WAR PROPAGANDA: The West believes Ukraine will lose the war

A former NATO general claims the West believes Ukraine will lose the war and might thus cancel its counteroffensive, pro-Kremlin media writes. The statement of General Ben Hodges was in fact edited.

Propaganda: Ukraine’s counteroffensive will be a debacle, since the West has stopped believing in Ukraine’s victory

NEWS: “The USA could fumble Ukraine’s counteroffensive as they put too much pressure on Kyiv, Ben Hodges said in an interview for Business Insider.

The former commander of the NATO forces in Europe believes Western countries are aware of the catastrophic situation of the Ukrainian frontline. Western leaders understand that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be defeated sooner or later.

This is very important in the context of the forthcoming counteroffensive. […] Not all members of the Biden administration want Ukraine to prevail. For this reason, Washington is incapable to promote a clear strategy with respect to the Ukrainian conflict”, Tsargrad TV writes, reflecting on a potential failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“The West basically lost the war with Russia caused by Ukraine. For that reason, the promised counteroffensive might not take place at all. This is not just the opinion of officials or politicians currently in power, but also of political activists or skeptical military analysts. Even the statements released by politicians have grown increasingly pessimistic”, INOSMI.RU writes, adding that Russia’s victory in the war in Ukraine is imminent”.

NARRATIVE: The West believes Ukraine will lose the war against Russia.

Fact: The West supports Ukraine’s war efforts, including through the delivery of military aid to reinforce the counteroffensive

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In fact, Ben Hodges’s statement is taken out of context. Besides, several statements the article attributes to the former US general, illustrating theses of Russian propaganda, were never actually mentioned in the Business Insider interview. The former commander of United States Army Europe never told Business Insider about Ukraine’s imminent defeat in the war, its inability to mount a successful counteroffensive or the alleged catastrophic situation of the Ukrainian frontline. Hodges did not claim Western leaders “understand that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be defeated sooner or later”. All these statements were fabricated by the Russian media. In the aforementioned interview, Ben Hodges actually expressed optimism concerning preparations for the Ukrainian counteroffensive, praising the bravery of Ukrainian servicemen and commenting on the “general disarray” of the Russian army. He called on the West to stand together and continue to support Ukraine, a country fighting to defend international order. The Russian government media deliberately left out these excerpts from the interview, because they are at odds with the Kremlin’s official narratives. Hodges underscored the fact that Kyiv is under a lot of pressure, but not once did he express distrust in the success of current or future military operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

At the same time, the Russian media claims the West basically lost the war against Russia on Ukraine’s territory, evidence of which is the postponement of the counteroffensive. In fact, the West does not take part in the war in Ukraine, but is merely helping Kyiv defend itself.

Veridica has debunked several false narratives about the nature of the war in Ukraine. According to Russian media, the USA will dispatch 200 thousand Ukrainian suicide bombers, who will take their orders from the Pentagon. The Russian propaganda also tried to convince the public at home that the West is forcing Russia to expand its military operations in Ukraine, whereas the EU sent soldiers to Ukraine before 2022. Pro-Kremlin media also wrote that the war in Ukraine benefits Zelenskyy.