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DISINFO: The West pushes Ukraine to escalate the situation in Donbas

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

AI translations:

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NATO Donbas Military exercise West Provocation Warmongering Black Sea

DISINFO: The West pushes Ukraine to escalate the situation in Donbas

SUMMARY

The situation in Ukraine is being used by the West as a pretext to foment a confrontation with Russia, which is totally unacceptable. The West encourages anti-Russian sentiments and protects the regime's actions in Kyiv to disrupt the Minsk agreements and prepare aggression in the Donbas.

Instead of reining in their Ukrainian clients, NATO countries are pushing Kyiv to take aggressive steps. There is no other way to explain the repeated unscheduled exercises of the United States and its allies in the Black Sea. Aircraft of NATO member states, including strategic bombers, periodically carry out provocative flights and dangerous manoeuvres near the borders of Russia.

RESPONSE

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative whose purpose is to deflect any Russian responsibility in the escalation of tensions on the Ukrainian border by blaming the West and NATO for it.

The current tensions are a result of Russia’s military buildup on the Ukrainian border since late October 2021. This includes the deployment of as many as 90,000 troops, as well as of certain specialised military units, electronic warfare systems and heavy-armoured vehicles. Despite Russian denials, this has been proven by satellite images and intelligence of the US, Ukraine and NATO, among other countries and institutions.

The European Union expressed its deep concern about the current build-up of Russian military forces near the Ukrainian-Russian border. In a statement released by the G7 countries on 12 December 2021, the leaders called on Russia to de-escalate, pursue diplomatic channels, and abide by its international commitments on transparency of military activities. See also the NATO statement of 16 December.

See also the EU statement of 24 January 2022 about Russia's role in Ukraine here.

Find out more about seven common myths surrounding the current Russia-Ukraine conflict in our recent analysis.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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