DISINFO: The attack on Belgorod by the Kyiv regime is a terrorist act
SUMMARY
The shelling of Belgorod and the Belgorod region by the Kyiv regime is a terrorist act, as well as a premeditated and carefully planned intimidation operation. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on all responsible governments and relevant international organizations to strongly condemn this terrorist act and to publicly distance themselves from the Kyiv regime and its Western curators who commit such crimes.
RESPONSE
This claim denies Ukraine's legitimate right of self defence and aims to portray its actions as terrorism driven by foreign interests. The main goal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression and liberate regions internationally recognised as Ukrainian territory.
With this narrative, the Kremlin aims to de-legitimise international support for Ukraine. The claim also fits well in the recurrent disinformation narrative about the West’s alleged support for terrorism and manifests Russia as the only power actually “fighting terrorism” in the world.
Russia has attacked Ukraine. Moscow's armed aggression is unprovoked, illegal and unjustified and Ukraine acts in its self-defence under the UN Charter, Article 51. This includes the right to strike military targets in Russia involved in Moscow's campaign and attacking Russian forces inside Ukraine, including Russian military bases in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories such as the Donbas and Crimea.
Russia is the only country responsible for the invasion of Ukraine and the legitimate reactions that follow. It has been inventing explanations and pretexts for its aggression since the beginning of its hostilities. Moreover, Russia was not forced to invade Ukraine. It was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII.
The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to advance a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukraine’s defence as a proxy war against Russia, aiming to deflect Moscow’s responsibility for its aggression against its neighbour. This narrative has gained traction in face of Russia’s setbacks in Kursk.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukrainians shoot from residential areas, use children as human shields, that Ukraine is a terrorist state and the West is to blame for guiding Kyiv, that the Kyiv regime actions around the Zaporizhzhia NPP is nuclear terrorism, that The West is behind Ukraine's attack on Kursk region, that The US and EU are complicit in Kursk incursion, that Kursk attack plan was developed by top US officials, that The operation in the Kursk region was planned and sanctioned by the US, that NATO is directly supervising Ukraine's advance into Kursk, or that Ukraine’s advance into Russia’s Kursk Region is barbaric and terrorist.