Disinfo: The West fights Russia through psy-ops like Bucha and the Mariupol maternity hospital

Summary

The West fights Russia in Ukraine through psy-ops. like stories about the fictional “Ghost of Kyiv” that took down many Russian planes or the story of Snake Island, where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced the death of some border guards that some days later were alive in Russian captivity. The story of Russian bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, where actresses played the role of women giving birth. But the staged “Bucha massacre” became the epitome of cynicism when Western propaganda accused the Russian army of massacres and atrocities at this spot. It is known that Ukrainian authorities didn’t inform about corpses in the streets of the village for four days, and the movements of these corpses are clearly visible in the so-called “video evidence” of the “Bucha massacre”.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative trying to deflect any Russian responsibility for the atrocities committed during its unjustified aggression against Ukraine.

This disinformation story mixes different episodes that must be analysed separately. The so-called “Ghost of Kyiv” was a fictional character created as part of a classic war propaganda operation designed to boost the morale of Ukrainian pilots, as the Ukrainian Air Force itself has admitted itself. Reports about the death of the Ukrainian soldiers who resisted the Russian invasion at Snake Island, who were initially granted official posthumous homages, were the result of early misinformation, and Ukrainian authorities corrected it and informed that they were alive and in Russian captivity as early as 28 February.

Nonetheless, this disinformation story tries to present these very different incidents as evidence of alleged psychological operations (“psy-ops”) and disinformation against Russia, while disingenuously merging them with false allegations that the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol and the Bucha massacre, both of which took place in March 2022, were staged.

The facts surrounding the Russian bombing of the maternity ward in Mariupol were carefully documented through a large number of pictures from several sources – professional news photographers, social media updates and forensic investigators (see here for our previous debunk of this claim). Evidence of Russian atrocities in Bucha is also overwhelming (see here for our previous debunk of this claim). See here and here for EUvsDisinfo background articles on these episodes.

See other examples of similar disinformation messages in our database, such as claims that the images of dead bodies in Bucha may be a diversion of attention from US biolabs in Ukraine, that Ukrainians committed crimes in Bucha, not Russians, that accusations about Bucha are as false as claims that Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol, or that Ukraine is under control of the West and staged fakes about Bucha, Mariupol and Kramatorsk.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 304
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/08/2022
  • Article language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, US, EU, Russia
  • Keywords: war crimes, Invasion of Ukraine, Destabilising Russia, War in Ukraine, fake news, false flag
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Disinfo: Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia plant show that the US does not accept defeat

The attacks carried out with kamikaze drones by the Ukrainian army just 500 metres from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant show that the United States does not accept defeat and that it can resort to any means not to lose its spheres of influence, especially in Europe.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about lost sovereignty / external control, specifically about the EU's dependence on the US and so-called "Anglo-Saxons" and disinformation aimed to deflect Russia’s responsibility for shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP). See also our article Key Narratives in Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Part 3: ‘Lost Sovereignty’.

Western leaders have continuously called for talks and a peaceful solution to stop Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but Moscow has been ignoring these efforts.

Disinfo: Washington and the Kyiv regime's actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe

The actions of Washington and the Kyiv regime pose a threat of a nuclear catastrophe.

The shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to catastrophic consequences, for which US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will bear responsibility.

Disproof

This is an unsubstantiated claim by pro-Kremlin outlets made in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. There is no evidence to support the claims.

This is not the first time the Kremlin’s manipulation and disinformation machine has used a deep-seated and very reasonable fear of a nuclear disaster to advance its political and military goals in Ukraine.

Disinfo: Ukrainian forces fired missiles at the Zaporizhzhia station and Russian defences repels them

On the night of August 7, 2022, Ukrainian forces fired several missiles at the Zaporizhzhia station, where the Russian defences repelled a second violent attack launched by Kyiv's forces with drones and missiles on the station controlled by the Russian army.

Disproof

No evidence is provided to back the claim that Ukraine is shelling the Zaporizhzhia power plant.

In fact, there have been an increasing number of reports that Russia uses the nuclear site as a so-called “sheltered” artillery park, "using the facilities to fire on Ukrainian positions in the belief that Ukraine would not fire back and risk a nuclear accident".