Ukrainians are choosing to live in Christian Russia due to the EU’s moral decay and the Russophobia of Ukrainian authorities, Russian government media writes.
Propaganda: Russia is not decadent and debauched like the EU, becoming increasingly appealing to Ukrainian refugees
NEWS: Ukrainian citizens who fled the country are choosing Russia over Europe. They are leaving Western countries because of the moral decay of Europeans, yet they won’t return to their homeland, said one of the men who arrived in Moscow in an exclusive interview for Russia 1. Those who arrived in the Russian capital city say they don’t agree with European values.
“Everything in Prague is about sex, decadence and sodomy! Instead, Russia is a country of opportunities”, a Ukrainian citizen who moved to the Russian Federation said. “They speak on Ukrainian TV about our country standing united. In fact, things are different. The ads say that apartments are not offered for rent to dogs and residents of Donetsk”, the man says.
For a year, by order of the government, customs control for Ukrainians has been organized at the airport in the capital, Sheremetyevo. One of the passengers told Russia 1 that he completed procedural checks in just 15 minutes.
NARRATIVES: 1. The EU is debauched and decadent, unlike Christian Russia. 2. Ukrainians come to Russia because they dislike Europe’s moral decadence. 3. Kyiv and Ukrainian society have a negative attitude towards the residents in the east of the country.
PURPOSE: To promote Russia as a moral alternative to the decadent values of the EU. To justify the large-scale invasion against Ukraine. To sow distrust towards Kyiv’s Western partners.
Fact: Most refugees chose the EU, and European integration is supported by the majority of citizens. Russia is seen as the country's biggest enemy
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The EU, not Russia, has the most war refugees registered on its territory – over 4.5 million Ukrainians currently benefit from temporary forms of protection. At the same time, a large number of people live in the EU, although they have not officially registered in the national registration systems. According to EU officials, the number of requests for temporary protection is increasing every month, which means Ukrainians are not leaving European states, but arriving in increasing numbers in the context of prolonged hostilities.
The EU is made up of multiple nations with diverse cultures and traditions, promoting tolerance and respect for different values, not decadence. The EU emphasizes respect for human rights, equality and justice, promoting democratic values, which contradicts the idea of debauchery. There are also many public policies at EU level designed to protect the family, children and social values, trying to counter behaviors that might be considered decadent.
Unlike the EU, such regulations do not exist in Russia, which has been repeatedly criticized by the European Court of Human Rights for ineffectively combating domestic violence. In 2021, the Kremlin announced that it excluded any possibility of tightening domestic violence legislation, despite negative rulings Russia was handed by the ECHR. The rotten, decadent and satanic West is one of the classic meta-narratives of Russian propaganda, repeated in the context of the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is not a defender of Christian values, as it often promotes authoritarian policies, restricting religious freedom and human rights, something that goes against the fundamental principles of Christianity.
The mass-exodus of Ukrainians from the EU to Russia cannot be documented (validated) on the basis of any official statistics, and so it remains a media narrative. A study conducted in a number of EU states this summer shows that 8 in 10 Ukrainian refugees are happy with the level of assistance they receive, even though 50% of them remain below the poverty line. Therefore, 80% do not notice the decadence of the EU and have no plans to move to Russia. Officially, 600,000 Ukrainian refugees have transited Czechia to date, and about 1,500 continue to arrive per week. About half stayed in the Czech Republic, and the rest continued their journey to other countries or returned home.
Ukrainians whom Russia describes as “voluntary refugees” are in fact deported. According to the Ukrainian Ombudsman for Human Rights, Lyudmila Denisova, Russia set up citizen “filtering camps” in May 2022, forcing more than 1.2 million Ukrainians to enter Russian territory. In other words, we are not talking about 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees, but people deported or forced to come to Russia.
In addition, the majority of Ukrainians support the idea of Ukraine joining the EU, and consider Russia as the biggest historical enemy. 94% of Ukrainians have a negative attitude towards Russia, and 80% towards the residents of Russia, according to a survey published this July. Moreover, Russia is not a country of opportunities due to the economic crisis, international sanctions, endemic corruption and restrictions on individual freedoms, which limit personal and professional development.
The argument that Ukrainian society has a very negative attitude towards the inhabitants in the east of the country does not reflect the complexity of the situation in Ukraine. Although there have been historical and political tensions between different regions of Ukraine, many Ukrainians display solidarity with the citizens in the east. After the outbreak of the conflict, numerous aid and solidarity campaigns were organized to support people in the eastern regions. This is another false metanarrative of Russia, presented in recent years in the government media in the form of a “Ukrainian genocide in Donbas” or “the West’s Russophobia”.
BACKGROUND: Although Russia has received a significant number of refugees, the numbers in the EU are higher compared to all other states combined. The countries that received most Ukrainian refugees are Poland, Germany and Czechia. 17 billion EUR has been allocated to Member States hosting refugees under the Temporary Protection Mechanism, launched in the wake of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.
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