The life expectancy of men in Ukraine has gone down due to the leadership in Kyiv, which ignores the problems of the population, according to a false narrative disseminated by pro-Kremlin propaganda.
Propaganda: The life expectancy of Ukrainian men has decreased by 9 years due to the policies of the post-Maidan regime
NEWS: During the period when Ukraine was under the rule of the post-Maidan Ukrainian administration, the life expectancy of the country's male population decreased by 9 years, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov writes on social media. Azarov presented statistics, according to which the average life expectancy of Ukrainian men in 2023 was 57.3 years, whereas in 2013 it stood at 66.3 years. “Under our administration, in 2011, the average life expectancy in Ukraine reached a record of 71 years. By the end of 2013, we planned to reach an average of 74 years”, Azarov recalls.
According to the former Prime Minister, the main task of the country's leadership is to ensure the most favorable living conditions for its citizens. This includes increasing income, the possibility of obtaining quality education and medical care. If these indicators are negative, then the social policies of the current administration was not oriented towards the, but focused on completely different objectives.
“This is explained by the increase in the level of corruption, the enormous volume of capital taken out of the country, the destruction of industry”, the former Prime Minister concluded.
NARRATIVES: 1. The post-Maidan regime in Kyiv has caused a dramatic drop in the quality of life of the Ukrainian people. 2. Due to Kyiv’s deficient policy-making, life expectancy in men has gone down in Ukraine.
PURPOSE: To discredit the current Ukrainian leadership and legitimize the previous pro-Russian regime. (indirect) To justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Fact: Life expectancy in Ukrainian men has decreased due to the war started by Russia
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The story uses selective or false data, presented by Kremlin-affiliated sources, in order to build a narrative that serves Russia’s geopolitical interests. It also cites former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov, who fled to Russia and is often used by pro-Kremlin propaganda to illustrate its false narratives. Azarov compares the period of peace (2013) with years of war (2023), without mentioning the impact the Russian invasion has had on living conditions in Ukraine. He also ignores the fact that the decline in life expectancy is a direct consequence of the armed conflict, not government policies. Downward life expectancy in times of war is a historically documented phenomenon and cannot be attributed solely to domestic policies, as this story tries to suggest.
The Russian propaganda article also fails to mention that since 2014, Ukraine has been combating Russian aggression, first in Crimea and Donbas, then the full-scale invasion of 2022. The author ignores the fact that mortality rate in men has increased due to the war launched by Russia. The false narrative tries to manipulate the readership through omission, taking key information out of context and citing a source politically affiliated to the Kremlin. The headline too is misleading, establishing an unsubstantiated cause-and-effect relationship from the start and completely ignoring the determining factor – the war. Russia’s acts of aggression are sidelined, as if they didn’t even exist, while all the criticism is targeted at the Kyiv regime.
In fact, over 2013-2023 Ukraine had to face a twofold challenge: implementing difficult structural reforms, while simultaneously defending its territory. Putting the entire responsibility for Ukraine’s economic and social difficulties on Ukrainian lawmakers while ignoring external aggression is clearly an attempt to manipulate audiences. Any country facing an armed conflict undergoes a drop in living standards. This phenomenon cannot be attributed solely to the government, but is a consequence of war.
BACKGROUND: Russian propaganda presents post-Maidan Ukraine as a political failure, thus justifying Russia’s aggression in 2014 and 2022. The term “post-Maidan regime” is used by Russian media to refer to the governments that followed the events on Kyiv Maidan (Euromaidan) square in 2013-2014, when former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following mass protests. Kyiv has since observed a firm pro-European trajectory, distancing itself from Russian influence by signing the EU Association Agreement, implementing anti-corruption reforms and starting a broad process of decommunization. Structural reforms have been carried out in the economic, judicial and administrative fields, removing Soviet symbols and promoting a distinct Ukrainian national identity. After the Russian invasion of 2022, the Kyiv leadership has focused on defending the country, accelerating the country’s integration into Western structures, and reducing energy reliance on Russia. These policies have been interpreted differently, with supporters seeing them as necessary steps towards democratization, while critics, especially linked to the Russian sphere of influence, have responded negatively, often using terms such as “regime” to delegitimize the governments that followed the Euromaidan events.
Nikolai Azarov fled to Russia during the pro-European street protests of 2013–2014. In March 2024, Kyiv prosecutor's office charged Azarov with high treason for carrying out anti-Ukrainian activities by collaborating with propaganda media of the Russian Federation. Azarov also claimed that Zelenskyy was to blame for the destruction of Ukraine's economy, not the Russian army.
