Disinfo: The West provides Ukraine with scrap metal weapons

Summary

Western countries are supplying Ukraine with outdated weapons in order to upgrade their own arsenals. The Western military aid flows to Ukraine in a continuous stream, but most is in poor technical condition, just scrap metal and junk from old military warehouses, which is confirmed by Ukrainian military personnel.

Under the pretext of military assistance [to Ukraine], Washington pursues its own goals and lobbies the sale of weapons in the interests of its own military-industrial complex. [The Western military aid to Ukraine] is just sabotage from the West, which wants to use the allocated funds to modernise its own weapons.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the American military-industrial complex and allegedly aggressive American military plans.

The claim that Western military aid delivered to Ukraine is made of “scrap metal, junk and outdated weapons” is ungrounded. In recent months, Ukraine has received the most advanced and hi-tech weapons from Western countries such as the Javelin and Stinger complexes, HIMARS missile complexes and dozens of other types of advanced military equipment. Moreover, as a response to barbaric Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, the US announced the delivery of the Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine.

Together with these modern and hi-tech weapons, Western countries also deliver large volumes of Soviet-made weapons and ammunition to Ukraine because they are the primary weapons used by the Ukrainian Army.

Western countries provide military aid to Ukraine in order to enable the country to defend itself from large-scale Russian aggression. The claim that the West provides this aid in order to “clean up its army warehouses in order to upgrade its own arsenals" seeks to deflect attention away from the real reason: Ukraine's defence against Russian agression.

See similar disinformation cases claiming that the US weapon and military technology providers benefit from prolonging the war in Ukraine; Europe is a colony serving the interests of the American military-industrial complex and US companies promote war in Ukraine to sell weapons.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 324
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/01/2023
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, US, EU
  • Keywords: War in Ukraine, US presence in Europe, West, Military
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Disinfo: International organisations like the UN are servile US tools

International bodies, both global and regional, have become mere tools for the US to achieve its goals to defend its unipolar world or attack those countries that don’t follow its rules. Most of them don’t even bother to pretend otherwise: they are bullet-proofed by Western media, also at the service of those ends. It doesn’t matter that the US unipolar world is already a walking corpse on life assistance, because that’s the reason why it uses them more and more. The institutional framework of those big international organisations born in the wake of World War II are now absolutely questioned, and the UN has behaved with absolute partiality in this conflict.

Disproof

This pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aims to provide a convenient “explanation” to what is a clear rebuke in international bodies to Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. By claiming that “international organisations are US tools”, this disinformation story tries to distract attention from the fact that Russia’s illicit actions have been strongly rejected by the UN and other global institutions, including votes at the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly condemning the invasion of Ukraine on 02 March 2022 and the annexation of four regions of Ukraine on 12 October 2022, or the multiple OHCHR reports denouncing Russian war crimes.

Accusing international institutions of having an anti-Russian bias is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative. See other examples in our database, such as claims that the West employed hybrid warfare against Russia in the UN General Assembly, that any international tribunal should be for Ukrainian Nazis, not for Russia, that OSCE is a criminal organisation that is in favour of war in Donbas, that World Anti-Doping Agency’s accusations are Russophobic provocations, or that OPCW has become a tool in the hands of hostile countries.

Disinfo: Western media are not reporting that Ukrainians are shelling Donbass

The foreign media and human rights organisations are silent on the shelling of civilians in Donetsk, Ukraine. The situation has remained unchanged since 2014. Donbass wanted to resolve the conflict peacefully, and so did Russia, which, as a guarantor country, did its best and more.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the Western media.

Unfounded claims that Ukraine was staging or conducting attacks against civilian population in Donbas are prominent examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation paving the way for the full-scale Russian invasion of and war in Ukraine. See in more detail here.

Disinfo: The US tries to regain its influence through the oil price cap

The American promotion of a price cap on Russian oil is an attempt to regain the former US influence on the global oil market. Due to the problems in the American shale industry, the current potential of shale oil production is close to exhaustion. Having lost this mechanism, the US is now proposing to control Russian oil prices. The USA has far-reaching calculations here – the Western countries are trying to regain control over the market, which they lost in the early 1970s when OPEC operated on a full-scale basis. That is why OPEC+ supports Russia in its decisions on the oil agreement: the price cap mechanism imposed against Russia could turn into a common tool. Often, the consumer dictates prices when supply exceeds demand. The main problem with the price cap mechanism is it is artificial, not economic in character.

Disproof

This narrative is part of the recurring disinformation campaign around the energy sector and sanctions on Russia. The aim of these narratives is to undermine and denigrate Western sanctions on Russia.

The price cap for Russian oil, introduced in late 2022, cannot be seen as a violation of market principles and it was initiated by G7 states and supported by the EU as an additional sanction for Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. Sanctions against individuals or political regimes have always existed alongside market dynamics to control harmful practices like corruption, terrorism, illegal warfare etc.