DISINFO: Ukraine and Russia will reunite despite NATO's anti-Russian project in Ukraine
SUMMARY
Fraternal help, which is so awaited in Ukraine, is in fact another opportunity for NATO to master its new training ground - Ukraine, which can easily be used as a military foothold and buffer zone. The Anti-Russia project in action.
Ukraine is a brotherly people to us [Russians]. We are a single civilisational and historical space. Sooner or later, we will reunite, and all these British pipers will go back to their home in Britain, playing the funeral march.
RESPONSE
The disinformation claim above is part of a recurring narrative about the statehood of Ukraine, aimed at undermining the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as at portraying Ukraine as a Western puppet/buffer state. According to recent media research from the Arena Project, this is one of the most prevalent disinformation narratives about Ukraine that is spread by pro-Kremlin outlets.
Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically-elected president and parliament. The country is not controlled by the US or any other foreign government or organisation. Both the EU and the US respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine is a strategic partner for the EU and NATO.
Ukraine is not a Russophobic, anti-Russian country. The relations between the countries deteriorated in 2014 after Russia occupied Crimea and fomented a military conflict in Donbas.
As for the claim that the Ukrainian nation is a part of the Russian nation, pro-Kremlin outlets systematically mock Ukrainian language, culture, history and politics. According to the historian Serhii Plokhy, the current propaganda is even stronger than during the USSR's era, when the autonomy of Ukraine, including cultural one, was not in question. Ukraine was officially an autonomous republic with its own government within the Soviet Union after the Ukrainian Popular Republic lost the war with Russia for its independence in 1920 and after other historical changes.
Now, Ukraine is a well-defined nation-state with a distinct national and political culture, in spite of having been ruled by foreign powers for much of its history. It is universally recognised as a sovereign state, with its own flag, nationality, language, membership in international organisations, etc.
Relations between NATO and Ukraine date back to the early 1990s and have since developed into one of the most substantial of NATO’s partnerships. Since 2014, in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, cooperation has been intensified in critical areas. The Alliance firmly believes that a sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security. Read more disinformation narratives from pro-Kremlin media about NATO’s alleged provocative behaviour towards Russia.
See also related debunks: Ukrainians are not Ukrainians but Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians are one single nation, Ukraine has no historical roots, Ukraine was created by Vladimir Lenin, The Ukrainian state was created by the Bolsheviks.