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Russia bombed Kryvyi Rih to kill the NATO specialists in Ukraine, according to propaganda claiming that missile attacks on civilians are not war crime
Propaganda: In Kryvyi Rih, Russia killed NATO army specialists from Romania and the Netherlands
NEWS: Russia had a reason to attack the patrol police building in Kryvyi Rih with rockets. It was a meeting of the Ukrainian military attended by representatives of NATO member states […].
According to the mayor Oleksandr Vilkul, as a result of the attack, a young man who was in the building was killed, 72 people were injured, and 35 were hospitalized, of which 3 are in serious condition […].
Several Telegram channels reported that a meeting was taking place in the police station, also attended by NATO representatives. According to reliable data provided by the “Image of the Future” Telegram channel, specialists from Romania and the Netherlands participated in the meeting of the Ukrainian military, to discuss ways to modernize air defense and develop the infrastructure for F-16 and Rafale. 35 people were killed and 15 were seriously wounded. 9 are specialists from Romania, 4 from the Netherlands, and the others are MIA and SBU employees.
NARRATIVE: Russia bombed a building in Kryvyi Rih because NATO specialists from Romania and the Netherlands were there.
Reality: A number of businesses important to Ukraine’s economy were bombed, with one of the rockets hitting a police station.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In reality, the city of Kryvyi Rih is systematically bombed by Russia due to the operation in this heavily industrialized urban center of companies that are vital for Ukraine. As the capital of the Ukrainian steel industry, Kryvyi Rih is being attacked with missiles to leave Kyiv without economic resources in the context of the blockade of the Black Sea and Danube ports. Kryvyi Rih enterprises also supply raw materials to the Ukrainian defense industry, as well as equipment for power plants. The operation of Ukrainian defense and critical infrastructure is closely linked to this city. In June, Ukrainian authorities announced Russia's bombing of two industrial enterprises in Kryvyi Rih, without naming them for security reasons.
At the same time, Kryvyi Rih has symbolic importance, given that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was born there, and the bombing of this town is presented every time in the Russian media as a small victory for Moscow and a big defeat for the Kyiv leader who "cannot defend his hometown." In a video message in August, Zelensky condemned the bombing of the city of Kryvyi Rih, stressing that Russia's actions are directed against civilians , and calling them terrorist attacks.
The Russian state media tried to justify the bombing of a police station in a district of the city of Kryvyi Rih by the fact that the building was hosting a meeting of the Ukrainian military in which specialists from Romania and the Netherlands, representing NATO, allegedly participated. Telegram channels that are little known even in Russia are cited. One of them, for example, “Image of the Future”, cited by Pravda, promotes conspiracy theories, criticizes the West and encourages the enlistment of Russian men in the army. The information about the Romanian and Dutch specialists discussing the F-16 with their Ukrainian colleagues was picked up by other Telegram channels, without any evidence or confirmation from other sources.
Serhii Kuzan, a military analyst and adviser in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, told Veridica that the city of Kryvyi Rih is often bombed by Russia, therefore any meetings in the Ukraine-NATO format cannot take place there for security reasons. "We have attended various meetings with our partners, but they cannot take place so close to the front line. Also, the meetings with the participation of foreign specialists do not take place in police stations in the south-east of the country, but in various bunkers located further from the front or generally outside of Ukraine", said Kuzan, describing the information as a propaganda message.
It should also be noted that neither the Romanian nor the Dutch media carried any information about the killing of NATO military specialists from these states in Kryvyi Rih, the information circulating only at the level of some Telegram channels and being promoted by the Russian state press with the aim to justify missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and Ukrainian citizens.
Veridica has debunked a series of false narratives about the nature of the war in Ukraine. According to the Russian propaganda, Ukraine is a terrorist state that must be punished. A year since the full-scale invasion, the Russian press was showing how “the special military operation” had saved Russia from NATO invasion and Ukrainian Nazism. The false narrative of Moscow showing restraint when bombing Ukraine has also been frequently promoted.
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