The Ukrainian army has publicly got the US’s approval to bomb towns on the territory of the Russian Federation, according to a false narrative disseminated by the Russian state media. In reality, the US has clearly discouraged potential operations on Russian territory, but has recognized Ukraine's right to operate on its own territory, including the one illegally annexed by Moscow.
Propaganda: Regions in Russia will be bombed by Ukraine with the approval of the US
NEWS: “The Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, John Kirby, said at a briefing that the United States allows Kyiv to bomb Russia’s new regions, but Kyiv will not be supported to conduct military operations outside its territory, RIA Novosti reports .
“We do not provide support and do not push the Ukrainians to strike targets outside Ukraine”, he stressed.
Kirby also said that Washington allows the Armed Forces of Ukraine to conduct military operations in Crimea, the Donbas republics, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, in order to occupy these territories.
In his speech, the White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications chose to remain silent about Ukraine’s numerous attacks on the Kursk, Belgorod and Briansk regions.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the new Russian regions should be integrated into the country's single legal space as soon as possible. “The task is to do everything to integrate these historical Russian lands of Donbas and Novorossia into the economic, legal and educational space of our country as quickly as possible”, the head of state explained.
NARRATIVE: The US has allowed Ukraine to bomb regions that are part of Russia
Fact: Ukraine has the right to defend itself against the aggression of the Russian Federation and to carry out operations to liberate the occupied territories
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The narrative shared by the Russian state media, as well as Telegram channels in Russia and the occupied regions of Ukraine, contains a number of logical inaccuracies and contradictions. On the one hand, the headline of the news reads that the American official agrees with the bombing of the Russian regions by the Ukrainian army, while, on the other hand, the text mentions that he referred to Donbas or Crimea and that US does not “push the Ukrainians to hit targets outside Ukraine”. At the same time, the news is carried by most mass media channels with a headline that aims to manipulate public opinion and sow fear among the Russian-speaking population.
In reality, according to the American press, John Kirby said that the US does not encourage the Ukrainians to open fire on Russian territory , his statement being a reply to the accusations made by Russian officials, who said that Kyiv is murdering journalists on the territory of the Russian Federation with the support of the West. Kirby added that the U.S. will support Kyiv’s efforts to recover territories lost following the armed aggression launched in 2014, without launching military operations in other regions.
The notion of new territories of the Russian Federation is an invention of the Moscow media, and the American official did not mention them anywhere in his speech. The Russian press, copying the Kremlin's official narratives, calls Crimea and the regions in southeastern Ukraine new territories of Russia, which cannot be found in the statements made by Western leaders. Both Kirby and other US officials believe that Ukraine has the right to defend itself against the Russian military aggression and to liberate its territories under international law, particularly the UN Charter .
The community of international states condemned the war in Ukraine and did not recognize the annexation of Crimea or the four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine. Therefore, Kyiv has the right to conduct operations to liberate these territories, which are legally regions of Ukraine. Any attempt to liberate these territories is not a bombing of Russian territory. In fact, this legal reality is recognized by the Moscow press itself, which mentions the Kursk, Belgorod and Briansk regions, as if implying that there are real Russian regions and new, less real regions.
Russia’s aggression has been condemned by most states of the world several times. 141 member states of the UN General Assembly voted for a resolution condemning the Russian aggression on Ukraine . Only 5 states, including Russia, voted against. With the help of specialists from abroad, Kyiv is collecting evidence to prove that Russia has committed war crimes on the territory of Ukraine. A number of international mechanisms have been launched to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian President Vladimir Putin , accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
At the same time, the narrative in question tries to convince the public opinion that the Ukrainian army is dependent on the Pentagon, when it comes to making decisions, and bombing Russian territory requires US approval. From this point of view, the news is a continuation of the false narrative, recently debunked by Veridica, according to which Ukraine will assassinate, with the agreement of the West, on Russian territory, more and more of the people mentioned on the Mirotvoreț website, which allegedly shows who are the Kyiv’s regime next targets.
Veridica has debunked a series of false narratives regarding the nature of the war in Ukraine. According to the Russian propaganda, the US has been arming Ukraine ever since 2014 , in order to push it into a war with Russia. Russian government media have also written that Moscow shows restraint when bombing Ukraine , knowing that the population does not support the neo-Nazi government. In order to convince the public opinion of the need for mobilization in Russia, the Russian press wrote that Minsk and Moscow are forming a joint military group s to defend themselves against Ukrainian terrorist attacks and a possible NATO aggression.
