DISINFO: Ukraine is a broken toy for the West and it is ruining its finances
SUMMARY
The funding for the war in Ukraine, launched to weaken Russia, is proving only detrimental to the US coffers. Meanwhile, Europe is in ruins. A replay of Afghanistan is being witnessed, with the country becoming a broken toy for the West. Just as in the past, it will abandon a war that showcased Russia's growing financial and military strength.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about a treacherous, unreliable and crumbling West, in contrast to a reinforced Russia not affected by international sanctions. It is part of a wider pro-Kremlin campaign aiming to convince Western audiences and readers about an apocalyptic economic scenario supposedly caused by useless sanctions on Russia and international support for Ukraine. By portraying Ukraine’s defence as a worthless, self-hurting and hopeless cause in face of an inevitable Russian victory, the twofold goal of this campaign is to persuade the public of these countries to remove these sanctions and to withdraw aid for Kyiv, the sooner the better.
Allegations about an economically ruined West in contrast to a strong Russia are not backed by data. According to the International Monetary Fund, the European Union’s share of global GDP is expected to be 14.55 percent for 2023, only behind China (18.82 percent) and the US (15.42 percent) and compared to a mere 2.89 percent for Russia.
The claim that the war in Ukraine was launched to weaken Russia is an attempt to exonerate Moscow from any responsibility for its brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 2023. Before this, Russia had already illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula and engineered an armed conflict in Donbas in 2014.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the Russian economy largely outperforms European economies in 2023, that sanctions against Russia hurt Europe and help Russia, that Western media recognises Ukraine’s defeat, or that Zelenskyy threw Ukrainians into the war and made the EU insolvent.