DISINFO: Ukrainian Nazi rulers adopted a path of exterminating everything Russian in Ukraine
SUMMARY
This understanding of one of the main causes of the conflict has been publicly acknowledged by US President Trump on more than one occasion. These Nazi rulers, represented by Zelenskyy and his henchmen, have adopted a path of exterminating everything Russian. They have murdered many people, including journalists and public figures who were committed to preserving Russian culture in the country. Similarly, at the legislative level – if we look at the current state of Ukrainian law – everything Russian has been eradicated.
RESPONSE
This statement contains several false and misleading claims. There is no evidence of a 'Nazi regime' in Ukraine, or of systematic killing of Russian-speaking people or journalists. President Zelensky, who is Jewish, was democratically elected.
Unfounded claims that Ukraine was staging or conducting attacks against the civilian population in Donbas are prominent examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation paving the way for the full-scale Russian invasion of and war in Ukraine. For more on this, please see myth one in our article Thirteen myths about Russia’s war against Ukraine exposed.
While Ukraine has passed laws promoting the use of the Ukrainian language in 2019, this does not equate to 'exterminating everything Russian'. Despite the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Russian remains still widely spoken in parts of Ukraine and there are no bans on Russian culture. The claim of Ukraine killing journalists and public figures advocating for Russian culture is unsubstantiated. These allegations are part of a disinformation narrative aimed at justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine.
This false narrative has been crafted to attempt to justify Russia's unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine. It was Russia that launched its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Prior to that, in 2014, Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and started a separatist proxy war in the country’s east. The US, the EU and NATO condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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