The interview has sparked unprecedentedly wide response both in Ukraine and the West predominantly because of Lavrov’s announcement of russia having territorial ambitions beyond Donetsk and Luhansk regions. But other Lavrov’s high profile “confessions” has gone unnoticed against the backdrop of discussion about his, detached from reality, assertions.
In this article, we will refute all the cliché of russian propaganda, made during the interview with the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of russia Sergei Lavrov.
“Zelensky is an illegitimate leader, who came into power owing to the illegal coup when the previous president was overthrown”
What is considered a “cope” from the russian perspective, is actually the Revolution of Dignity, which took place in 2014 when former president Victor Yanukovych fled to Russia
The 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections, as a result of which the incumbent President of Ukraine won, were conducted in complete accordance with the law after the expiry of 5-years presidential term of the previous President. Zelensky run for president as the opposition candidate and won in the run-off.
“Zelensky referred to Donbas citizens as “creatures”
In fact, the phrase “people and creatures” bears no relevance to the people of Donbas. This comment was made within the framework of discussion over the question of tackling corruption during the 5-hours press marathon held in November of 2021. Zelensky’s expression “creatures” applied to those “smugglers” and “thieves-in-law” who appeared on the sanction lists.
“Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to Donbas citizens as “subhumans”
Actually, this taken-out-of-context quote applied to militants and terrorists, not to Donbas citizens. Offering his condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers, the Prime Minister declared: “They lost their lives because they stood up to defend men and woman, children and the elderly who faced a threat to be perished by invaders and sponsored by them barbarians”. Because of inappropriate translation in English (literally the word “subhuman” was used), this quote for a long time had been actively used by Russian propaganda as “evidence “of the Ukrainian government’s complicity in Nazi ideology.
“Zelensky suggested that all Russians should leave Ukraine and move to Russia”
The truth is that this distorted quote was addressed not to ethnic russians, but to those who although living in Ukraine, consider russia to be their state. That is how BBC reported his words: “I believe it is a huge mistake to live in the territory of Donbas and think that it should join russia because it will never be part of russia. For the sake of your children and grandchildren go to russian federation and seek for settling down there”
“Poroshenko threatened to force Donbas children into the cellars”
Russian propaganda widely promoted this quote but, in fact, it was made in October 2014 as part of a speech to officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko urged to ensure prosperity in controlled areas of Donbas in order to deprive terrorists of the support of the locals. The focal point of his speech was a narrative about the self-styled terroristic regime in the occupied territories, which, as distinguished from Ukrainian authority, won’t be able to ensure a decent life for the locals. This speech included no hints of threats of any kind.
“The West made clandestine supplies of long-range ATACMS rockets for HIMARS”
The only one who actually mentioned supplies of such a kind was Eduard Basurin, representative of the so-called people’s militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Defence Minister of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov only expressed a wish to have 300-kilometer-range missiles.
Later his colleague Lloyd Austin clarified that the United States is supplying Ukraine with ammunition for HIMARS with a range of 80 kilometers and there is no question about long-range missiles.
“Russia will substitute Western trading partners with Eastern ones”
In fact, the russian economy’s reliance on the Asian market has no grounds. Companies from Asian countries, especially from China, do not strive to invest in sectors of the russian economy due to concerns about secondary sanctions of West countries. Since April 2022 import from China to Russia has decreased by 40 percent. Large technology companies such as Lenovo and Xiaomi have already curtailed their activities in russia.
Thus, Lavrov’s interview is another attempt to substantiate expanding of russia’s war goals by falsification and manipulation of facts.
