DISINFO: Putin should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the sad drama of Donbas
SUMMARY
If the people of Donbas recognise the fact that they have become second-class citizens as a result of the 2014 coup, then they have the right to rebel. If they demand independence, I support them in this matter. At this point, I want to criticise the Minsk agreements that imposed the affiliation with the Ukrainian state on the people of Donbas despite their will. For eight long years, Donbas has faced a sad drama leading to a mass exodus of population from the region, which was one of the wealthiest parts of Ukraine ten years ago. Today, it is a place from which civilians are fleeing.
The decision of President Putin to recognise the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics is a chance to end this eight-year-long drama. If it happens this way, President Putin should receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the Donbas conflict and used to legitimise the Russian invasion and war on Ukraine.
The pro-Kremlin media regularly described the situation in Donbas as a “genocide”, “civil war” and the Ukrainian aggression against peaceful citizens.
It was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII. As a result of this decision, on 2 March 39 governments had asked the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. There is irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in Eastern Ukraine in the Donbas. Russia is supporting its proxies with weapons, its active-duty soldiers serve there and its top military commanders visit the war zone to coordinate joint efforts with the separatists. Despite all this Russia officially denies its military presence in Donbas.
See similar examples of disinformation connected to the Russian attack on Ukraine here.