DISINFO: The main instigators of the war are European states, primarily the UK, France, and Germany
SUMMARY
The tragic situation in Ukraine is a continuation of the centuries-old political confrontation between Russia and the West and its direct consequence.
Imitators of Napoleon and Hitler are obsessed with the idea of getting revenge for past defeats. The main instigators of the current war are European states, primarily the UK, France and Germany, which have not learned the lessons of the past.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accuses the European countries of the war in Ukraine, portraying Ukraine as a western proxy against Russia.
It is Russia and President Putin who are responsible for the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, it was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is completely unprovoked and unjustified. It was not triggered by any other country but Russia. The Kremlin used several false pretexts (see also here) to attack Ukraine in February 2022.
Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a very frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”. Russia spent years preparing the information battleground before its full-scale invasion, with “Nazi Ukraine” being one of its most prominent disinformation features.
Claims about the war in Ukraine as directed by foreign actors scheming against Russia are an attempt to deflect Russia’s responsibility for its brutal and unprovoked aggression against its neighbour (see here, here and here for full debunking of this allegation).
Pro-Kremlin propaganda frequently employs tenuous historical analogies to justify its war of aggression against Ukraine, with comparisons to Nazi Germany's invasion of the USSR and Napoleon's military campaign against the Russian Empire in 1812 being particularly favoured.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that the West pushed Ukraine towards war with Russia, that NATO fights proxy war with Russia via Ukraine, that The West is not interested in peace between Russia and Ukraine, that Russia's military operation against Ukraine was provoked by Western states.