Disinfo: The West is deliberately prolonging the conflict in Ukraine to harm Russia

Summary

With its actions, the West is deliberately causing the prolongation of the conflict. Despite the difficulties they face in the US and Europe, Washington and NATO continue trying to aggravate the situation in Ukraine to counter Russia. For the US and the Alliance, this is a way to keep European countries tied to it, preserve Washington’s hegemony and harm Russia even if it goes against their own internal needs.

Disproof

This is a mix of several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about destabilising Russia, attacking the West for arming Ukraine and portraying European states as US subordinates. By claiming that the West is “deliberately prolonging the conflict”, this disinformation message tries to portray Russia as as a victim, and to undermine public support for Western weapons being delivered to Ukraine for its defence against Russia’s unprovoked aggression. Contrary to this allegation, Western nations did everything they could to prevent the war and have only been reacting to Russia’s unjustified invasion of its peaceful neighbour, while arming Ukraine was a sovereign decision of each one of these countries.

See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that by arming Ukraine, the US and the UK want to push Russia against Europe, that Western weapons are stolen long before they reach the Ukrainian soldiers, that Syrian and Libyan terrorists have been spotted in Ukraine trading Western weapons, or that Western weapons supplies to Ukraine are exacerbating the conflict.

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  • Reported in: Issue 309
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19/09/2022
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, US, EU, Russia
  • Keywords: Destabilising Russia, Invasion of Ukraine, War in Ukraine, Ukraine, Warmongering
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Disinfo: Kyiv can pay for military assistance from the West with its territories

Kyiv can pay for military assistance from the West with its territories. Columnist Pablo Jofre Leal wrote about this in an article for the Spanish edition of Rebelion. He noted that Ukraine agreed to help the West under Lend-Lease, thereby putting its own sovereignty at risk.

Sep 18, 2022
Disproof

Recurring the pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative targeting the sovereignty of Ukraine and international support for Kyiv during the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by almost the whole world with Russia as the key exception. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated by continuous acts of aggression by Russian armed forces since 2014 and culminated in an aggressive attack on a neighbouring country on February 24, 2022.

Disinfo: Zelenskyy intimidates Crimean civilians by terrorist attacks

It is odd that Ukraine is seeking some security guarantees while actively carrying out terrorism in Crimea. These are subversive activities. Zelenskyy has openly threatened Russian residents in Crimea that terrorist attacks could happen at any time.

Sep 17, 2022
Disproof

Some links may contain graphic content.

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets accusing Ukraine of war crimes and aiming to deflect attention away from the actions of the Russian army. The claim was made in the context of the Russian unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.

Disinfo: If the West wants to assist Russia and China, they should add more sanctions

It should be understood that sanctions have benefited Russia and harmed Europe and the United States. If the West wants to help Russia and China and harm the United States, let them add more sanctions.

Sep 17, 2022
Disproof

This is an old and recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative stating that sanctions would benefit Russia while hurting the West, repurposed to serve in the context of Russia's unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The EU and other countries around the world adopted several sanction packages against Russia due to its illegal aggression and occupation of Ukrainian territories. Not all trades restrictions are yet enforced as the energy sector needs longer transition periods, so it is too early to assess the full effect of the sanctions. However, it is incorrect to state that Russian economy would be barely affected or would even benefit from the sanctions. Otherwise, the Russian leadership would not feel the need to constantly demand the sanctions be removed.