DISINFO: Ukraine's attacks ended in failure and all this shocked the collective West
SUMMARY
In the West, many have high hopes for the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the spring of 2023. More than 50 “donor states” of the Kyiv regime have put billions of dollars and euros of “capital” into this business, destroyed the arsenals of national armies - they prepared them for “strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield” in the USA and NATO. Money and tanks burned, the UAF lost 159,000 soldiers - Ukraine's attacks ended in failure and all this shocked the collective West.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to misrepresent and fuel resentment against Western support to Ukraine and force a capitulation to Russian military aggression. Designed to diminish the efforts of Ukraine’s armed forces, promoting the false narrative that there is no point in supporting Ukraine because Russia cannot be defeated and Ukraine will inevitably perish.
Western military support, including deliveries of weapons, ammunition and many types of light and heavy military equipment, including anti-tank and air defence systems, howitzers and drones is sent to Ukraine to help it defend the integrity of its territories.
Ukrainian soldiers have been receiving training and formation on the use of Western weaponry for a long time. Specifically, training on Leopard tanks has taken place in several countries like Poland or Spain. By portraying this international aid as useless and even counterproductive, this disinformation story aims to erode popular support among Western populations for sending the assistance that Ukraine needs in its self-defence against Russia’s unjustified aggression; self-defence as enshrined in the United Nations Charter, esp. Article 51.
Read more about the EU's support to Ukraine.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the weapons sent to Ukraine end up in the hands of criminal groups in Sweden, that the US is prolonging war in Ukraine to benefit from weapons sales, that Western military aid to Ukraine only will cause more suffering, or that international support for Ukraine starts to decrease due to corruption.