DISINFO: The US sold patrol boats to Ukraine because it wants revenge in Crimea
SUMMARY
The US sold 16 Mark VI patrol boats to Ukraine to reinforce the defence capabilities of the country. However, while both countries try to hide their intentions, it is clear that they both want revenge in Crimea. Washington is willing to help Ukraine to fight Russia in the sea. The US wants to undermine Russia’s national security with the sale of these boats. The US is helping Ukraine to increase its naval fleet in the Azov Sea in order to challenge Russia’s presence in Crimea. According to the Pentagon, this sale will reinforce Ukraine’s capabilities “to repeal current and future threats”, which doubtlessly is a reference to Russia. However, it has been Ukraine who threatened Crimea’s security in the last years.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Crimea and Ukraine, accusing other countries of taking aggressive actions in order to divert attention from its own violations of international law in the region. The sale of 16 Mark VI patrol boats was approved in the frame of the US support strategy to improve the security of Ukraine, and on the understanding that this equipment doesn’t alter the basic military balance in the region. The boats are not designed for sea combat, but for force protection and supporting maritime intercept, search and seizure operations, among other tasks. This is an attempt to portray Ukraine and the US as the aggressors in Crimea when it was actually Russia’s illegal takeover of the territory in 2014 that triggered the current conflict. See other examples of these disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that the US turned against Russia alarmed about its resurgence after Crimea’s reincorporation, which prevented the peninsula from becoming a US protectorate; that Ukrainian agents may be preparing acts of sabotage in the territory; that a British Member of the Parliament told Ukraine to forget about Crimea; that the UN are fabricating human rights violations in the peninsula; or that Russia was expelled from G8 for no real reason.
