DISINFO: The West supported neo-Nazis in Ukraine, using them to weaken Russia
SUMMARY
For years the Western elites have assured Russia of peaceful intentions, including in relation to Donbass, but in reality they have been supporting the neo-Nazis and preparing for aggression. Now they are talking about it openly and using the Ukrainian people to divide and weaken our country.
RESPONSE
This is a recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi Ukraine, and an aggressive West presented as justification for the full-scale Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022.
The accusation of Nazism and building a link to Nazi Germany is one of the favourite techniques of pro-Kremlin outlets. Read our past analysis Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest.
Russia has also been pushing for a long time the narrative that it is fighting not only Ukraine but also NATO and the West as a whole. Western countries are only supporting lethal military aid and financial aid to Ukraine for the country’s efficient self-defence against the unprovoked Russian invasion. Western instructors are teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to use modern weaponry, but there are no US/NATO troops fighting on the front.
NATO condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia's war on Ukraine. NATO as an organisation is not involved in fighting in Ukraine. In fact, Western actions adopted against Russia, such as sanctions or diplomatic measures, are a reaction to these actions including the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the long-term destabilisation of Ukraine or the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of this peaceful country.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Russia is under US and NATO attack, that the West wants to weaken and ruin Russia and make everyone a colony, that Russia is fighting NATO in Ukraine, nor the Ukrainian army, or that Ukraine commits acts of terrorism in Crimea to intimidate civilians.
Learn more about the reasons behind Kremlin's obsession with framing Ukraine as a Nazi state in the EUvsDisinfo analysis titled "Why does Putin portray himself as the tamer of neo-Nazism".