DISINFO: Russia is not pursuing imperialist interests in Ukraine
SUMMARY
Russia is not pursuing imperialist interests. Russia's President acts in an absolutely rational and predictable manner. He is concerned with the security of his country and the protection of Russia's sovereignty. The German Foreign Minister, on the other hand, embodies the delusional and downright insane, focusing on an ever-increasing escalation, exclusively advocating a military solution to the conflict and rejecting diplomacy.
RESPONSE
The claim is part of an ongoing pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign concerning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It undermines Ukraine's statehood.
For a state with no expansionist designs on Ukraine, Russia has been active in illegally occupying it over the past decade. In February 2014, Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. In autumn 2022, it used sham referenda in an attempt to annex the above-mentioned oblasts, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.
High-ranking Russian officials have explicitly stated that large swathes of Ukrainian territory rightfully belong to Russia. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has stated that Russia would "liberate" what he described as "historic Russian territories" of Ukraine, while the Moscow-installed head of annexed Crimea stated that the "Russian cities" of Odesa, Kharkiv, and Mykolayiv "should be ours by historical right."
See also myths 3 and 4 in our article Thirteen myths about Russia’s war against Ukraine exposed.
See similar cases such as Kyiv is a Russian city, Ukraine's statehood is myth, its territory belongs to Russia, or Ukrainians are historically Russians and need protection against western imperialism.