WAR PROPAGANDA: Ukraine is a terrorist state and must be punished by Russia

Russia must designate Ukraine a terrorist state because it attacked the Kremlin and other targets, such as the Moskva flagship, the Russian government media writes. In fact, Kyiv has responded to the invasion by striking military targets, whereas the attack on the Kremlin raises suspicion regarding who the author actually is. Moreover, Russia itself has been declared a terrorist state by international bodies.

Propaganda: Ukraine is a terrorist and Nazi state that attacks Russia

NEWS: “The arrest of terrorists and saboteurs who were planning to take out the leaders of Crimea and Yalta and stage two drone attacks on the Kremlin with a view to assassinating Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, amidst the constant shelling of peaceful cities in Donbas, represents clear evidence of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi attitude.

Many consider Ukraine to be a terrorist state, but not even Russia has the courage to designate it as such. This is possibly due to the fact that Ukraine is a transit country for Russian gas headed to Europe, as per international agreements in force.

Now, after the incident, Russia can designate Ukraine a terrorist state or a state that uses terrorist war tactics. Then, we need to deliver an appropriate response. […]

The vice-president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote on Telegram in the wake of the attack on the Kremlin that the only option left is the physical elimination of the regime in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team. […]

After the sinking of the “Moskva” flagship, for which we have not taken revenge, after the terrorist attacks organized by Ukrainian neo-Nazis on the territory of Russia in the regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod, after the shelling of the airstrip in Crimea and Engels in the Saratov region, people are wondering how many red lines the Ukrainians still need to cross before Russia can respond in measure?”

NARRATIVE: Ukraine is a terrorist state and must be punished by Russia

Fact: Russia was designated a terrorist state by members of the international community and accused of having committed war crimes on the territory of Ukraine

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: After its unprovoked attack against Ukraine and its numerous attacks on civilian objectives (houses, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, etc.), Russia was designated a terrorist state, first by the European Parliament, then by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. According to international investigations, at least 20 torture chambers in Kherson were under the direct supervision of the Russian FSB, which served as evidence to designate Russia a terrorist state. Furthermore, the International Criminal Court in March issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, who stands accused of war crimes in Ukraine. The document states that Putin failed to exert the appropriate control over his civilian and military subordinates who committed criminal acts or were an accessory. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has also been condemned by the UN on repeated occasions.

In this context, the Russian media went to great lengths to absolve the Kremlin and depict Ukraine as a terrorist and Nazi state, recalling a series of events from the Russian-Ukrainian war, including the sinking of the “Moskva” warship in the Black Sea. The Russian media mentions nothing of the war crimes committed by Russian servicemen in Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, Izium, Kherson and other settlements.

Ukraine’s military actions come in response to the unwarranted attack of the Russian Federation. Under the UN Charter, Ukraine has every right to defend itself. In fact, Kyiv declared a state of war, unlike Russia, which continues to call its acts of aggression a “special military operation”. Roughly speaking, a terrorist state is one that uses violence against a population that is not directly involved in the conflict, which has the potential of exerting pressure on the country’s leaders. The Moskva missile cruiser was a legitimate military target, having been used to attack Ukraine. So are munition and military bases, particularly those in Crimea and Donbas, which are Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. Therefore, there is no legal basis to designate Ukraine a terrorist state.

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin would have been retaliation for the dozens of Russian missile attacks (to say nothing of the other Ukrainian towns that were the object of shelling, some of them reduced to ruins). Nor should we overlook the fact that, when it attacked Ukraine in February 2022, Russia was the one that tried to eliminate the Ukrainian leadership, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself was the target of several failed attempts on his life.

It is unclear if Ukraine was behind the attack on the Kremlin. Kyiv has denied responsibility for the attack. “We are not the ones attacking Putin or Moscow, we are fighting on our turf”, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a press conference in Helsinki. Admittedly, Ukraine has previously avoided to take responsibility for certain actions behind the frontline, yet in some cases Kyiv officials suggested they might have been involved in these operations. Some Western analysts say Russia could have staged the attack itself in order to blame Kyiv and justify a merciless act of retaliation.

The narratives of the pro-Kremlin media suggest the public at home is being prepared for a new phase of the war, being sold arguments such as “how many red lines the Ukrainians still need to cross before Russia can respond in measure?” The interpretation of the incident paints the image of a patient, mindful and tolerant Russia, which at one point will have to switch to tougher methods in this conflict.

In fact, Russia has never shown restraint since the start of the war, although it has constantly tried to persuade Russians back home that it is trying to save Russian speakers in Ukraine from Nazism and that it launched the “special military operation” to protect the peaceful Ukrainian population. Actually, ever since the outbreak of the conflict, civilians have often found themselves targeted by Russian attacks. A notable example is the bombing of the theatre in Mariupol, the train station in Kramatorsk, the convoy close to Zaporizhzhia, the killing of civilians in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and other towns. Russia’s restraint in this war has become favorite topic of Russian propaganda.

Veridica has disproved several false narratives regarding the nature of the war in Ukraine. A year since the start of the large-scale military invasion, the Russian media tried to prove that the “special military operation” has saved Russia from NATO’s invasion and Ukrainian Nazism. Russian propaganda channels often promoted the false narrative about Moscow showing restraint when bombing Ukraine, knowing the population doesn’t support the Nazi government. According to Russian government media, Ukraine will continue to assassinate Russians based on a list published online, while half of Ukraine’s troops are foreign combatants, which means NATO is already taking part in the war.