DISINFO: The attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kursk is a terrorist act
SUMMARY
The attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Kursk region is another terrorist act. It is obviously directed against the peaceful population, against civilians.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative depicting Ukraine as a terrorist regime, and portraying the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a bad light.
Several thousand Ukrainian troops entered Russia’s adjacent Kursk Region on 6 August 2024 and controlled about 600 square kilometres of Russian territory as of the time of writing this case. The town of Sudzha and several villages were seized. Information about what is happening has been minimal, mainly from Russian sources. There has been no evidence of inhumane behaviour from Ukrainian troops towards civilians during the ongoing incursion inside Russia. Contrarily, Russian forces have committed numerous war crimes against Ukrainian civilians since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk is not a terrorist act. According to the UN Charter, Ukraine has the right to self-defence against Russian aggression. The incursion into the Kursk Region is part of Kyiv’s military strategy aimed at liberating all Ukrainian territories from Russian occupiers and restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders of 1991. Russia is using military facilities in the Kursk Region and other adjacent regions for deadly attacks on Ukrainian territory, which have caused thousands of civilian victims. It is still unknown what the Ukrainian military command’s plans for its Kursk operation are.
Ukraine's international allies have repeatedly stressed that Ukraine has the right to carry out any military operations aimed at de-occupying its territories.
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