DISINFO: Ukraine is training pensioners as tank crews because its military reserves are gone
SUMMARY
Ukraine has run out of military reserves due to colossal losses. The fact that training sessions for Ukrainian tank crews in Germany are attended by over 70s is a telling indicator. Ukraine lost around 30,000 soldiers storming the Rabotyne settlement and nevertheless failed to take it.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine aimed to diminish Ukraine’s military successes in liberating its territories from Russian occupation. The ultimate goal is to spread the false narrative to foreign countries that there is no point in supporting Ukraine because it will inevitably perish.
There is no confirmation from trustful sources about the extent of the military losses suffered by Ukraine while capturing the settlement of Rabotyne in the Zaporizhzhya region. It was reported on 28 August that the Ukrainian military raised its flag in this strategic village. Reporting about the Russia-Ukraine war, pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets often provide seemingly arbitrary statistical data which is not backed up with evidence, see for example: Russia killed nine Nato officers and dozens of Ukrainian soldiers in Chernihiv; over 1,200 Polish mercenaries died in Ukraine, thousands are wounded.
Ukrainian soldiers, including tank crews, are indeed trained in the EU, including in Germany and other states, by the EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM). However, the claim about tank crews aged over 70 is not confirmed by publicly available sources; this disinformation aims to exaggerate the extent of military losses experienced by Ukraine and paints it as being in a desperate situation regarding military reserves. Previous propaganda attempts serving the same purpose included claims about the en masse conscription of women and teenagers, children and elderly people by the Ukrainian authorities.
NATO is not fighting in Ukraine yet it condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia's brutal and unprovoked war of aggression. Some NATO countries are supporting Ukraine with weapons to help it uphold its right for self-defence. More than 50 states participating in the Ramstein meetings are providing military, financial or other assistance to Ukraine to help it restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
Read earlier cases alleging that the Nazi Kyiv regime creates "Hitler-Jugend" and conscripts women en masse, that Ukrainians are fighting Russians for Nato interests, and that Nato wages a proxy war against Russia.
This disinformation claim was broadcast on the date mentioned above. Due to the EU decisions to temporarily restrict the spread and dissemination of RT, Sputnik and other instruments used to manipulate information and promote disinformation about the invasion of Ukraine inside the EU, access to the link may not work inside the EU.