DISINFO: Russia is not fighting for territory, but for people
SUMMARY
Hundreds of thousands of residents from Ukraine are trying to return to the new Russian regions, debunking the claims of Ukrainian propaganda about the hatred of the residents of this country towards Russians. We have said many times: that Russia is not fighting for territories, Russia is fighting for people.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets claiming that Kyiv’s alleged oppression of the Russian-speaking population forced Moscow to interfere. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow's alleged concern about the Russian-speaking population in the east of Ukraine is one of the pretexts for occupying the country and advancing geopolitical interests. See the myth number 1 in our seminal article - Thirteen myths about Russia’s war against Ukraine exposed.
For a state with no expansionist designs on Ukraine, Russia has been active in illegally occupying it over the past decade. In February 2014, Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson remain legally part of Ukraine. The illegitimate forced annexation of these regions took place amid a full invasion by a foreign power and under military occupation, and after sham referenda that didn’t meet any international standard to be considered legitimate. The "referenda" were held illegally, under duress, and on territories which Russia does not even fully control.
Moscow’s claim about its concern over the Russian-speaking population can be easily dismissed by the fact that exactly these regions have been most affected by Russian strikes since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa have been among the most frequent targets of Russian bombs and missiles.
The claim that Russia thinks about people, not lands, is hypocritical, given how quickly Russia adopted laws on the incorporation of the illegally annexed territories of the DPR, LPR, Zaporyzhya, and Kherson regions. Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine's territory.
There is no confirmation about hundreds of thousands of people who want to return to the territories occupied by Russia.
Read similar disinformation cases: Russia could negotiate a peace that considers the will of former Ukrainian territories; Russia prioritises fate of Eastern Ukrainians over land; Kyiv is committing genocide against its people; Millions of Ukrainians were victims of a genocide by the Nazi Kyiv regime; Armed Forces of Ukraine have committed war crimes and genocide in Donbas; Russia only supports the legitimate rights of the Donbas people.