Latest fact checks & sources

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.

This disinformation story is a distorted reference to a New York Times report, the content of which is being disingenuously twisted to support pro-Kremlin justifications for the invasion. The original NYT article explains how contacts between the US and Ukrainian intelligence services started in 2014 but only deepened in 2016, two years after Russia’s aggression had started with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the engineering of an armed conflict in Donbas.

The claim is false. No Spanish outlet has pointed to any Ukrainian involvement in the death of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter in August 2023 and was shot in his apartment in the Spanish coastal town of Villajoyosa on 13 February 2024.

This disinformation story is a distorted reference to a New York Times report, the content of which is being disingenuously twisted to support pro-Kremlin justifications for the invasion. The original NTY article explains how contacts between US and Ukrainian intelligence started in 2014 but only deepened in 2016, two years after Russia’s aggression had started with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the engineering of an armed conflict in Donbas. According to the NYT article, the network of CIA bases was also established on that second date.

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about EU disintegration and a looming economic collapse of western countries’ economies. As our past analysis explains, the ‘imminent collapse’ narrative is often used in pro-Kremlin outlets in relation to the EU, European countries, or capitalism and the purpose it to erode public trust and confidence in society, thus weakening morale in Western societies.

The NATO-Ukraine Council issued a statement on 24 February 2024 to mark ‘two years of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and ten years since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and initial military intervention in the Donbas.’ This statement contains no disinformation because Russia has really committed these and other crimes in Ukraine.

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Ukraine, the Maidan protests and encircling or destabilising Russia. All these allegations have been repeatedly debunked.

We debunk an ongoing theme in the Russian disinformation and propaganda campaign: That Ukraine is sending children to fight on the frontline. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Russia’s responsibility for the global food crisis comes as a consequence of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine: naval blockade of Ukrainian posts, bombardment of transport infrastructure and shelling of farming regions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has destabilised global food markets and is driving food prices up due to increased cost of production, transport and freight insurance. Russia has destroyed substantial food stocks, production, as well as processing and transport capacities in Ukraine.

The claim that the Belarusian opposition is planning to change the country’s borders is baseless. After the violent crackdown of the 2020 protests by Lukashenka, tens of thousands of Belarusians moved to Poland in order to avoid repressions. The claim that Belarusian opposition groups and associations operating in Poland are planning a military attack on Belarus is unfounded.

The EU does not impose any action or program on the partner countries. The overall aim of cooperation is to build a common area of shared democracy, prosperity, and stability in line with each individual country’s aspirations.

Sevastopol is an Ukrainian city, as well as Luhansk and Donetsk, temporarily occupied by Russia. No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was NOT valid and declaring its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

In 2014, there was neither a coup nor a protest orchestrated by Western countries in Ukraine. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called “Maidan”, or “Euromaidan” – were a result of the Ukrainian people’s frustration with the former President Yanukovych.

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace plan at an EU-Ukraine summit in February 2023. The EU unequivocally supported President Zelenskyy’s peace formula. It is up to Ukraine to decide when it will hold talks with Russia. The assistance to Ukraine is aimed at making Ukraine’s position stronger. Read the results of the Special European Council, 9 February 2023.

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.

Ukraine has been under continuous Russian occupation since 2014. In February that year, Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. In autumn 2022, it used sham referenda in an attempt to annex the above-mentioned oblasts, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

The Soviet Union did not defeat Nazi Germany alone: after July 1941 it was part of the allies and benefited of the alliance support in particular the lend-lease program.

It is Russia and President Putin who are clearly responsible for the war in Ukraine. It was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII.

The sanctions on Russia, introduced by the US and the EU, do not violate international law or any regulations as they are an entirely legitimate mechanism. Sanctions are a key tool of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.