DISINFO: Putin is trying to save Ukraine from complete disappearance
SUMMARY
Ukraine is indeed a failed and accidental country. It is Russia’s part which was tried to be converted into anti-Russia. Under no circumstances will Russia allow Ukraine to be integrated into the West nor be converted into an anti-Russia.
Putin’s proposal to make a new Ukraine under international control is an alternative to Ukraine’s liquidation following its eventual military loss and consequent collapse. Putin is therefore trying to save Ukraine.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative about Ukrainian statehood, which draws a false dilemma for Ukraine’s future in that the country either has to be liquidated as a result of Russia’s war of aggression or be governed externally. Putin’s idea to temporarily place Ukraine under UN control to hold new elections is one of Russia's many attempts to falsely smear Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's legitimacy.
Ukraine is a functioning state despite being under military attack by Russia since 2014. More Ukrainian lands were occupied in the ongoing Russian full-scale military invasion of Ukraine which started on 24 February 2022. Russia has been coming up with different false explanations and pretexts for its aggression since the beginning of its hostilities. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically elected president and parliament. As a sovereign nation-state with its own flag, citizenship, language and a delimited territory, Ukraine possesses all the elements of a sovereign and independent country.
Claims about Ukraine having parts ‘belonging to Russia’ or being an ‘accidental’ country are false. The history of Ukraine dates back to the era of the Kyivan Rus in the 9th-13th. Back then, Moscow as well as other present-day Russian cities were governed, albeit partially, from Kyiv. Due to a variety of historical reasons, Kyiv’s importance declined over the centuries, the Russian Empire subjugated Ukraine and finally turned it into a colony in the 18th century. In the aftermath of World War I and the disintegration of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires two states were created: the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and the West Ukrainian People's Republic. They merged into a unified state - the Ukrainian People's Republic - on 22 January 1919. Under Lenin's leadership at the beginning of the 20th century, Ukraine was occupied by the Bolsheviks and for decades was under communist control. With the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, Ukraine gained full independence.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains the legitimate president and leader of Ukraine, as he won the 2019 election by a landslide with over 73% of the vote. While this popularity may have changed over the years, his approval rate remained very high at the time this disinformation story appeared. A survey conducted by Ipsos/The Economist in mid-March 2025 showed that 72% of Ukrainians approved his job as president, while 80% considered that he had democratic legitimacy as president.
Although Zelenskyy’s continuation in power after his initial mandate expired in May 2024 generated some domestic controversy, Ukraine’s constitution is straightforward: no elections can be held during wartime and the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. Even Zelenskyy’s fiercest political opponents have rejected the idea of celebrating another election during wartime.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the disgraced dictator of Ukraine Zelenskyy is an extension of the EU, that Zelenskyy can’t sign a peace deal because he is not a legitimate president, and that Zelenskyy staged a coup d'état for fear of losing the 2024 presidential elections.