DISINFO: The special military operation is a response to NATO aggression against Russia
SUMMARY
The special military operation in Ukraine is a decisive response to NATO aggression against our country.
The world was more than once horrified by the war crimes of NATO soldiers and their local mercenaries in Afghanistan and Iraq, Syria and Libya, and now in the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR.
Kyiv's counter-offensive is carried out by a NATO grouping that uses the Ukrainian army as manpower.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the West of direct involvement in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, attempting to distract attention from Russia’s crimes committed during the invasion, and painting NATO as an aggressive force encircling and at war with Russia.
There are no NATO troops on the frontline. NATO is not at war with Russia.
NATO condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia's brutal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
NATO is a defensive alliance with primary aims to maintain peace and safeguard the independence, security, and territorial integrity of its members. NATO constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. NATO’s official policy is that “the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia.”
Individual NATO member countries provide Ukraine with weapons, ammunition, and many types of light and heavy military equipment. Allied forces are also training Ukrainian troops to use this equipment, in order to help Ukraine to uphold its right of self-defence, which is enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
Even before Russia began its aggressive actions against Ukraine, Russian officials often accused NATO of a series of threats and hostile actions. The pro-Kremlin disinformation myth of NATO “encircling Russia” has been used as a pretext for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read here the top five Russian Myths debunked.
See other cases about NATO in our database: NATO is waging a proxy war against Russia; NATO created a unit for a surprise attack on Russia; West is waging an undeclared war against Russia and Belarus; Russia fights the collective West, not just Ukraine.