Lies and disinformation about Ukraine

In reference to the commentary “A quest for peace in Europe” written by Bobby M. Tuazon and published on March 16, 2022, the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines would like to clarify on the following points:

On Feb. 24, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military attack against Ukraine, involving indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian civilians and against civilian infrastructure (including residential buildings and hospitals), the bombing of humanitarian corridors, and besieging civilians in the cities, and the death, as of March 14, of at least 1,761 civilians (including 46 children) across Ukraine, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian invasion of Ukraine constitutes a gross violation of international law and the UN Charter, which guarantee the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states, the inviolability of frontiers, refraining from the threat or use of force, and the freedom of states to choose or change their own security arrangements. Ukraine (not a Nato member) has not threatened or attacked Russia.

No country or alliance is plotting to invade or attack Russia. Nato is a defensive alliance, the purpose of which is to protect its member states. Nato exercises and military deployments are not directed against Russia—or any other country. Russia is the world’s largest country by geography with a population of more than 140 million and has one of the largest armed forces in the world with the highest number of nuclear weapons. It is absurd to portray Russia as a country under acute threat. In terms of geography, less than one-sixteenth of Russia’s land border is with Nato members. The narrative of Nato threatening Russia is not substantiated by facts.

The claim that Russia was promised “verbally” that Nato would not expand beyond the reunified Germany was denied by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in a 2014 interview. Decisions regarding Nato membership are up to each individual applicant and the current 30 Nato allies. As a sovereign country, Ukraine has every right to choose its policies and alliances. The notion that Russia should have a veto power over Ukraine’s sovereign decisions has no basis in international law.

The demonstrations, which began on Maidan square in Kyiv in November 2013, were not provoked from outside but were a result of the Ukrainian people’s frustration with former president Viktor Yanukovych’s last-minute refusal to sign the EU-Ukraine association agreement because of Russian pressure. Disinformation narratives that try to blame anyone but the Yanukovych government for the killing of unarmed protesters in February 2014 have not been substantiated by any evidence.

Since the 2013-2014 Maidan protests, pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets have falsely claimed that Ukraine was controlled from the outside and by Nazis. There are over 100 examples of similar disinformation claims in the EUvsDisinfo database (https://euvsdisinfo.eu/). Such claims have no factual basis. In fact, “liberation from neo-Nazism” is the Russian false excuse for this horrific attack on Ukraine’s people. Since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014, more than 14,000 Ukrainians have been killed, wounded, internally displaced, or driven into refuge due to shelling, sniping, attacks of all kinds launched by the Russia-backed armed formations in breach of ceasefires and Minsk agreements. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission has been documenting this on a daily basis.

Ukraine has implemented as much of the Minsk agreements as can reasonably be done while not having control over the territory and addressed every point. It has passed—and extended with renewals— legislation on special status and amnesty (2014), and prepared draft legislation on local elections (2014). Ukraine passed constitutional amendments to provide more autonomy to the territories currently outside its control (2015). It is Russia that has blatantly violated the Minsk agreements.

Russia’s ruthless invasion of Ukraine continues. Civilians are relentlessly attacked, including in schools, apartment buildings, and hospitals. Despite repeated offers by the Ukrainian side, Russia has not shown any willingness to engage seriously in a diplomatic solution. Instead, all we hear are new lies and false accusations. Humanitarian corridors are either still not opened or being bombed by Russian forces shortly after they are announced.

The European Union has adopted restrictive measures against Russia in response to its brutal aggression against Ukraine and its people. EU restrictive measures are not punitive. They are intended to bring about a change in policy or activity by targeting entities and individuals in non-EU countries, responsible for such malignant behavior. EU sanctions are carefully targeted, and designed to be proportionate to the objectives they seek to achieve. These sanctions will further contribute to ramping up economic pressure on the Kremlin and cripple its ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine. The aim of the sanctions is that President Putin stops this inhuman and senseless war.

—————

Luc Véron is the European Union ambassador to the Philippines.