A newly released press release from the U.S. Department of State, which attempts to debunk Russian propaganda about Ukraine, underlines the extent to which modern warfare is as much about the infosphere as it is about the military battlefield.
The Russian information war being waged against Ukraine amounts to accusations that, for example, Ukraine is the aggressor against Russia and that Kyiv is planning a chemical weapons attack against ‘separatists’ in eastern Ukraine.
The war of words or “fact vs. Fiction” as the US calls it, comes while Russia has amassed a force of more than 100,000 battle ready troops within and near Ukraine’s border, while President Putin threatens ‘retaliatory military-technical’ actions if his demands to exclude Ukraine from NATO membership and international support are not met by the U.S. and NATO.
“The Russian government is trying to trick the world into believing Ukraine’s behaviour could provoke a global conflict and to convince Russian citizens of the need for Russian military action in Ukraine.“
- U.S. Department of State
The 'Fact Sheet' rejects the Russian assertion that Ukraine is an aggressor and Russia the victim, clarifying how Ukraine is clearly the victim of Russian aggression. Evidenced, for example, by how Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and started a war of occupation in Ukraine's Donbas which it still fully commands.
Here, published verbatim from the US Department of State website, are what Ukraine and the West say is the true reality:
FICTION: Russia’s deployment of combat forces is a mere repositioning of troops on its own territory.[iii]
FACT: Deploying more than 100,000 Russian troops, including battle-hardened combat forces and offensive weaponry with no plausible innocuous explanation, to the borders of a country that Russia has previously invaded and still occupies in places is no mere troop rotation. It is a clear, renewed Russian threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The buildup is paired with active disinformation measures designed to undermine confidence in the Ukrainian government and create a pretext for further Russian incursion.
FICTION: The United States has planned chemical weapons attacks in the Donbas.[iv]
FACT: The United States and Russia are parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. In accordance with its obligations under that international agreement, the United States does not use chemical weapons. However, the Russian government has twice used chemical weapons in recent years to attack and attempt to assassinate opponents, including on foreign soil. Rather than fuel conflict in eastern Ukraine as Russia has done, the United States has provided more than $351 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by Moscow’s aggression there since 2014. Russia is using statements from high-level officials as well as disinformation and propaganda outlets to intentionally spread outright falsehoods to attempt to create a pretext for military action.
FICTION: Russia is defending ethnic Russians in Ukraine.[v]
FACT: There are no credible reports of any ethnic Russians or Russian speakers being under threat from the Ukrainian government. There are, however, credible reports that in Russia-occupied Crimea and in the Donbas, Ukrainians face suppression of their culture and national identity and live in an environment of severe repression and fear. In Crimea, Russia forces Ukrainians to assume Russian citizenship or lose their property, their access to healthcare, and their jobs. Those who peacefully express opposition to Russia’s occupation or control face imprisonment on baseless grounds, police raids on their homes, officially sanctioned discrimination, and in some cases torture and other abuses. Religious and ethnic minorities are investigated and prosecuted as “extremists” and “terrorists.”
Responding to the US accusations, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated Tuesday, that “Nothing written in that material withstands critical scrutiny.”
https://www.state.gov/fact-vs-fiction-russian-disinformation-on-ukraine/
