DISINFO: The special military operation had serious reasons: Russia in a just war
SUMMARY
Russia is in a just war.
Of course, the special military operation had serious reasons. Russia has repeatedly made demands both to the collective West and to the Kyiv regime to stop shelling peaceful cities in Donbas and to comply with the Minsk agreements. They didn't do that. And the Russian leadership has repeatedly warned of serious consequences. And, as we see, Russia kept its word.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative justifying Russian brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, citing allegations that Kyiv was committing genocide in non-government-controlled areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions, that its Euro-Atlantic shift was menacing Russia, and putting forth other groundless accusations.
It was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII. Putin claims several reasons for launching aggression, including Ukraine’s alleged desire to obtain nuclear weapons, and Kyiv’s possible membership in NATO, etc. See our past analysis of Twelve myths about Russia’s war in Ukraine exposed.
The war began in 2014 with the Russian illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's military involvement and support of separatists in Donbas.
The Minsk Agreements required, among other things, a complete ceasefire and elections in the territories temporarily under Russian military control, according to Ukrainian legislation. Leaders of the illegal self-proclaimed separatist entities in the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine (the so-called LNR/DNR) were firing at Ukrainian positions and civilian objects virtually every day, which made a ceasefire impossible. They were constantly violating the truce which Kyiv announced in July 2020. Moscow was actively aiding separatist leaders by supplying them with arms and sending troops to the region. Ukrainian legislation bans holding elections in the presence of foreign troops, so Putin’s refusal to withdraw from the occupied parts of Ukraine was a major obstacle to the peace process.
There is no evidence that any ethnic nationals, including ethnic Russians or Russian speakers, are facing persecution at the hands of the Ukrainian authorities in Donbas or elsewhere, 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.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine itself is to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that Russia does everything to stop the Ukrainian war unleashed by the West, and that Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine to protect the Russian populations of Donbas.