Kremlin manipulates claims of “Damage by Ukrainian Forces” exceeding $9 billion — Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation
Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin claimed that Ukraine allegedly inflicted over 706 billion rubles (around $9 billion) in damages on Russia and occupied territories. He attributed the losses to actions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donbas and border regions of Russia.
Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation (CCD) under the National Security and Defence Council emphasised that this is another instance of Kremlin information manipulation.
“The main manipulation is the deliberate erasure of the war’s causes. Until 2014, Donbas was not a combat zone, with no mass destruction or thousands of deaths. All of this emerged only after Russia’s military intervention,” the CCD stated.
Effectively, the Kremlin is attempting to create an alternative legal narrative in which the aggressor appears as the victim. According to the CCD, Russia plans to “record damage allegedly caused by Ukraine” for potential future political leverage.
“In Russian information channels, the narrative is being pushed that Ukrainian forces are responsible for destruction, despite the fact that it was Russian troops that destroyed cities in Donbas, Kharkiv region, and southern Ukraine,” the centre added.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to fabricate the claim of a Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence. The German government has expressed concern over Moscow’s statements about the alleged drone strike, warning that Russia could use it as a pretext for further escalation.
The Kremlin is reportedly trying to reconcile inconsistencies in its own statements regarding the supposed Ukrainian drone attack on Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region earlier this week.
