DISINFO: Ukrainian authorities are a terrorist organisation
SUMMARY
The recent attack on the Kerch Bridge proves yet again that Ukraine is a terrorist state and Kyiv’s regime should be eliminated in order to end senseless terrorist attacks on Russian territory. From now on, any military action against Ukraine taken by the Kremlin should be viewed as an anti-terrorist operation, because Ukrainian authorities are a terrorist organisation.
RESPONSE
The article promotes a widely spread pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative and a conspiracy theory about Ukraine, aiming to justify Russia’s full-scale war against a sovereign state, claiming that the Ukrainian political and military leadership are committing terrorist acts and attacks against civilians.
In reality, there isn’t even any solid evidence of how the Kerch Bridge explosion happened, let alone who and why perpetrated the attack. However, many military experts believe that the assault on the Kerch Bridge was carried out by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU). The latter fits well in Kremlin’s disinformation narrative that Russia’s actions are anti-terrorist because they are initiated to counter Ukraine’s terrorism.
Nonetheless, it was Putin who launched the invasion against Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and called it a "special military operation". At the moment, the Ukrainian Army and volunteers are fighting with Russian troops to defend their country from Russian military aggression. Furthermore, the Russian army has carried out strikes against civilian facilities in Ukraine to cause destruction. The Kremlin’s military committed many war crimes in Bucha, Mariupol, Irpin and other Ukrainian places.
Recently, on 11 October 2022, during a G7 meeting, country leaders condemned “in the strongest possible terms” Putin’s barrage of retaliatory strikes against Ukraine after the Kerch Bridge explosion and stated that Kyiv has their countries’ full support for as long as needed.
On the 23 November, the European Parliament voted on a resolution labelling Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. As this body has argued, the deliberate attacks and atrocities committed by Russian forces and their proxies against civilians in Ukraine, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and other serious violations of international and humanitarian law amount to acts of terror and constitute war crimes. In light of this, MEPs recognise Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and as a state that “uses means of terrorism”.
See other examples of similar disinformation in our database, such as The US is recruiting ISIS terrorists to fight in Ukraine and the West is supporting terrorists to encircle Russia. For more information about tips and rhetoric of pro-Kremlin disinformation read “A guide to deciphering pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's war”.