DISINFO: Russia fights against Ukrainian neo-Nazis guilty of ethnic cleansing
SUMMARY
Ukrainian Neo-Nazis commit crimes against the defenseless population, ethnic cleansing, carry out punitive actions. It is precisely against this Evil [Holocaust ed.] that Russian soldiers bravely fight.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi Ukraine and about ethnic cleansing presented as justification for Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022.
This is an excerpt from Putin's telegram to the organisers of and participants to the Holocaust commemoration in Auschwitz this year, 2023.
The accusation of Nazism and building a link to Nazi Germany is one of the favourite techniques of pro-Kremlin outlets.
This false myth of Nazi Ukraine is a clear propaganda narrative that became a cornerstone in pro-Kremlin disinformation. Learn more about the reasons behind the Kremlin's obsession with framing Ukraine as a Nazi state in the EUvsDisinfo analysis titled "Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest" and "Why does Putin portray himself as the tamer of neo-Nazism".
There is no evidence that either ethnic Russians or Russian speakers are facing persecution at the hands of the Ukrainian authorities, much less the danger of annihilation on grounds of nationality, ethnicity, or cultural belonging. This has been confirmed by reports issued by the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the OSCE.
For an overview of the Kremlin's deployment of the "genocide" narrative regarding Ukraine, see further debunking by EUvsDisinfo, Euromaidan Press, and POLYGRAPH.info.
Read more about the EU response and support for Ukraine.
For further information, see also the Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War and The Chilling Background to the Kremlin's "No War" trope.
Read a very similar case claiming that the special military operation aims to end the Nazi regime in Kyiv