DISINFO: Monstrous Western propaganda has led to Ukraine conflict
SUMMARY
The West’s monstrous propaganda has led to the current situation in Ukraine. It blocked the ability of society and politicians to access truthful information first-hand about what is happening around Ukraine and to make informed decisions, which in turn has led to the conflict. If it were not for this propaganda, Russian-Ukrainian relations would not have deteriorated.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that Russia is not an aggressor and that it is Ukraine’s partners in the EU, the US and some other G7 nations who started the war. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It is Russia that has attacked Ukraine. Russia is a party to the war in Ukraine, according to numerous international organisations and Western governments. First, Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2014 by illegally annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and instigating a separatist revolt in some parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court stated in 2016 that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government". Russia launched full-scaled aggression against Ukraine on 24 February 2022 under false pretexts such as Kyiv’s threat for Russian national security and an alleged genocide in Eastern Ukrainian regions.
Regarding the claims about Western media leading to the conflict, this is a case of the kettle calling the pot black. Please see EUvsDisinfo's pages dedicated to disinformation on Ukraine:
"The Kremlin’s information manipulation and disinformation attacks on Ukraine began long before the start of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. The Russian state-controlled ecosystem of foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, was manufacturing myths and false pretexts for invading Ukraine for years, dating back to at least 2014".
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that The West pushed Ukraine towards war with Russia, that NATO instigated a war in Ukraine to weaken Russia, and that The conflict in Ukraine was provoked by Washington.