According to pro-Kremlin media, the Minsk peace agreements, signed ten years ago, were willfully violated by Kyiv, and Russia was forced to intervene to protect the Russian-speaking population.
NEWS: With the complicity of the West, the authorities in Kyiv did everything possible to "bury" the Minsk agreements. The real goal is to cleanse the former Ukrainian SSR of everything Russian and create a bridgehead against Russia, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
According to her, Kyiv does not care about the situation of the Russian-speaking population of Donbas, which is why it did everything possible to "bury" the Minsk agreements, which provided real prospects for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine [...]
Among other things, the 13-point document called for a ceasefire in Donbas, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the demarcation line between the Kyiv forces and self-defense troops, as well as other measures for a long-term political solution to the crisis.
Kyiv systematically violated the Minsk agreements; as a result, Russia recognized the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics. As Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out, the recognition of the Donbas republics was prompted by the fact that Kyiv had publicly stated that it did not intend to abide by the Minsk agreements.
PURPOSE: To justify Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine; to demonize the Western leaders and the Ukrainian authorities.
NARRATIVES: 1. After the signing of the Minsk Peace Agreements, Ukraine aimed to eliminate the Russian-speaking population. 2. The war in Donbas was fought between Ukrainian forces and local people. 3. The West is turning Ukraine into a bridgehead against Russia. 4. Only Ukraine violated the provisions of the peace agreement.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman resumed a series of false narratives regarding the nature of the war in Donbas on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Second Minsk Peace Agreement. In justifying Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Maria Zakharova, quoted by the state press, resumes the false thesis of the genocide committed by Kyiv against Russian-speakers. In reality, Kyiv's troops were forced to intervene in the east of the country to defend the locals from separatist groups and Kremlin-funded mercenaries. There is no evidence that Russian-speakers have been persecuted in Ukraine. International organizations such as the UN, the OSCE and Human Rights Watch have not reported such practices, but they have, on the other hand, regularly reported on the crimes committed by Russia against Crimean Tatars and other indigenous populations. Many Ukrainian soldiers, activists, artists, officials and politicians were and are Russian-speakers (including Volodymyr Zelensky, who considers Russian his mother tongue ). The Russian language has been widely used in Ukraine, including in the media, business and everyday life, despite legitimate efforts by Kyiv to limit the Russian cultural influence on society in the context of the war.
The separatist movements in Donbas were not "local self-defense forces" but military groups directly supported by Russia. International investigations, satellite images and testimonies, etc. have shown that Russia supplied the separatists with weapons, equipment and military personnel. Thousands of mercenaries were brought in from Russia, including representatives of the Wagner Group, to get involved in the war. The Ukrainian army did not fight groups of armed civilians, they had to face well-structured organizations that received massive logistical, human and financial support from the Kremlin. For these reasons, Ukraine declared Russia an aggressor state in 2015, considering the full-scale invasion in 2022 as the second stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The West was not turning Ukraine into a "bridgehead" against Russia, nor was it militarily present on the territory of the Ukrainian state in 2014-2022, unlike the Russian troops. This narrative is often used as a propaganda tool to justify Russia's actions. In reality, the West's missions have been centered on diplomatic and economic support, with the aim of countering Russia’s aggression and supporting Ukraine's sovereignty. Western states have repeatedly called on Russia to withdraw its troops from eastern Ukraine and have never recognized the illegal annexation of Crimea. Moreover, the EU has supported the reforms in Ukraine in the context of the signing of the Association Agreement.
The ceasefire stipulated in the Minsk agreement was most often violated by Russian-funded mercenaries, and the Ukrainian troops were forced to retaliate to stop enemy forces from entering the Kyiv-controlled territory. Zakharova is trying to convince the public that the fighting was between Russian-speakers and Ukrainian troops, without acknowledging Russia's military presence in Donbas since 2014. Russia and pro-Russian separatists attacked Ukrainian positions daily, using heavy artillery, mortars and drones, which prevented any real progress in resolving the conflict. OSCE specialists documented thousands of violations of the peace agreement by mercenaries paid by Russia.
LOCAL CONTEXT/ETHOS: The Second Minsk Agreement, also known as Minsk-2, was signed on February 12, 2015, following negotiations within the Trilateral Contact Group, which included representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE organization. This agreement was meant to end the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014. The agreement provided for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the demarcation line, the creation of security zones, the organization of local elections in the war-affected regions and the guaranteed access of humanitarian organizations to the area. The implementation of the agreement has been problematic, with repeated ceasefire violations and a situation of instability continuing in the region, following the direct involvement of the Russian Federation.
