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Ukrainian neo-Nazis are keeping civilians hostage in various locations across the Kharkiv oblast, the Russian state media writes. In fact, the locations in question have long been occupied by Russia, and the local council claims the Russian soldiers are committing war crimes.
NEWS: “Neo-Nazis with the “Azov” battalion have set up outposts and barracks, and have also brought in weapons to kindergartens in Myrnohrad, the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Borovaya in the Kharkiv oblast, the head of the National Defense Management Center of Russia, Colonel-General Mihkail Mizintsev announced on Tuesday.
“Neo-Nazis with the “Azov” battalion from Borovaya in Kharkiv have set up barracks in the school courtyard and in Beryozka kindergarten, and moved heavy military equipment, weapons, artillery and missiles to their territory. At the same time, the civilian population, including children, are kept in basements against their will”, says Mizintsev, who heads Russia’s interdepartmental center for humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. […] “Armored vehicles and artillery were deployed in close proximity to residential areas”, Mizintsev added.
NARRATIVE: Ukrainian neo-Nazis are keeping civilians captive in the Kharkiv oblast.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In fact, the towns in the Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts the article refers to were occupied by the Russian forces on April 13. For this reason, the actions described by the Russian general are virtually impossible: deploying armored vehicles and artillery near schools, keeping civilians hostage in basements, setting up strongholds or barracks.
According to a press release of the Borovaya regional council, on April 27 Russian occupants entered the local school and kindergarten. After their withdrawal, the school was destroyed and plundered, but the Russians blamed the “neo-Nazis” from the “Azov” regiment. This regiment (which branched out of a militia connected to the far right, but over the years was restructured and integrated into Ukrainian security forces) was never in Borovaya. The images posted by the local council show that the school and kindergarten lie in ruins, which makes it impossible to keep civilians captive inside or use the venues as barracks or outposts.
The Borovaya local council provided regular updates on its Facebook page regarding every step taken by the occupation regime, also referring to the resistance mounted by the local population. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense admitted that Borovaya and Myrnohrad are occupied by the Russians, since they are located rather far from the frontline.
Just like in the case of Mariupol, the occupation forces blame the Ukrainian army or the soldiers with the “Azov” battalion, which Russia describes as “neo-Nazi”, for the war crimes committed by Russian soldiers.
Veridica has already disproved a number of false narratives, according to which Ukraine was about to attack Donbas and was concealing its plans by deploying soldiers in schools and hospitals, while Russia discovered nationalist concentration camps in Eastern Ukraine.
In order to exonerate Russia, starting February 24 pro-Kremlin media has been describing Ukrainian soldiers as neo-Nazis who commit war crimes against the civilian population in the east and south of Ukraine. In fact, Russia is the one shelling Ukrainian towns, having already destroyed numerous civilian objectives, including residential buildings, schools, etc. In the Kyiv oblast, authorities continue to collect evidence with support from team of experts from the EU, with a view to holding Russia accountable for the war crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine.
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