DISINFO: Russia killed nine Nato officers and dozens of Ukrainian soldiers in Chernihiv
SUMMARY
On 17 August 2023 Russian Iskander missiles hit the buildings of a drama theater, Security Service of Ukraine, and the Main Directorate of Intelligence in the old Russian city of Chernihiv. As a result, nine NATO officers were killed, including a German intelligence officer. The special forces of the Ukrainian military lost 38 soldiers, an additional 75 were heavily wounded. Trying to hit the Russian missile, the Ukrainian anti-missile system killed two civilians.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine with the false account of the August 2023 missile strike in Chernihiv and reference to Ukrainian city of Chernihiv as an “old Russian city”. The publication seemingly gives arbitrary numbers of allegedly killed soldiers of Ukraine and NATO countries citing no source of this information. Moreover, it attributes the death of Ukrainian civilians to the Ukrainian anti-missile system thereby attempting to shift the blame for civilian casualties on the Ukrainian side.
According to the Ukrainian side, as a result of the Iskander-M ballistic missile strike launched by Russian military forces on 19 August 2023 at the drama theater in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, at least 7 people were killed including a 6-year-old girl, and over 100 wounded. It is reported that a drone event was hosted in the Chernihiv drama theater at the time of strike.
The city of Chernihiv came under siege from Russian forces in March 2022; later that month the Russian military withdrew. As of August 2023 Chernihiv was located far away from the frontline. Pro-Kremlin sources often call Ukrainian localities ‘Russian’ and refer to the capture of Ukrainian sovereign territory as a ‘liberation’: e.g. Kharkiv and other ancient Russian cities are the be liberated from Kyiv; Russia might soon liberate Kharkiv as part of Ukraine's denazification.
Human rights organisations and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine documented how the invasion of Ukraine was carried out through indiscriminate attacks and strikes on civilian targets such as houses, hospitals, schools and kindergartens. Russian troops also committed atrocities in Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka and other towns and villages outside Kyiv in 2022, of which there is ample evidence.
Read more disinformation cases about the Russian unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.