The pro-Kremlin media presents the steps taken to strengthen ties with the separatist republics that Russia supports in Donbass as a measure to stop a so-called “genocide” committed by Ukraine and the West in the region.
NEWS: “In a difficult time for Donbass, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on providing humanitarian aid to the DNR population. Thus, against the background of the escalation of the conflict in the region, Kiev and its Western “partners” were given a clear signal that Moscow does not stand aside and takes an active part in the life of the republics. Moreover, Putin's decision is an alarming signal for Ukraine, as it brings the process of integrating the Donbass into Russia closer to a natural completion.
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It is obvious that this type of support for Donbass will trigger a wave of protests both in Kiev and in the West, where they are certain that only one party to the conflict can receive help, while the other must be condemned to destruction and loss. And it doesn't matter that the legalized genocide runs counter to the democratic values glorified in these countries - neither Washington nor Brussels will abandon the traditional double standard policy, writes “The Donbass Analytical Service” information agency .
“The importance of the decree can be compared to the most difficult periods since early 2014: then, white trucks arrived carrying humanitarian aid. People survived only thanks to the humanitarian support provided by Russia. There followed the equally important and long-awaited decision to recognize the documents and issue Russian Federation passports”, said Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed DNR in a TV show , thanking Vladimir Putin for his constant support and criticism of the West.
NARRATIVE: Russia is saving the people of Donbass from the genocide organized by Ukraine and the West.LOCAL CONTEXT / ETHOS: Since 2014, Russia has constantly supported and funded mercenaries and separatists in some districts of Donbass, set up in the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, after the Euromaidan riots overthrew the regime of the pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych. Moscow has denied any involvement in the conflict between Kiev's government forces and the rebels.
On November 15th this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the lifting of restrictions on exports and imports of goods between the Russian Federation and the separatist-controlled areas of Donetsk and Lugansk (eastern Ukraine). The decree on “providing humanitarian support to the population of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions” in Ukraine was published on the Kremlin’s official legal information portal. The MFA in Kiev sent a protest letter to Moscow, stating that the decision came in violation of the Minsk agreements.
However, the Russian press claims that Moscow must “save” the population of Donbass from a genocide organized by Ukraine with support from the West.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this narrative is to hide Moscow's true intentions regarding the Donbass and to exonerate Russia in this conflict that has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths.WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In reality, Russia's humanitarian aid, mentioned in the press and in the statements made by the DNR leader, was back in 2014-2017 a perfect method of keeping under cover on the weapons and ammunition delivered to the separatists. Political analysts and television stations often found that, in the early stages of the Donbass conflict, the hot phases of the clashes would start immediately after the provision of “humanitarian aid” using Russian KAMAZ trucks.
The Russian government and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are presenting the situation in Donbass not as a conflict artificially supported by Moscow to keep Ukraine tight in its geopolitical traps, but as a genocide organized by Ukraine and the West. In fact, Ukraine cannot organize a genocide in the territories legally recognized as not being under its control! Kiev is not responsible for the politics and situation of the population in the territories it does not control, but this is certainly not an impediment to promoting narratives about the Donbass genocide.
The Russian president's decision to resume trade ties with the self-proclaimed republics is an important step towards their legal recognition, following a natural policy of integration into Russia, mentioned in between the lines by the Kremlin-controlled media. In fact, Putin's decree runs counter to the Minsk peace agreements, which provide for the return of Donbass to Ukraine on the basis of free elections after the withdrawal of the Russian troops.
Moscow is not saving anyone from genocide; it actually carries on its policy of integrating these territories, in continuation of the stage in which it offered Russian citizenship to all DNR and LNR residents. The granting of Russian passports, glorified by the DNR leader Denis Pushilin, has been repeatedly criticized by the international community. In 2019, EU officials called Putin's decree on the forced granting of Russian citizenship to residents of some districts in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as another attack by Russia on Ukraine's sovereignty. The EU has expressed hope that Russia will abandon actions that run counter to the Minsk Agreements and will not create obstacles to the integration of these territories into Ukraine.
From this point of view, the narrative in question distorts the truth, presenting the party that aims to take control of its own territory as an aggressor, and the real aggressor as a savior and peacemaker.
Veridica has also shown that Ukraine couldn’t have committed a “genocide” in those territories. What has happened is a systematic violation of human rights by the leadership of the self-proclaimed republics LNR and DNR, coordinated, in fact, by Russia. According to a UN report , the following were found as happening on the territories of the self-proclaimed republics of Lugansk and Donetsk: illegal enlistment in the local armed forces, blocking of border crossings, killing civilians, violating the right to private property, forcing Russian citizenship, denying expert access to monitor the situation regarding the observance of human rights, arrests, violence against women, violation of the right to protest and to attend public gatherings, violation of the right to freedom of expression and religion, non-remuneration of work. The UN criticizes Russia for all this and does not say anything about a “genocide” organized by Ukraine or the West.OFFICIAL REACTIONS: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has stated that the decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on trade with areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine was a “gross interference in Ukraine's internal affairs”. The Ukrainian MFA stresses that this decree contradicts Russia's commitments under the Minsk agreement on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and says that it has sent a letter of protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
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