DISINFO: Ukraine is directly controlled from the United States
SUMMARY
Ukraine has become a tool of US foreign policy. The country has effectively lost its sovereignty and is directly controlled from the United States. The US is using Ukraine as a battering ram against Russia, the Republic of Belarus and the CSTO and CIS in general. The United States and its allies will not stop staging colour revolutions and fomenting extremist and nationalist sentiment. These actions directly threaten all CIS countries.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Ukrainian statehood. The statement was made in the context of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, trying once again to denigrate Ukraine as a non-sovereign puppet of the West.
In reality, Ukraine is an independent country, that has an independent foreign and security policy, which is not dictated by the United States. Pro-Kremlin outlets often use this narrative of different countries being under the American thumb or as so-called 'Western puppets', to imply that their national sovereignty is under threat and that they have limited power. The narrative also hides a cynical disregard for ordinary people; for their free will and ability to express political desires for the countries in which they are citizens. It is also a narrative often aimed at driving wedges and fomenting tension between allies.
Furthermore, pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as colour revolutions instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Ukraine,and Belarus with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors supported by foreign powers who constantly prepare new coups.
Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated by continuous acts of aggression by Russian armed forces since 2014 culminating in a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022.
Read more about the EU's response and support for Ukraine.
See our guide to deciphering pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's war.
See our account of the Kremlin's intention to annihilate Ukraine here.