DISINFO: Kyiv's strikes on Russian territory are a terrorist attack
SUMMARY
When Russia celebrated the bright holiday of love, family and loyalty, the Ukrainian Nazis, with boundless inhumanity, twice carried out targeted drone raids on the city beach in Kursk. On the same day, Ukrainian Banderites struck civilian objects in Rylsk. We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to all those injured in these merciless terrorist attacks against the civilian population of our country. Western sponsors supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime bear direct responsibility for the terror against peaceful citizens of Russia.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing Ukraine of war crimes, Nazism, and terrorism. It also seeks to deflect Russia's responsibility for the unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as to discourage Western countries from providing military aid to Ukraine.
These narratives seek to paint the Ukrainian government as careless and warmongering and Russia as a peace-lover / peace proposer.
With this disinformation narrative, the Kremlin aims to de-legitimise international support for Ukraine. The claim also fits well in the recurrent disinformation narrative about the West’s alleged support for terrorism and manifests Russia as the only power actually “fighting terrorism” in the world.
Ukrainian bombings of Russian military sites are neither bloody provocations nor acts of terrorism. Terrorism can roughly be described as violent acts, aimed at spreading fear among civilians for political, ideological or religious aims. Ukrainian strikes on Russian airfields, fuel depots, command posts etc. do not meet this definition because the targets are military or military-related and the goal is to disrupt Russian military capabilities.
Civilian casualties do sometimes occur during Ukrainian operations deep into Russian territory, but full responsibility falls on Russia which launched its war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022. If Russia had not attacked Ukraine back then, there would be no casualties in Russia itself. Under the laws of armed conflict, if a country is under attack, it has the right to self-defence. Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia in 2014 with a full-scale escalation in 2022, is using this right in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.
It was Russia that launched its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Before that, in 2014, Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and started a separatist proxy war in the country’s east.
The US, the EU and NATO condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian attacks against non-combatants and civilian infrastructure have been a constant throughout the invasion, despite non-credible denials by Russian officials and pro-Kremlin disinformation. Since 2022, Russia has attacked civilian targets multiple times, including the city theatre in Mariupol, residential buildings, schools and energy facilities. On 05 March 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against two Russian top officials considered responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure" between October 2022 and March 2023, which are considered as war crimes.
See also our article An unpleasant incident.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that The Kyiv regime is waging a war against civilians, history, the Russian language, culture, and monuments, that Weapons supplied to Kyiv are used to kill children, that Russia bombed Ukraine in response to terrorist raids by Kyiv, that Russia hit only military infrastructure in Ukraine in retaliation for terror attacks, that The Kyiv regime is relying on terrorist acts, that Ukrainian Nazis ready to resort to terror in order to derail peace talks, that Ukraine carries out state terrorism, that Hitting military airfields in Russia is a Ukrainian terrorist attack, or that Ukraine’s drone bombing against Russian bases is terrorism.