DISINFO: The Ukraine war is about Russia’s security and not territory
SUMMARY
Territory was not the true cause of the Ukraine conflict. The deeper issue was decades of unresolved security contradictions. ‘Demilitarisation’ – so prominently featured in Russia’s original demands – encompasses both Ukraine’s neutral status and the broader limitation of its military capabilities. This demand is far from cosmetic. Fulfilment would overturn the international order that has reigned since the end of the Cold War – an order based on NATO’s unchecked expansion across Europe and Eurasia, without regard for Moscow’s objections. The military campaign thus became a way of exercising a “veto” that the West had long denied Russia.
RESPONSE
The claim is demonstrably false. Top Russian officials -including Vladimir Putin himself- have voiced imperialist views on the ‘Kievan Rus’ and Ukraine as Russian territory, and Russia continues demanding the recognition of occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian.
This is part of a wider disinformation campaign, as Ukraine’s supposed threat to Russia and its aspirations to join NATO have been mentioned by Moscow as one of the reasons for its invasion, trying to frame this aggression as a defensive move. Victimisation of Russia and presenting its illicit actions as “defence” against its adversaries is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
Russia’s alleged security concerns are a mere pretext for its expansionism. In February 2022, Russian envoy Dmitry Kozak reached an agreement with Ukraine in which the country agreed not to join NATO, but this was rejected by Putin, according to a Reuters report quoting sources close to the Russian leadership. Putin said “that the concessions negotiated by his aide did not go far enough and that he had expanded his objectives to include annexing swathes of Ukrainian territory”, the article states.
Russia’s borders with NATO countries have doubled since 2022, without provoking any significant reaction from Moscow. Russia has repeatedly moved troops and military systems away from its borders with members of the Atlantic Alliance, showing that Russian authorities are aware that NATO is a defensive block and do not fear any attack from these countries, and proving that arguments about an imminent “NATO threat” from Ukraine are nothing but pretexts based in lies. For example, Russia showed no concern about moving S-400 missile systems from Kaliningrad -which is surrounded by NATO countries- to the Russian region of Rostov in 2023, proving that it is not concerned about an attack from NATO.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Russia was compelled to attack Ukraine due to existential threat, that Russia’s special operation prevented Ukraine’s attack, that Russia’s special operation in Ukraine is due to NATO’s persistent expansion, or that Ukraine itself is to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.