Article from EUvsDissinfo
Amid the ongoing military escalation on Ukraine’s borders, Russian state-controlled media outlets continue to cultivate disinformation narratives about imminent or even ongoing atrocities against the population in Donbas. All, no doubt, in an attempt to create a “casus belli,” a pretext for invasion, and to keep open the option of renewed direct military aggression against Ukraine.
False claims accusing Kiev of “atrocities” in Donbas have been punctuated by pro-Kremlin media outlets throughout the years. Disinformation outlets, including those recently shown to be affiliated with Russian intelligence services, (here) have accused Ukraine of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” on many occasions in the past, see e.g. in 2014 (here), 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021.
Now these forgeries are recycled at the highest levels of the Kremlin (here).
Below is a summary of some of the most prominent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives that are being or could be used as a pretext for further escalation of military aggression against Ukraine.
Myth: "Ukrainian forces are ready to launch a major offensive in Donbas."
Fact: “Ukraine values the life of every citizen and does not plan aggressive actions” – message from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (here) could not be clearer. “The Ukrainian army does not plan any offensive and does not use weapons if it could pose a threat to civilians. All activities in the area of the Joint Forces Operation (here) are of a protective nature".
Russian state media (here) have intensified accusations against Ukraine of secret offensives (hereThis has culminated in synchronized and almost identical video messages (here) (reportedly pre-recorded two days ago) by leaders of Russian-backed militants in the Russian-majority regions of eastern Ukraine, the so-called “DNR” and “LNR”. These messages claim that Russians in these regions are demanding a mass evacuation to Russia. By using the term “evacuation”, the local militants try to portray their actions as humanitarian, when in fact they refer to the uprooting of Russian civilians from their homes and daily lives. Russian state media claims (here) for 700.000 people under evacuation represent an effort (here) to draw a parallel with the war in Kosovo.
Where have we seen it before? For years, pro-Kremlin media has been full of claims about Kiev's offensive plans against Donbas, portraying Ukraine as a ruthless aggressor. See many examples hereAt the same time, pro-Kremlin media are denying that the recent bombing of a kindergarten (here) occurred in territory controlled by Ukraine.
(Full article in English published by EUvsDissinfo)