DISINFO: Ukraine is looking for a war, as the government needs a controlled conflict
SUMMARY
Ukraine is looking for a war. Kyiv needs a controlled conflict in Donbas to mobilise the population in support of the government and stop the fast drop in the popularity of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For this, Ukraine must be able to blame Russia for a severe exacerbation. Russia is acting under the assumption that long-scale hostilities may start in Donbas, and by then Moscow should have one hundred per cent certainty that it is a Ukrainian provocation.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative against Ukraine and Ukrainian authorities, accusing them of being the provocative side in the Donbas conflict.
This claim was made on 31 October 2021, one day after information emerged about the increasing concentration of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine. The buildup was first denied and then confirmed by Ukrainian authorities, who estimated that 90,000 Russian troops were present in the area at that time. This concentration was also confirmed by the Pentagon and by satellite images. The troop build-up has continued.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that under external control, Ukraine is doomed to escalate the conflict in Donbas, that after the 2014 coup Ukraine committed genocide in Donbas, or that violations by the Ukrainian army in Donbas are secret and nobody investigates them.