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Disinfo: Zelenskyy and Erdogan are planning a war on Donbas

Summary

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing for the resumption of hostilities on Donbas. He has already announced that Ukraine will withdraw from the Minsk Group if the agreements do not yield results within a year. The red line in this story is Ukraine’s cooperation with Turkey, which, having played enough in Karabakh, has decided to “help Nezalezhnoy [an offensive term in Russian for Ukraine]”.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the war in Ukraine.

In October, Ukraine and Turkey published a joint statement following the meeting between Zelenskyy and Erdogan. It says that Turkey will:

“agree to continue efforts towards de-occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as restoration of Ukraine’s control over certain areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine”.

But there is no talk of any military action on the territory of Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated multiple times that the achievement of a full, comprehensive, and long-lasting ceasefire is one of the key priorities of the Ukrainian government.

See similar disinformation cases on the war in Ukraine alleging that Biden's presidency will lead to a new war in Donbas, that Kyiv might launch a military "adventure" in Donbas, exploiting the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, or that Ukraine is organising provocations in Donbas.

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rusvesna.su (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 225
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 29/12/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Turkey, Ukraine
  • Keywords: Minsk agreements, Donbas, War in Ukraine
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The real power in Ukraine is the US embassy

The real power in Ukraine is the US embassy. “If they (the US) need to push something, they summon the Ukrainian minister, give him instructions, then make a joint communiqué, then take a photo.”

Dec 28, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine not backed up with evidence, which is often claimed to be under external control from the US.

The US does not control Ukraine. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by most of the free world, confirmed by resolutions of the United Nations.

The Arab Spring was organised by the West

18 December 2010 is considered to be the starting point of the riots, unrest and uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa collectively referred to as the Arab Spring.

US and transnational foundations for democracy-promotion were operating in many of the countries where the Arab Spring began. Their activists, who had been trained years before, were at the epicentre of events and passed on colour revolution techniques to the local population. These activists had previously developed such techniques in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Balkans.

But the attempt by the US and the West to reshape the Middle East and impose Western democracy on the region failed. It is important to note that ISIS emerged in 2013 as a result of the Arab Spring.

Dec 28, 2020
Disproof

Disinformation about the Arab Spring presented with no evidence. This article’s message is consistent with pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about popular protests around the world allegedly incited and funded by the US and other Western states, including colour revolutions in post-Soviet states, the Arab Spring revolts, Euromaidan in Ukraine, protests in Catalonia and others. This narrative claims that protests, disorders and civil uprisings are never manifestations of popular discontent but are "colour revolutions" directed and funded by Western intelligence services or other Western actors in order to destabilise targeted foreign states and bring about regime change.

When the Arab Spring revolts broke out throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East beginning in 2010-2011, Russian media increasingly spread conspiracy theories portraying the uprisings as nefarious “color revolutions” hatched in the United States. Senior Russia security and military officials claimed that the Arab Spring, which got much of its initial traction through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, was a new subversive methodology designed by Western intelligence services to destabilise societies and bring about regime change, first in the Arab world and subsequently in Russia itself.