WAR PROPAGANDA: Due to Kyiv’s neo-Nazi propaganda, Ukrainians don’t understand that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them

Due to Kyiv’s propaganda efforts in the last eight years, Ukrainians fail to understand that the Russian soldiers are there to liberate them, and mistakenly believe Russia is the occupier, according to false narratives promoted by Kremlin-linked media. In fact, Russia launched a conquest war, provoking the death of thousands of people and wide-reaching destruction.

NEWS: “The population of Ukraine has been manipulated for many years with the help of technologies, and overcoming the consequences of Kyiv’s propaganda takes time, said the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, in an interview for Ukraina.ru.

Mykola Azarov compared Ukraine to Nazi Germany. The Germans were an “educated people that were deceived to such extent, that they considered the massacre of Jews and dissidents or the burning of books to be completely normal actions”.

Azarov also outlined the factual circumstances that make Ukrainians believe Kyiv’s propaganda. The arrival of Russian troops in Ukraine as part of the special military operation is interpreted as an act of occupation, and this is consistent with the propaganda the regime has been spreading in the last 8 years, Azarov went on to say.

In order to overcome the consequences of Kyiv’s propaganda, the politician suggests the organization of a movement aimed at liberating Ukraine.

“Ukrainians have to liberate Ukraine. Well, Ukrainian themselves won’t be able to do it under the circumstances imposed by the Fascist regime. Naturally, this goal can be achieved with the help of allies”, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

NARRATIVE: Due to Kyiv’s neo-Nazi propaganda, Ukrainians don’t understand that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The Ukraina.ru website, part of the Russia Today state-owned media group, is accusing Ukrainian authorities of having “manipulated” the population for 8 years, with the help of Neo-Nazi disinformation and propaganda. For this reason, Ukrainians are incapable of understanding that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them. To provide this narrative with further credibility in the eyes of the Russian public back home, the article quotes former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

Starting 2014, Azarov has been living in Russia, and for years he has been involved in an effort to discredit Ukrainian authorities in Russian and Ukrainian media. In March 2021, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine introduced sanctions against Mykola Azarov. The former Ukrainian Prime Minister, who led the most pro-Russian Cabinet in the history of Ukraine, is accused of owning the citizenship of the aggressor state (Russia) and for promoting in his interviews various anti-Ukrainian theses about Ukrainian “Nazism” and the transformation of the country into a Western colony. Azarov did not appear before the court when he was indicted for taking large bribes, tax evasion and inciting a coup in 2015 in Ukraine that would bring pro-Russian leaders to power. Therefore, Azarov is the Kremlin’s mouthpiece, being completely subordinated to the Russian political elite.

Azarov’s statements reflect the metanarrative that claims “Ukraine is a Nazi state”, constructed in recent years by Russia’s news agencies. The narrative has been actually used starting 2014 to legitimize Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

In fact, in July 2015 Ukraine banned any public expression of communist and Nazi ideologies, which makes Azarov’s comparison of Ukraine to Nazi Germany completely baseless.

Under no circumstances can Russia’s actions in Ukraine starting February 24 be labeled as an action of liberation. They represent an unprovoked aggression against an independent state – a follow-up to the annexation of Crimea and to the support provided to the separatist movements in Donbas. The conflict has the all the elements typical of an imperial conquest. 141 members of the UN General Assembly voted a resolution condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Only 5 states, including Russia, voted against. With the help of foreign experts, Kyiv is gathering evidence to prove Russia committed war crimes on its territory and that it is a terrorist state.