On August 10, 2022, a representative of the Chinese government falsely claimed that the United States initiated Russia’s war against Ukraine in an interview to Russian state media.
China’s ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, said that the US’s “ultimate goal is to exhaust and crush Russia with a protracted war and the cudgel of sanctions.” The Chinese ambassador added that “as the initiator and main instigator of the Ukrainian crisis, Washington, while imposing unprecedented comprehensive sanctions on Russia, continues to supply arms and military equipment to Ukraine”.
The Chinese ambassador’s statement aligns directly with Russian state disinformation and propaganda about NATO, Ukraine and the false justifications for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Fact:
Vladimir Putin initiated an unprovoked attack against Ukraine in 2014 when his forces occupied and illegally annexed Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, Russian Armed Forces attacked Ukraine and engaged in the destruction of civilian infrastructure and mass atrocities against civilians, including systematic sexual violence.
The Russian government has engaged in a mass disinformation campaign about its invasion of Ukraine to falsely portray itself both as a victim and a liberator. The Kremlin and Russian state media have accused NATO of encircling Russia and imperialism in order to paint itself as an innocent victim. It has also falsely claimed that Ukraine’s government is led by neo-Nazis in order to justify its invasion as a campaign to “de-nazify” Ukraine.
