The fact that the EU, along with the US and other international partners, provides Kyiv with financial and military assistance does not mean that Europe opposes a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. What increases the number of casualties is Moscow’s continuation of its unprovoked and unjustified aggression.

Despite Kremlin outlets claiming otherwise, the West is not fighting a proxy war in Ukraine. Russia is the only country responsible for the invasion of Ukraine. The RT article refers to a joint guest article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by two German politicians, Anton Hofreiter (The Greens) and Norbert Röttgen (CDU/CSU), who argue in favour of transferring Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

Russia does not target only military targets in Ukraine. War crimes against civilian individuals and infrastructures have been extensively documented. Since December 2022, the Kremlin even recognized massive missile and drone strikes against civilian infrastructures: “yes, we are doing it”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace plan at a EU-Ukraine summit in February 2023. The EU unequivocally supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace formula. It is up to Ukraine to decide when it will hold talks with Russia.

The US, the EU and NATO condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is entirely unjustified and unprovoked. Not only Western but also many other nations around the world support Ukraine with military and financial aid for the country’s efficient self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter article 51, to stop Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

The White House called Russian allegations “categorically false and nothing more than propaganda.” Russia has for several years refused to formally invite OSCE election observers to monitor elections within its territory. The most recent instance when the OSCE observed elections in Russia was in 2018.

There are no Nazis in the Ukrainian government. Accusations of Nazism are one of the most common pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives aimed at undermining the statehood of Ukraine. The narrative of alleged Nazism in Ukraine has been actively used in Russian disinformation since the 2014 Euromaidan protests to discredit Kyiv’s shift toward Euro-Atlantic policy.

There is no evidence backing the allegation, which has been denied by the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service and refuted by fact-checking organisations. The image used to illustrate this Telegram post, supposedly taken from Ukraine’s 24 Kanal website, is a forgery as this outlet never published any story under this headline.

Analysts and researchers have pointed out that anti-Western conspiracy theories about all-powerful secret elites have been used as a political tool used by the Kremlin to strengthen the domestic stability of the current regime and expand its influence abroad by emphasising Russia’s moral superiority.

€53 billion of the €138 billion (38.4%) were provided to Ukraine in the last three months, since December 2023, when the amount of EU support totaled €85 billion. This demonstrates that European support to Ukraine has been on an upward trajectory contrary to claims made by pro-Kremlin outlets.

Ukraine is a well-defined nation-state with a long history and its own literature and identity, despite foreign rule for long periods of time. Ukrainians and Russians belong to the same ethnolinguistic group – the Slavs – but that alone does not preclude Ukraine’s distinctness as nation.

The claims that Polish foreign and security policy is based on territorial revanchism and that the Polish elites are trying to revive the “Polish Empire” are groundless. Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders, fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries, and it rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was unprovoked and unjustified. Contrary to Russian claims, Ukraine had not planned to attack Russia, and did not commit genocide in the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Ukraine was striving to implement the Minsk Agreements, but the Moscow-backed military formations there were constantly disrupting their implementation.

In December 2022 an investigation based on videos and telephone metadata of civilian devices stolen by Russian soldiers established the responsibility of a Russian regiment – and its commander – for the death of several dozens of civilians from Bucha. With regards to the narrative about Boris Johnson, this distorts an interview with Davit Arakhamia, the Chairman of the parliamentary faction of the ruling party of Ukraine. In the interview, Arakhamia himself denied the fact that the Ukrainian delegation was ready to sign the document and that Boris Johnson allegedly stopped them.

Pro-Kremlin outlets falsely portray as a coup d’état the Euromaidan revolution, which constituted of popular demonstrations that began in Kyiv in November of 2013 and brought hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to the streets to protest against a political decision of Viktor Yanukovych’s government, which at the last minute withdrew from a long-negotiated political association and free trade agreement with the EU, choosing instead to accept a $15 billion economic bailout to Russia.

The disinformation is based on an official statement from the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, published on March 7, the anniversary of the creation of the International Legion of Ukrainian Military Intelligence. The statement notes that “The Legion united volunteers from more than 50 countries of the world, who, after a full-scale invasion, came to the aid of Ukrainians and began to fight the troops of terrorist Russia,” the report says.

The disinformation is based on an official statement from the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, published on March 7, the anniversary of the creation of the International Legion of Ukrainian Military Intelligence. The statement notes that “The Legion united volunteers from more than 50 countries of the world, who, after a full-scale invasion, came to the aid of Ukrainians and began to fight the troops of terrorist Russia,” the report says.

The statement that the sanctions have not destroyed the Russian economy is manipulative and misleading. The restrictive measures from the EU, the US and their partners have damaged it severely. Russia’s economy in 2022 contracted by 2.1 per cent. It is expected to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2024 due to military spending, but it can lead to overheating in the long run. Even senior economic officials in Russia recognise this. ‘We might go fast, but not for long,’ Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said in December 2023. The increase in military production has led to the neglect of other economic sectors. Foreign Direct Investment has dropped to insignificance. The fact that Russia has to purchase drones and other kinds of military equipment abroad is another indication of its economic problems.

No credible evidence was provided to back the claim. Russia has for several years refused to invite OSCE election observers for elections in Russia. The last time OSCE observed elections in Russia was in 2018. As the Vice Speaker of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev stated: “The likelihood of the OSCE PA being invited to observe the upcoming presidential elections in Russia is zero.”

There is no evidence that the US or the West are trying to destabilise Russia or interfered in the 2024 presidential election. This disinformation story aims to divert any Russian responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny – a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation. The reasons for his death remain unclear.