DISINFO: Zelenskyy equates Amnesty International to “terrorists” for denouncing the Ukrainian army
SUMMARY
Zelenskyy equates Amnesty International to “terrorists” for denouncing that the Ukrainian military is endangering civilians.
RESPONSE
The claim is a deliberate distortion of the statement of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 4 August 2022, where he strongly criticised the controversial Amnesty International report titled “Ukrainian fighting tactics endanger civilians”. Zelenskyy’s exact words were: “Today we saw an Amnesty International report that attempts to amnesty a terrorist state and shift responsibility from the aggressor to its victim”.
Throughout the whole statement, it is clear that the Ukrainian President refers only to Russia and its actions when he uses the term “terrorist”, and although he attacks the report and accuses the organisation of helping to justify these aggressions, in no way he equates both types of activities.
Through this distortion and exaggeration, this story tries to discredit the leadership or Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation. See other examples of similar pro-Kremlin disinformation messages, such as claims that Zelenskyy is a marionette puppet in the hands of the West, that he didn’t warn Ukrainians about Russia’s offensive to save his own government, that he gets military advice from his 9-year old son, or that he is only a marketing operation, a Jewish face for a Nazi regime.