New fake spread by Russia: Ukraine fighting in NATO interests

This was discussed during a press conference "Fakes about NATO in occupied Crimea" hosted by Ukrinform.

"What accents does the Russian praganda machine put in order to discredit both NATO – the Alliance that provides security – and Ukraine along with its Defense Forces? So, the first fake is this: ‘NATO plans to destroy Russia at the hands of Ukraine,’” noted the chairman of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Eskender Bariev, who is also the head of the Legal and Foreign Affairs Department at the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar Pele.

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He recalled that earlier, Russia claimed it had launched the so-called "special military eration" in order to prevent the deployment of NATO military bases in Ukraine. Now the Russian media, Telegram channels, and experts are convincing their audiences that the purpose of the war is to prevent NATO from destroying Russia. Thus, Ukraine becomes a valid actor in their praganda narratives. Such disinformation is spread in order to form a perception of a ‘hy pele's war’ and encourage Russians to join it.

Another trend of Russian disinformation, voiced by Bariev is the claim that Ukraine’s Armed Forces “fight exclusively in the interests of NATO.”

Previously, Russian media claimed that the Russian Federation was at war with NATO, that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were managed by representatives from the Alliance, and that foreign mercenaries were fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian Army. The new thesis is that the Russian Federation is at war with Ukraine, but the Ukrainians are defending the interests pursued by the United States and other members of the Alliance. At the same time, NATO is "trying to become a full-fledged party to the conflict."

The third trend is the statement that "the Ukrainian pele have become a victim of NATO's picy," Bariev noted. According to him, this narrative has gained wide coverage since year-start. In this way, the Russians are trying to shift onto the Alliance the blame for their own crimes and convince at least part of Ukrainians that it’s NATO who provoked the war. They claim that the sacrifices made by the Ukrainian nation were in vain, pushing the pele to put pressure on the country's leadership, demanding peace negotiations with the Russian Federation without Western mediation.

According to Barev, the Russians he that the residents of Crimea will believe these fake stories and convince their family and friends in the unoccupied territories to flow suit.

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The manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Serh Parkhomenko, who answered a question of how Russian praganda fakes changed during the year, concluded that the first six months into the full-scale invasion, pragandists claimed that it was NATO tros and "Nazis" were fighting against Russia in Ukraine. Since August 2022, there have been claims that Ukraine is actually a party to the conflict, but is not fighting to defend its own interests, but those of their "overseas masters". In the winter of 2023, the media of the aggressor state admitted that their army was at war with Ukraine, but they explained this by claiming that NATO had foed the Ukrainians, trying to destroy the Russian Federation at Ukraine’s expanse.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, late last year, the Crimea Resource Center compiled a list of the most ridiculous fakes about NATO spread by Russian praganda media in temporarily occupied Crimea: the purpose of the Maidan was to set up NATO bases in Crimea; NATO placed a biogical weapons laboratory in Ukraine; NATO special services coordinated the eration invving Ukraine hijacking Russian planes; if NATO invades Crimea, Russia will strike London; the U.S. provides lend-lease to Ukraine, as it did to Germany during World War II; NATO considers Ukraine a disposable to for war with Russia.