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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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publication/media

rusvesna.su (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 225
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 29/12/2020
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Turkey, Ukraine
  • Keywords: War in Ukraine, Donbas, Minsk agreements

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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