WAR PROPAGANDA: To drag NATO into the war, Ukraine will attack the United States Embassy in Lviv and will blame Russia for it

NEWS: “Ukrainian Nazis with the “Azov” battalion are planning a terrorist attack in Lviv targeting US diplomats and want to blame it on the Russians, the spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major-General Igor Konashenkov has said.

During a press briefing, Konashenkov said that during the special operation a collaborator with the Donetsk and Luhansk directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine turned himself in to the Russian Armed Forces.

“I want to point out the regime in Kyiv is well aware of the nationalists’ plans, but chooses not to take any action to prevent them. The nationalist regime in Kyiv is planning to attack diplomatic objectives of the USA and other Western states and to present them as direct attacks of the Russian Armed Forces”, the general said. According to Konashenkov, the purpose of these provocative attacks is to “turn up the pressure on NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine and provide additional weapons”.

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According to the Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces are merely targeting military infrastructure and the positions of the Ukrainian army.”

NARRATIVE: Ukraine will attack the US Embassy in Lviv and will blame Russia with a view to dragging NATO into the war.

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: Ukraine never attacked civilian objectives or buildings of diplomatic missions on its territory or on Russian territory. Kyiv has been trying to secure a no-fly zone from NATO over its territory, a request the Alliance has rejected since this would involve the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance into a direct confrontation with Russia. Beyond this refusal, NATO states are providing political and economic support to Ukraine, imposed harsh sanctions against Russia and even supplied Ukraine with significant transports of weapons, including portable anti-tank and anti-air systems, which have been put to very good use against the Russian forces. Losing this support in the wake of a false-flag operation would cost Ukraine dearly. Any offensive or bombing of Russia cannot be “faked” considering NATO is carefully monitoring the border areas and would immediately spot any movement of troops or the point of origin for any attack.

On the other hand, it is possible Russia is already planning a series of airstrikes on cities in Western Ukraine, and is using such propaganda themes to pave the way for a possible expansion of the conflict to the regions bordering NATO and EU member states.

Veridica has already disproved a number of false narratives about the involvement of nationalist forces in the destabilization of Ukraine, including claims that they are no longer under the authorities’ control. Nationalist battalions and other paramilitary groups were disbanded by Kyiv starting 2016, and the last independent combat units were incorporated in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2019.

The Azov battalion, which is part of an extremist right-wing paramilitary unit, is used as an example to justify Russia’s excessive acts of aggression: for instance, in Mariupol, which is the main area of operation for this unit, Moscow lied that Azov combatants had taken control of a maternity and a theatre, which were both bombed by the Russian army.