False Narrative 1: NATO “encirclement” and Russia “is not the aggressor”
One of the earliest Kremlin-fabricated justifications for war is the false claim that NATO and “the West” are aggressors threatening Russia’s security. For months leading up to February 24, 2022, Russia demanded security guarantees including restrictions on countries’ joining NATO, a position which rejected Ukraine’s and other countries’ sovereign right to choose their own foreign policy. As Moscow amassed up to 190,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spread disinformation to cloud the Kremlin’s intentions, claiming Russia’s troops were not on the border with Ukraine while accusing the United States and allies of whipping up hysteria . President Putin falsely blamed NATO for the escalating tensions, claimed he was not planning an invasion , and accused the United States of using Ukraine as a “tool to contain Russia .” Aiming to deflect the blame, disinformation outlets linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) amplified the false claims, calling the warnings by the United States and NATO about the potential for a military offensive by Russia against Ukraine “western hysteria ” to “drag Ukraine into war .”
Over the year of war, the Kremlin shifted this disinformation narrative of Western efforts pushing for the war to one arguing that by helping Ukraine to defend itself, the United States and NATO are prolonging or escalating the war. Following a November 2022 NATO Ministerial Meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed the “global majority” understands the threats posed by NATO, blaming the Alliance for allegedly pushing Ukraine to continue the war. Disinformation outlets, such as the FSB-tasked News Front and state-run Sputnik , both cited alleged “experts” who argued that by pledging further aid to Ukraine, NATO was “pouring oil on fire.” The SVR-directed Strategic Culture Foundation and Oriental Review warned that Ukraine will try to “drag NATO into a war within Ukraine’s borders” and claimed to have proved that NATO provoked the conflict in Ukraine.
The Kremlin resurrects this disinformation narrative whenever Ukraine’s partners announce more military assistance to Ukraine. The latest twist accuses NATO of Russophobia after the United States and Germany agreed to provide modern M1 Abrams and Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov parroted this narrative in January 2023 claiming, “NATO with maniacal persistence … consistently crawled up to the Russian borders, at the same time zombifying our neighboring countries with Russophobic horror stories.”
Russia spreads disinformation portraying NATO as the aggressor to obfuscate the facts. Russia alone started this war, not Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor, not NATO. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated to the United Nations Security Council on September 22, 2022, “If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends
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Conclusion: “Our Historic Lands”
The courage and resilience of the people of Ukraine, their absolute commitment to defending their country’s independence and democracy, the unity of effort among the United States and our allies and partners in supporting Ukraine’s self-defense, and the global condemnation of Russia’s aggression, have pushed the Kremlin to continuously dance from one disinformation narrative to another in an attempt to justify its war to the people of Russia and the international community. Russia’s lies do not change the truth. The Kremlin chose to start this war, and the Kremlin can choose to end it.
Ukraine is an independent state and member of the United Nations. It has the sovereign right to defend its territory and choose its foreign policy.Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2014 when Russia’s forces seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and led, funded, and trained proxies to instigate and sustain conflict in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Democratic Ukraine is not overrun by Nazis or Satanists — the Kremlin created these myths to stoke fervor among its own population. Ukrainian citizens of all ethnicities democratically elected a Jewish President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the international community has recognized the legitimacy of his government. In the months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the United States and others joined Ukraine in good faith diplomacy to explore ways to address Russia’s claimed security concerns without compromising Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia chose war instead. Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, in blatant violation of UN Charter principles respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and refraining from the use of force. Russia brutally seized and occupied portions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson provinces, then held sham referenda and purported to annex them just as it claimed to have done Crimea in an attempt to realize the Kremlin’s predatory territorial ambitions.
All of Russia’s rhetorical contortions serve one goal — to mask Russia’s apparent effort to erase the sovereign, independent state of Ukraine from the map and subjugate its people . Buried in the lies are tell-tale signs pointing to the Kremlin’s true neo-imperial ambitions . Putin’s July 2021 missive declaring Russians and Ukrainians “one people ” and his February 2022 call-to-war speeches , filled with historical revisionism and disinformation denying Ukraine’s statehood and sovereign agency, gave the world a glimpse of his goals. The same lines are frequently repeated by the faces of Kremlin’s propaganda, such as Margarita Simonyan , who recently reiterated the fictitious claim that Ukraine was built by Russia and owes its might to Russia’s gifts . Putin’s vision to fulfill the imperial expansionist ambitions of Peter I and “return lost territories ,” and Kremlin officials’ unvarnished commentary reveal their actual intent. Kremlin officials indicated Moscow may also retaliate against so-called “Russophobia” and non-existent “genocide against Russians” in places other than Ukraine it considers its historic lands. Kremlin pundits have already speculated that Russia may need to “denazify” Kazakhstan , Moldova , and any other country allegedly harboring “Russophobia.” Leaving little doubt about his vision of the future, in a January 2023 speech Putin stated: “The goal, as I have said many times, is primarily to protect people and protect Russia itself from the threats that they are trying to create in our own historical lands adjacent to us. We cannot let this happen.”
No matter which narrative the Kremlin deploys at any given time in its losing game of disinformation roulette, Ukraine remains a sovereign, independent state recognized by the international community. Its brave people will remain steadfast in defense of their country and their democracy, and the United States will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
