleged negative influence on Ukraine.