DISINFO: Russia is the only country that respects the rules of war
SUMMARY
Russia is the only country in the world that observes the rules of war because its officers have honour. The Russian army is not just a group of people. It is an organism which has very deep military traditions, and these traditions do not allow it to behave as Ukraine does, because Ukrainian troops have actually betrayed their honour. They are degenerates.
RESPONSE
This case contains graphic/distressing content.
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying Russia's involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity and accusing Ukrainian troops of committing such crimes. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
There is plenty of evidence that Russia has violated the rules of war during its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The United Nations, Amnesty International and other organisations have documented numerous instances of such violations. Russian forces have been accused of indiscriminate attacks on schools, kindergartens, hospitals, churches, residential areas and shelters. One case is the Mariupol theatre bombing on 16 March 2022, where civilians, many of whom were children, were sheltering. The bombing of Okhmatdyt, a children’s hospital in Kyiv, is another example. There have been numerous reports of summary executions, torture and other kinds of abuse of Ukrainian POWs and civilians, committed by Russian forces. Mass graves have been discovered near Kharkiv with an estimated 1,008 dead bodies.
There is also a significant amount of evidence that Russian troops committed war crimes and atrocities in the small town of Bucha outside Kyiv. The evidence includes satellite images, photos, videos, and witness testimonies. Russia's claims that video footage showing dead bodies on the streets of Bucha is staged have been fact-checked and debunked by the BBC, Bellingcat, The Atlantic Council, Mediazona, the Insider, Sky News, the New York Times and others. Russian troops also committed atrocities in Irpin, Borodyanka and other towns and villages outside Kyiv.
Russia also has been accused of forcefully deporting Ukrainian children to occupied territories in Ukraine or Russia proper. Some of them have been forcefully adopted by Russian families. In March 2023, ICC judges issued arrest warrants against Putin and Russian Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova for their alleged participation in the unlawful deportation of children. On 25th June 2024, ICC judges issued arrest warrants against Russian citizens Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu and Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov accusing them of missile attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, including power plants.
The European Union has condemned in the strongest possible terms the reported atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces. The EU called for accountability for human rights and international law violations by the Russian Armed Forces, including full support for the investigation launched by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Bucha was a false flag operation, that Bombing of Kyiv child hospital confirms neo-Nazi inhuman essence of Zelenskyy’s regime, and that Claims that Russia intentionally targeted civilian objects are completely untrue.