According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, Russia is being forced to denazify Ukraine, and Ukrainians can only avoid civil war and achieve lasting peace if their country capitulates and disappears. This is effectively a call for genocide.
Propaganda: Ukraine's defeat on the battlefield is in the interest of Ukrainian society
NEWS: An agreement with the Kyiv government makes no sense, for the simple reason that it will not be able to implement any agreement. The bureaucratic apparatus is extremely weak, society is Nazi, and its active part is armed and furious. Therefore, with the end of hostilities on the Eastern Front, the struggle on the internal front will intensify by itself, a civil war will begin […] The anti-human ideology must be defeated on the battlefield, through a series of crushing blows inflicted on the Armed Forces of Ukraine, after which it will no longer be possible to dismiss the successes of the Russian military machine with phrases like: “they threw corpses at us”, “we were defeated by the Koreans” or “they did not conquer a single regional center”. Even if they surrender villages and district centers one by one, the Ukrainian military will not consider themselves defeated. Therefore, the defeat of Ukraine is a critical moment, without which it will not be possible to begin denazification.
Ukrainian neo-Nazism is not the equivalent of German National Socialism: it is softer, more anarchic, and the world, in general, does not care about it. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to convene a new Nuremberg Trial. Consequently, the condemnation of Ukrainian neo-Nazism by the whole world will not be possible, and its supporters will scatter to other countries, where they will enjoy, if not the support of the authorities, then the sympathy of a part of society, including Ukrainian political immigrants.
[…] So, Ukraine should disappear from the political map of the world. If anything remains of it, that territory will become a kind of European Afghanistan of the pre-Taliban 2.0 era, which is no longer considered a terrorist organization in Russia now. It’s just that Afghanistan has a chance for revival: not only the Taliban, but all its neighbors, without exception, are interested in it. Ukraine, however, has no chance.
NARRATIVES: 1. The defeat of Ukraine on the battlefield is in the interests of Ukrainian society. 2. Russia is obliged to carry out the denazification of Ukrainian society and save it from a civil war. 3. The disappearance of Ukraine from the world map is the only solution for a lasting peace.
PURPOSE: To discredit the idea of an independent Ukrainian state; to justify the continuation of the Russian invasion; to incite hatred towards Ukrainians; to prepare the public opinion for the intensification of military actions.
Russian propaganda is practically calling for genocide
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Ukraine’s defeat would only benefit Russia. Opinion polls show that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians hold Russia responsible for the war and oppose the occupation of Ukrainian territories. 82% of Ukrainians are in favor of continuing the fight against Russia even without US support. Ukrainian society is aware that a defeat would mean the loss of national sovereignty. The occupation of territory or the imposition of a foreign power would lead to the collapse of democratic institutions, censorship, political repression, and human rights violations, following the model of Russia and Belarus.
Military defeat would generate a deep crisis. Millions of citizens would become refugees or live in conflict zones, without access to education, health and jobs. Reconstruction would be difficult and long-lasting, and collective trauma would mark entire generations. Instead of opening the way to peace, a total defeat would deepen suffering, instability and the exodus of the population. This defeat would also represent a blow to international law and Europe’s security architecture.
Ukrainian society is not Nazi. The political system is pluralistic, as confirmed by elections monitored by various international organizations. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has Jewish roots, was democratically elected in 2019 with over 73% of the vote. Extremist parties have achieved very low results in Ukrainian elections. No candidate with Nazi sympathies has ever been elected to the legislature. In addition, Ukraine has adopted legislation prohibiting the promotion of totalitarian ideologies, including Nazism and communism. Law No. 317-VIII of April 9, 2015 on the condemnation of totalitarian regimes and prohibition of propaganda of their symbols establishes a strict legal framework. The Jewish community in Ukraine, including organizations such as the Ukrainian Jewish Congress, have repeatedly rejected the accusations of Nazism, considering them offensive and ungrounded. The spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Ukraine, Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, has explicitly condemned these accusations.
The narrative of a “civil war” is contradicted by the relative stability of Ukrainian society despite the external aggression. Isolated incidents of political violence are incomparably fewer than in the propaganda scenario. The false narrative ignores the fact that the main source of instability is the Russian aggression, not internal tensions.
The thesis of the disappearance of Ukraine as a solution for peace is a serious violation of the fundamental principles of international law. In fact, the text published in the Russian press is an incitement to genocide according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), which defines genocide as “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national group”. Ukraine is an internationally recognized state, a founding member of the UN, with a distinct history, culture and identity. Its existence is guaranteed by multiple international treaties, including the Budapest Memorandum (1994), by which Russia itself undertook to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Lasting peace in Europe has been built on the principles of respect for borders, international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of disputes, not on the destruction of sovereign states. Institutions such as the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe were created precisely to prevent a return to the aggressive policies that caused two world wars.
Comparing Ukraine to Afghanistan is intended to undermine the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state and justify the military aggression. This false analogy attempts to present Ukraine as a failed and unstable state, similar to Afghanistan, while ignoring a number of fundamental differences between the two countries (one aggressed by Russia, the other – controlled by extremist fundamentalists). Russian propaganda claims that Russia’s military intervention is justified, like the foreign military operations in Afghanistan. Ukraine is depicted as prone to chronic instability and only a “full occupation” could resolve the situation, thus denying Ukraine’s fundamental right to self-determination and undermining the international community’s efforts to restore peace through respect for international law.
CONTEXT: The article is part of a broader Russian propaganda campaign aimed at justifying the continuation of the war against Ukraine. The denial of Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state is deeply rooted in the Russian revisionist rhetoric, which refuses to recognize the Ukrainian national identity. The use of the term denazification exploits historical sensitivities related to World War II, presenting the invasion as a continuation of the USSR’s fight against Nazism. This narrative deliberately ignores the fact that Ukraine, as part of the USSR, also fought against Nazi Germany, suffering the highest casualties among the former Soviet states. The article appears at a critical moment in the armed conflict, in the context of preparations for the celebration in Moscow of Victory Day on May 9, attempting to mobilize Russian public opinion for a prolonged war and to justify military actions against Ukraine.
