The disinformation is based on a video message from the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, published on February 26, 2024. Budanov recalled that Russia's war against Ukraine began not in 2022, but ten years ago - with a carefully planned Russian military operation to seize Ukrainian Crimea.
Die Zeit provided perspective on the $5 billion spent by USAID (not NATO) on democracy development over 23 years, clarifying that these funds did not support the EuroMaidan movement.
As this database consistently emphasises, contrary to claims by the Kremlin, there was no coup in Ukraine in 2014. Moreover, the United States did not play any role in the events that unfolded
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to misrepresent and fuel resentment against Western support to Ukraine and force a capitulation to Russian military aggression. Designed to diminish the efforts of Ukraine's armed forces, promoting the false narrative that there is no point in supporting Ukraine because Russia cannot be defeated and Ukraine will inevitably perish.
This is exactly what NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about in an interview with RFE/RL on February 23, 2024. The NATO Secretary General noted that Ukraine, when it receives F-16 fighters from its allies, according to international law, can strike military targets in Russia. However, Stoltenberg added, this issue will be resolved by the countries supplying F-16 fighters to Ukraine.
EU and US leaders are not threatening Russia with nuclear weapons or conventional warfare. They have been trying to establish good-neighbourly relations with Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1997, Russia and NATO signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security which said that 'NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.' Several disarmament initiatives have been launched since then.
The claim that Zelenskyy uses the war for personal embezzlement is made without any evidence. International support is used by Ukraine to defend itself against the unjustified and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine which started on February 24, 2022, and to support the economy in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion.
On February 25, 2024, NATO military exercises Dragon-24 started in Poland. This part of the exercise on Polish territory is a key element of the largest NATO exercise since 1988, Steadfast Defender 2024. The military maneuvers are in no way related to the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine. NATO has repeatedly emphasised that the Alliance is not involved in the Russian war and does not intend to send its troops into the territory of Ukraine.
The former president continued to criticize fellow NATO members' spending, but he overstated how much more the U.S. has spent to fund Ukraine's defense.
The video has been digitally altered to put Zelenskyy's face on someone
else's body.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued against further US funding for Ukraine by saying that "tens of billions of dollars" have been used "to pay salaries for Ukrainian government bureaucrats," and that US taxpayers have "paid pensions for Ukrainian retirees."
Facts First: This needs context. [...]
The money, which is disbursed through the World Bank, has gone to pay "wages for hospital workers, government employees, and teachers as well as social assistance for the elderly and vulnerable." [...] It has also been provided to the Ukrainian government to "supply emergency services for internally displaced persons."