DISINFO: Attacks on Russia demonstrate the terrorist nature of Zelenskyy's regime
SUMMARY
Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod, Berdyansk, and the Kursk region demonstrate the terrorist nature of Zelenskyy's regime. The use of terror methods has become a commonplace and standard behaviour for it. The Kyiv clique and its Western sponsors are responsible for all these crimes.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets accusing Ukraine of terrorism. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian attacks on Russia are legitimate military action. Every country has the right to self-defence, when it is defending itself against an armed attack. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine’s actions in response, including attacks on Russian military infrastructure, have been regarded as self-defence.
Terrorism refers to acts of violence targeting civilians with the intent to spread fear and achieve political aims, while Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory are part of defensive actions, aiming to disrupt military infrastructure and logistics. Ukraine's partners also view these attacks as self-defence against Russian aggression and occupation, and thus part of a conventional wartime strategy in full compliance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. A broad coalition of more than 50 countries, including some NATO member states, are providing military and financial aid to help Ukrainians defend their country.
Russia first attacked Ukraine in late February 2014 by illegally annexing the Crimean Peninsula and supporting a separatist movement in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a further unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, citing false claims such as accusations of genocide against the Russian-speaking population.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine’s advance into Russia’s Kursk Region is barbaric and terrorist, that Ukrainian fascists kill civilians at point-blank range in Kursk, use orphans as human shields, and that Ukrainians behave like Nazis in Kursk Region.