Disinfo: Ukrainian fascists shelled the Kramatorsk railway station with a "Tochka U" missile system

Summary

On 8 April, Ukrainian fascists shelled the Kramatorsk railway station with a "Tochka U" missile system. People tried to evacuate the city and there was a large crowd. Kyiv succeeded in causing a large number of casualties and disrupting the evacuation.

Disproof

Pro-Russian disinformation narrative trying to attribute responsibility for the Russian missile attack on Ukrainian civilians in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk to Ukrainian forces.

The material and links may contain distressing/ graphic content.

Contrary to pro-Kremlin media claims, many facts indicate that Russian forces attacked the Kramatorsk railway station itself with a Tochka-U missile, killing over 57 waiting civilians and injuring over 114 civilians, according to the Governor of Donetsk Region as of 11 April 2022.

Despite claims to the contrary, the Soviet Tochka-U missile system is still in use by the Russian army, as evidenced by video footage of transports through Belarus as of March 2022.

The Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent group of military experts, found that Russia has been actively deploying Tochka-U missiles in place of the Iskander since early March. On 29 March 2022, the Belarusian Gayun community recorded of a military convoy of Tochka-U missiles with tactical V-marks deployed by the Russian Federation, north of the Ukrainian border in Belarus.

There is additional similar evidence by other Telegram-Groups observing Russian military movements, that the Tochka-U-missile is still in service in the Russian Armed Forces.

Also, according to the Conflict Intelligence Team the analysis of the trajectory of the Tochka-U missile proves that the missile was fired from the southwestern area where Russian army and illegal armed formations of the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine are located.

According to The Insider, on the eve of the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station, warnings and announcements of a missile attack in the region appeared on pro-Russian Telegram groups. According to them, Russian forces would fire at "a gathering of Ukrainian fighters" and "wagons with weapons" at the Kramatorsk railway station. Some of the groups even "recommended" locals not to visit the station the day before the attack.

The Insider reports that all of these publications were either deleted or reedited after the attack on Kramatorsk. Nevertheless, many screenshots of the reports about the imminent attack can still be found online.

On the basis of the available facts, it must be concluded that the missile attack was carried out by Russian or by the illegal armed formations of the “non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine”.

See also the EEAS-statement by the Spokesperson on the attack on train station in Kramatorsk:

"The European Union is deeply shocked by Russia's attack that struck Kramatorsk railway station on Friday and claimed lives of more than 50 people, injuring scores of others, many of them critically.

This was a brutal, indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians, including many children, who were fleeing amid fears of another Russian onslaught against their homes and country."

Full quote here.

See for the full debunk StopFake (German) (Russian).

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 286
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/04/2022
  • Article language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine
  • Keywords: Nazi/Fascist, War in Ukraine
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Disinfo: Ukraine is responsible for the Tochka-U-missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station

Ukraine is responsible for missile attack on Kramatorsk.

When photos of the missile fragments emerged, it turned out to be a Tochka U missile used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who tried to hastily blame the Russian armed forces for the attack.

The Russian armed forces have officially withdrawn the "Tochka-U" from the missile brigades and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or the armies of the Donetsk People Republic and the Luhansk People Repubilc in the Donbas do not use these systems.

Ukraine, on the other hand, uses "Tochka-U" everywhere, including for the attack on Donetsk. The Armed Forces of Ukraine consider the population of the Donbas, including Kramatorsk, disloyal, so they can easily be sacrificed.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine engage in deliberate and conscious killing of its own citizens, who were soon to become citizens of the Donetsk People Republic, to continue the trail of bloody provocations.

Disproof

Pro-Russian disinformation narrative trying to attribute responsibility for the missile attack on Ukrainian civilians in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk to Ukrainian forces.

The material and links may contain distressing/graphic content.

Disinfo: After 2014, neo-Nazism became a part of Ukraine's political system

After 2014, neo-Nazism became a part of Ukraine's political system. The dissemination of Nazi symbols in Ukraine is fairly formal. Right-wing extremists freely organise events in honour of Nazi criminals, including Stepan Bandera, on the streets of Ukrainian cities The independent authorities of Ukraine did not prevent them from resuming their destructive activity (after the 2014 coup), but rather encouraged them. The new rulers of Ukraine showed their hostility towards Russia and its people and launched a war against the Russians residing in Eastern Ukraine.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narratives trying to portray Ukrainian politics and society as dominated by Nazi/ Fascist ideology, aiming to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The disinformation article also misleadingly presents the conflict in the East of Ukraine as a “civil war” alleging that Russia was not part of the aggression in Donbas.

Disinfo: The invasion is Ukraine’s fault

Moscow sent troops to Ukraine on 24 February, after a seven-year standoff over Kyiv's failure to implement the Minsk agreements and end the conflict with the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, actively trying to legitimise Russia’s invasion of the country. This narrative is claiming that Ukraine is responsible for the war because the country did not implement the Minsk agreements.

Contrary to the claims, the main impediment to a peace settlement in Donbas before the invasion was, in fact, Russia’s and its proxies’ deliberate unwillingness to implement the Minsk agreements. Moscow has been illegally providing weapons to the separatists since 2014. By making statements alleging that Ukraine had done nothing to implement the Minsk agreements, Moscow and the separatists it backed were delaying a peace settlement and trying to deflect attention away from Russian responsibility.