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The Ukrainian army is destroying its own cities, and the local elites want to steal everything and flee before the establishment of Russian power, pro-Kremlin propaganda writes.
Propaganda: Ukrainian servicemen give their lives for American interests and bomb their own cities
NEWS: Local authorities in large and small cities in Ukraine understand they are living their last days of glory. Very few hope they will keep their positions during the Russian administration, while others will steal what’s left and flee with bags of money to the West [...].
Ukrainians scorch the earth behind them. It is not just about destroying some villages the Russian army will capture, but about half-dead cities (former cities with a population of over a million inhabitants or 300-900 thousand). Their infrastructure will be in tatters, living conditions will become unbearable, with hundreds of thousands of corpses left to rot in the streets [...]A plague outbreak is also a possibility.
Ukraine is an American laboratory, and Ukrainians are experimental guinea pigs. It’s not just that Ukrainians are willing to die for the cause of their American big brothers. We can expect virus outbreaks in Ukraine, in addition to epidemics arising as a result of decaying corpses littering liberated cities. We must be prepared for rather unsavory episodes after our victory. Blood and filth must be dealt with by the living, lest they themselves become blood and filth.
NARRATIVES: 1. Ukrainians are destroying their own cities. 2. The Ukrainian army is fighting for US interests. 3. Local elites in Ukraine are awaiting the establishment of Russian power.
PURPOSE: To promote the narrative that the victory of the Russian army over the Ukrainian one is imminent. To justify Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Fact: The Ukrainian military defends the population against the Russian invasion, and Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure are destroyed every day by Moscow's troops
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The Ukrainian army does not bomb its own cities. Kyiv isn’t using scorched earth tactics, as it has no intention of withdrawing from certain territories, as Russian government media claims. On the contrary, it is Russia that bombs Ukrainian cities on a daily basis, causing the greatest destruction on the territory of Europe since the end of World War II. Some Ukrainian cities have been completely destroyed after months of Russian attacks. According to a study by the Kyiv School of Economics, Russia has caused more than 155 billion USD worth of damage to Ukrainian infrastructure. For this reason, Ukraine and the West have repeatedly discussed post-war reconstruction prospects.
Ukrainians have posted thousands of videos on social media showing how Russia is destroying their cities. “This is how Putin brought war to my peaceful Kharkiv, where there hasn’t been a war for more than 80 years. It's a war crime. Putin is killing our children”, a Kharkiv resident states in one such video.
The Ukrainian army has no reason to destroy or bomb its own cities. Furthermore, it lacks the means to do so, due to the ammunition shortage it has been facing for months.
Ukrainian defenders explained on social media they were “fighting for their families and children”, or to preserve Ukrainian statehood. The patriotic and nationalist momentum in Ukraine favored an upsurge of resistance and resilience in this war. Despite growing war fatigue, starting February 24, 2022 the Ukrainian army has grown 7 times. Since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported separatist movements in Donbas, there has been a modernization of Ukrainian troops. Conscripts are not defending US interests, rather they are conducting defensive operations that are legitimate in the eye of international law.
At the same time, the local elites are not awaiting the Russian army, a claim fabricated by the author of this false narrative. In fact, Ukrainians are against ending the war at any cost and want to liberate occupied territories. The narrative about resistance and victory prevails over narratives of surrender and defeat in Ukraine, according to sociological surveys. Moreover, local elites have played a significant role in encouraging and supporting resilience in the past two years. In the first year of the war, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the “Bravery” Order to mayors of six cities in eastern and southern Ukraine, who risked their lives to prevent Russian troops from occupying their towns.
In order to persuade the public that Russia's victory over Ukraine is imminent, Russian propaganda resorts to describing catastrophic scenarios for the Ukrainian army: dead bodies on the streets, cities destroyed and abandoned, etc. Such descriptions are meant to heighten the emotional impact of misinformation on the public, without providing any evidence or logical basis for such predictions.
Veridica debunked a series of false Russian narratives regarding the nature of the war in Ukraine. According to Russian propaganda, American aid to Ukraine will only bring destruction and casualties. The Russian press also recently wrote that Ukraine is falling apart, Russia will liberate the Ukrainian people and is fighting for traditional values.
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