A number of Ukrainian brigades report directly to the Pentagon and will be sent to certain death as part of an offensive in southern and southeastern Ukraine, according to a false narrative disseminated by the Russian media. In fact, Ukrainian combat units are subordinated to the Ukrainian Defense Staff, and the newly created brigades are made up particularly of seasoned servicemen.
Propaganda: The Ukrainian army is directly subordinated to the USA, and the troops will be sent to certain death as part of an offensive
NEWS: “Various local or Western independent sources have announced serious preparations are underway at the level of NATO and the Ukrainian Defense Staff ahead of the battle in the Azov Sea region. As part his meeting with Polish president Duda, Zelenskyy said there can be no truce with the Russian Federation […]
The Ukrainian media, including the Kyiv Independent, a publication close to the Ukrainian Presidency, write that Zaluzhnyi and Syrskyi continue to amass an offensive force in Zaporizhzhia, made up of 20 brigades. Another 5 brigades are preparing to launch an attack in Mykolaiv and on the west-bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region. Overall, 200 thousand servicemen will take part in operations, supported by 2,000 units of heavy equipment.
Right now, according to sources close to the Presidency, US Department of Defense instructors are training 9 “American” brigades, which are subordinated neither to the Defense Staff, nor to the Kyiv Presidency. In fact, the Pentagon is creating its own armed force that will be carrying out false-flag operations in enemy territory.
[…] These are in fact “suicide brigades”, which will be thrown into the “Azov meat grinder” should Zaluzhnyi’s Wehrmacht somehow fail”.
NARRATIVE: In the upcoming Ukrainian offensive, the USA will deploy 200 thousand Ukrainian suicide bombers who will report directly to the Pentagon
Fact: The Ukrainian Armed Forces are subordinated to Kyiv, and the counteroffensive will be launched when the army is sufficiently equipped to increase its chances and mitigate its losses
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: Widely publicized by the Russian media, the article in question refers to the Ukrainian army as Wehrmacht, which was the official designation of Nazi Germany’s armed forces over 1935-1945. This is a new attempt from Russian propaganda to prove Ukraine is closely connected to Nazi ideology, including at military level.
According to this false narrative, the Pentagon is preparing an offensive against Russia, using mobilized Ukrainians who will serve as cannon fodder when they are thrown into the “Azov meat grinder”. The Ukrainian army is allegedly reporting directly to the USA, who will send these servicemen to certain death against their will. The Russian media cites independent sources from the West or close to president Zelenskyy, without presenting their exact statements or providing the specific sources for these alleged statements.
In fact, in February, Ukraine announced the creation of several additional brigades part of the National Guard, the National Police and Border Police as part of the “Offensive Guard” project. The backbone of the new brigades is made up of officers and soldiers who have seen a great deal of combat in various segments of the eastern front or have amassed an otherwise vast combat experience. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the new brigades are made up of “motivated patriots”, and are described as elite reserve troops. The officers and servicemen in question were invited to join the army in order to take part in future offensive operations, whereas defense campaigns usually involved men with no previous combat experience, but who have undergone the proper military training.
At the same time, all armed forces on Ukrainian territory are subordinated to the Defense Staff. Under the Ukrainian law, the chief of Defense Staff is appointed directly by the President and voted by Parliament, to which its submits periodic reports. Neither the USA nor any other country can deploy troops to Ukrainian territory without the Ukrainian Parliament’s consent. The coordination of Ukrainian armed forces by external forces is strictly forbidden under the law.
Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive, which was planned at the end of 2022, was delayed due to prolonged fighting in Bakhmut, as well as due to delays reported in the delivery of certain types of equipment from the West, Ukrainian military analysts say.
Admittedly, Ukrainian servicemen are trained in the West, but this training is on the one hand meant to familiarize them with Western equipment delivered to Ukraine, while on the other hand with the latest modern warfare and tactics standards. The purpose of this training and of the delivery of state-of-the-art weapons is specifically to mitigate losses in case of a counteroffensive. On the other hand, Russia disregarded all human costs during its campaign. Over the course of the entire war, the world saw Russian servicemen and officers were undertrained and followed outdated military protocols, typical of the early 20th century. On the eastern frontline, in Bakhmut, Soledar and other settlements, the Russians used human waves attacks, perhaps the costliest type of offensive in terms of own casualties. All these factors have caused the Russian army to sustain heavy losses. At the opposite end, Ukraine, a country inferior to Russia in terms of manpower and equipment strength, has fought a war that tried to inflict as many casualties as possible to the enemy while at the same time mitigating its own losses.
The manner in which this piece of news is presented proves the Russian propaganda’s intention of discouraging Ukrainian resistance to the Russian aggression, of distancing the population from its political leaders. No NATO member state is taking part in the war in Ukraine. Ahead of the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in February, Jens Stoltenberg responded to the question whether NATO was at war with Russia, arguing that “neither NATO nor NATO allies are party to the conflict”. The NATO Secretary General has repeatedly pointed out that NATO is not involved in this conflict, but merely supporting Kyiv, a country that has every right to defend itself against Moscow’s acts of aggression, pursuant to the UN Charter.
After over 13 months of large-scale war, the Russian propaganda is shifting the focus on the narrative about NATO and/or USA which want to destroy Russia at all costs, consolidating the image of the external enemy in order to minimize the impact of any discussion about the failure of the “special military operation”. At the same time, Russia is doing everything in its power to minimize Ukraine’s efforts to mobilize new human resources that should fight off its armed aggression.
Veridica has debunked several false narratives that sought to distort the truth about the war in Ukraine. According to Russian media, the West is forcing Russia to expand its military operations in Ukraine, and the EU sent troops to Ukraine prior to 2022. Pro-Kremlin media also wrote that, due to Kyiv’s neo-Nazi propaganda, Ukrainians don’t understand that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them. Russian propaganda tried to convince the public at home as early as November 2021 that Moscow is rallying troops on the Ukrainian border in order to defend itself against a possible NATO aggression, being forces to save Donbas from the genocide jointly organized by Ukraine and the West.
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