Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is preparing a law that will extend the war with Russia for another 50 years, according to a false narrative appearing in Bucharest. It was published by Sorin Roșca Stănescu, a former collaborator of the communist political police and a criminal convict who has spread lots of disinformation in the public space.
NEWS: “The war in Ukraine may drag on for another 50 years. Why? Simply because Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing a law by which, for 50 years, the Russians will be banned from stepping on the territory of Ukraine. This is something unprecedented in history. Basically, this will lead to a conflict that will last 50 years, a kind of war in terms of the right of people, citizens of the planet, to travel to each other's states. Let's not forget the fact that the Russian Federation is the largest state in the world and at the same time, obviously, the largest neighbor of Ukraine, independently of this war that will eventually end.”
NARRATIVES: 1. Ukraine will be guilty of prolonging the war started by Russia on its territory 2. Volodymyr Zelensky is the one who maintains the war in Ukraine.
LOCAL CONTEXT/ETHOS: Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian and pro-Russian propaganda has relentlessly circulated the idea that Ukraine is violating the rights of ethnic Russians living in that country. For this purpose, the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine through a so-called special operation was ordered.
Last week, the Kyiv and Moscow leaders hinted at the possibility of peace talks, and the Russian media portrayed the episode as being thwarted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Besides, the Ukrainian presidential adviser Olexiy Arestovych stated on Monday evening, on the Moldovan public station Moldova 1, that Ukraine would not allow the war waged by Russia on its territory to reach the stage of a frozen conflict. “We're going to kick them out through one gate”, Arestovych said , rejecting any possibility of territorial losses for Ukraine in this war.
In turn, Zelensky called on the West, in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, to ban all Russian citizens from entering the democratic countries, not only Russian officials.
Sorin Roșca Stănescu, a former collaborator of the communist political police in Romania and convicted for corruption and setting up an organized criminal group, published false narratives about Ukraine even before the start of the war and kept doing that after February 24th, stating, for instance, that the Black Sea will blow up because of the Ukrainian mines (a myth initially launched by the Soviets), or that Vladimir Putin will be forced to resort to nuclear weapons.
PURPOSE: To present Zelensky as a leader who does not want peace and allegedly keeps abusing Russians.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Civil society in Ukraine has signed a petition calling for Russians to be banned from entering Ukraine for the next 50 years; it is therefore not Volodymyr Zelensky’s initiative, as Sorin Roșca Stănescu claims. The petition has already been signed by at least 25,000 people and thus reached the official circuit, and should now be considered by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“Mr. President, Ukraine has been suffering for 8 years from the war that Russia started on the territory of our country. Unfortunately, during these 8 years, the authorities have failed to protect Ukraine from saboteurs, agents and correctional officers, who have reached Ukraine thanks to the visa-free regime with Russia. We have paid for it with thousands of lives. For the sake of the safety of every Ukrainian, now and in the future, we propose to completely ban all Russians from entering Ukraine for the next 50 years and not issue residence permits to Russians except those who have fought on the side of Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian war”, the text of the petition reads.
Zelensky has so far made no official statement on this topic.
Even if such a law were to be passed, this in no way means that the war will continue for 50 years. Similar situations exist or have existed in international relations – for example, in a number of Arab countries the entry of Israeli citizens and even people of any nationality who have visited Israel is prohibited, but this does not mean that those countries have been at war with Israel for more than 50 years.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Zelensky has called on the West to ban Russians from entering their countries.
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