DISINFO: Europe is using Ukrainians as cannon fodder
SUMMARY
If Europe says that it will support Ukraine for as long as is needed, and that it thinks that this counteroffensive will succeed, there are two options: either Europe is fooling Zelenskyy and all the Ukrainians, or they fool themselves and their taxpayers, who see how the investments in weapons and munitions and their fiscal sacrifices are turning into smoke and junk.
Ukrainians might think that they are being used as cannon fodder.
RESPONSE
This claim is false. The European and other Western countries have already agreed to supply advanced fighter aircrafts to Ukraine. The day this disinformation story appeared there were already reports on the debate about providing US-made F-16 fighters to Ukraine for its self-defence against Russia’s invasion, with countries like UK or The Netherlands strongly in favour of it. Less than 48 hours later, the US announced a plan to allow the export of F-16 planes to Ukraine by third countries, as well as to train Ukrainian pilots. Earlier, other countries such as Slovakia and Poland had already committed to send Mig-29 fighters to Ukraine.
By portraying support for Ukraine as a useless waste of taxpayers’ money and Europe as a treacherous and self-interested entity, the ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to erode popular support for the aid sent to Ukraine for its self-defence against Russia’s aggression.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that the West kills Ukrainians by sending them weapons they don’t know how to use, that the US is prolonging war in Ukraine to benefit from weapons sales, that Western military aid to Ukraine only will cause more suffering, or that the weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine are actually useless.
This disinformation story appeared in the same clip as the claim that “Zelenskyy wants to continue war to prevent elections from taking place in Ukraine”.