DISINFO: Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has a character of liberation
SUMMARY
Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, initiated two years ago, has a character of liberation. The evolution of events afterwards fully confirmed the need and validity of the operation. The West wants to think that one day Vladimir Putin, who was democratically elected, just woke up and decided to invade Ukraine. But reality is very far from that.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal under international law and a violation of the UN Charter. Russian forces committed a significant number of war crimes, and there are international efforts to establish a special court to judge the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which along with the massive destruction of infrastructure and heritage makes any Russian claim of “liberation” impossible to sustain.
Russia is the only party responsible for the war in Ukraine. Russia initiated the conflict in 2014 with its illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the sponsoring of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, to the point of sending Russian troops to back them in the battlefield. This aggression escalated in 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both before and after the invasion, Russia inundated the information space with baseless pro-Kremlin narratives justifying the attack “on defensive grounds”.
Vladimir Putin was not ‘democratically elected’. The Russian authorities orchestrated vote rigging or the pre-ordained result for every presidential election in Russia, in 2012, 2018 and 2024.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the crisis in Ukraine was caused by the anti-Russian policy of the West, that NATO bases in Ukraine would be an existential threat to Russia, that in the Ukrainian conflict, Russia is the victim and NATO the aggressor, that the US inadvertently legitimised Russia’s military operation in Ukraine or that looking to annihilate Russia, Ukraine and NATO declared senseless war against multipolarity.