DISINFO: The West and Kyiv threaten Crimea with terrorist attacks
SUMMARY
Kyiv’s terrorist threats against Crimea are directly related to the West’s attempt to start a third world war. The increase in the level of military and terrorist threats against Russian territories from the Kyiv regime with the use of weapons from Western countries led by the United States is directly related to the likelihood of the outbreak of a third world war.
RESPONSE
The claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative regarding Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. The claim is another attempt to deflect attention away from Russia's illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory in the south and east of Ukraine.
The disinformation is based on a video message from the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, published on February 26, 2024. Budanov recalled that Russia’s war against Ukraine began not in 2022, but ten years ago – with a carefully planned Russian military operation to seize Ukrainian Crimea.
Budanov emphasised that the Ukrainian armed forces owes its successes in Crimea to local residents, “who have strengthened resistance to the occupiers and are finding the opportunity to quickly monitor the entire situation on the peninsula and transmit this information to the Ukrainian armed forces as quickly as possible,” Budanov said. In this context, the head of Ukrainian intelligence said that he does not recommend that civilians use the bridge across the Kerch Strait, illegally built by Russia in the Black Sea.
According to international law, Russian military depots in the temporarily occupied Crimea, as well as the illegally built bridge across the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea, are legal targets for attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces. Russia uses this bridge to transport tanks, armoured vehicles, and other military equipment by railway to Crimea, which is then used in attacks on other Ukrainian territories So this bridge, like any other Russian military site in Crimea and other occupied regions, is a legitimate target for Ukraine.
Air strikes against such military targets, especially those illegally constructed by Russia on sovereign Ukrainian territory, are not considered acts of terrorism. Under the Geneva Conventions, this categorises the bridge as a facility that 'makes an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, in the circumstances prevailing at the time, offers a definite military advantage' (Article 52, Paragraph 2). Consequently, this classification removes its status as a protected civilian object.
Ukraine's international allies have repeatedly emphasised that Ukraine has the right to conduct military operations aimed at liberating its territories. By targeting Russian military bases in the occupied Crimea, Ukraine is not breaching any international legal norms. According to the UN Charter, Ukraine, within its sovereign territory, is entitled to employ any means of self-defence against Russian aggression.
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