DISINFO: Borrel should not hide in Kyiv shelter, Russia hits only military facilities
SUMMARY
Russia did not want to target HRVP Josep Borrell during his visit to Kyiv, so he should not have hidden in the shelter. The Russian Aerospace Forces strike only Ukrainian military facilities and infrastructure, and Borrell knows it. He was hiding from operators of Ukrainian air-defence systems who send fragments down when they hit Russian missiles.
RESPONSE
This case may contain graphic/distressing content.
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets denying Russian attacks on civillian infrastructure and targets and claiming that Russia hits only military infrastructure and leaves civilian facilities untouched. This claim was made in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell wrote on X on 7 February 2024 during a visit to Kyiv: ‘Starting my morning in the shelter as air alarms are sounding across Kyiv. This is the daily reality of the brave Ukrainian people since Russia launched its illegal aggression.’ Kyiv suffered from a Russian missile and drone strike during Borrell’s visit.
Russian missiles have hit Ukrainian civilian objects on multiple occasions. At least 20 people died and 100 were wounded in a missile and drone strike on Kyiv on 29 December 2023. 53 people were hurt, including 6 children, in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv overnight to 14 December 20243. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 27,449 civilian casualties in Ukraine (9,701 killed and 17,748 injured) from 24 February 2022 to 24 September 2023. Many – if not most – of these casualties were civilians. At least 10,000 civilians, including more than 560 children, were killed and over 18,500 were injured after Russia launched its full-scale armed attack against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on 21 November 2023.
There is significant evidence and information about the atrocities Russian troops have committed during Moscow's unprovoked and unjustified aggression. Dozens of civilians were found in a mass grave in Bucha in April 2022. Killings, rape and other crimes against civilians were registered in in that town outside Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited Bucha right after its liberation in early April 2022, said: ‘These are war crimes and they will be recognised by the world as genocide. We are aware of thousands of people killed and tortured, with their limbs cut off. Raped women, murdered children. I believe this is genocide.’
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Bucha was a setup organised by MI6, that Russian missile strikes only target military facilities in Ukraine, and that Russia does not target civilian buildings.