'Genocide in Donbass and Lenin Founded Ukraine': Fact Check of Putin's Speech

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of troops to two separatist-held regions in eastern Ukraine, recognizing them as independent states. In a long late-night televised address from the Kremlin, Putin tried to justify his actions by making a series of false claims about Ukraine. with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

“The so-called civilized world... prefers to ignore this, as if this horror, this genocide, to which almost four million people are being subjected never happened,” Putin said of Donbass, claiming that Russian-speaking residents there were being subjected to “genocide,” a term he used previously and is currently being repeated on Russian state television.

The UN Genocide Convention, ratified by 152 countries, including Russia, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group." Examples include the killings in Rwanda and Srebrenica, the report says.

But there is no evidence of genocide in eastern Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Putin's statement as "ludicrous".

The UN states that states have "sometimes characterized certain incidents or periods of violence as genocide", but these "characterizations cannot be taken as authoritative or defining".

On the subject: The United States imposed sanctions on public debt, officials and banks of Russia: all meetings between politicians of the two countries are canceled

However, conflict continues in eastern Ukraine.

The UN estimates that between 14 April 2014, when the conflict began, and 21 February 2022, 14–200 people were killed in eastern Ukraine, including:

• at least 3407 civilians;
• 4400 servicemen of the Ukrainian army;
• 6500 members of armed groups;
• up to 39 people were injured, of which approximately 000–7 were civilians.

And in 2018, an International Crisis Group think tank found that some 600 people on both sides of the front lines lived in insecure communities “where they are subjected to daily shelling and heavy restrictions on freedom of movement and are deprived of basic services.”

“There have already been statements that Ukraine is going to create its own nuclear weapons... Ukraine indeed still has Soviet nuclear technology and the means of delivering such weapons,” Putin said.

Last week, at a security conference for world leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "We don't have these weapons."

Ukraine, which had the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal during the Cold War, gave up its nuclear weapons in the 1990s in exchange for security guarantees from the United States, Britain and Russia.

And at present, Ukraine does not have a means of delivering nuclear weapons by air or any nuclear warheads that could be delivered by missiles, according to defense experts.

Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, suggested last year that if Ukraine fails to join NATO, it might have to reconsider its nuclear-free status.

The issue has reportedly become more prominent in public debate since the conflict that erupted in eastern Ukraine and the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

But the government has not said it intends to return to nuclear weapons, and a revised military strategy published last year makes no mention of acquiring them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has told us that it sees no signs in Ukraine of "redirecting nuclear materials intended for peaceful activities to other purposes."

“Corruption, which, without a doubt, is a challenge and problem for many countries, including Russia, has acquired a special character in Ukraine,” Putin said.

Russia is the lowest-ranked European country in Transparency International's (CPI) 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 136th out of 180 countries worldwide, while Ukraine ranks 122nd.

According to the organization, Ukraine's performance has improved significantly over the past decade.

But Ilya Shumanov of Transparency International Russia says: "Russia's assessment ... reflects the absence of systemic positive changes in the fight against corruption."

“More than 60 doctors and other medical workers left the country during the pandemic,” the Russian president said.
This claim appears to be based on a report published in March 2021 by the Ukrainian sociological company Razumkov Center, which states: “According to experts, 2020 doctors and healthcare workers have left Ukraine since the beginning of 66.”

As of February 2021, about 34 of them were registered doctors in Ukraine's healthcare system who had retired since the start of the pandemic, according to former Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov.

A Kiev doctor earns about $23 a year, compared with $000 in neighboring Poland, according to the Institute for Economic Research.

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Official statistics do not track where Ukrainian doctors go to work, but healthcare employers report a rapid increase in the number of applicants for work in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

What surprised me most was the historical educational program from Vladimir Putin - he said that “as a result of the Bolshevik policy, Soviet Ukraine arose, which even today can rightfully be called “Ukraine named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.” He is its author and architect.”

“This process began almost immediately after the revolution of 1917, and Lenin and his comrades did this in a very rude way towards Russia itself - through separation, tearing away from it part of its own historical territories,” Putin continued.

The American embassy in Kiev reacted to this scandalous speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he presented his dubious version of the history of Ukraine, reports DialogueUA.

The United States “trolled” Putin, who tried to convince him that Ukraine was allegedly created by the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin. With just one picture, the Americans proved that the words of the head of Russia are fake.

pic.twitter.com/3KGLl7MYFc

- US Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) February 22, 2022

In the released image, the United States was reminded of the true history of Kyiv and Moscow. Thus, in the current capital of Ukraine, already in 996, the Tithe Church was built - the first stone Orthodox church on the territory of Kievan Rus. In 1011, the St. Sophia Cathedral was built there, in 1070 - the Vydubitsky Monastery, and in 1108 - the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery.

During these years, when Kyiv was flourishing, Moscow was a dense forest. It was founded only in 1147 - more than 200 years after the founding of Kyiv (according to the first written source, Kiev has existed since 930. However, there is a version that the city is much older and was founded in 430).

Given this information, Putin's statements that Ukraine allegedly does not exist, that it has no traditions, statehood, and was created by Lenin in general, look very far from reality.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• Russia demanded to close the way to NATO for Ukraine and Georgia, in the Alliance - they refused.
• Since December, Russia began to accumulate troops on the borders with Ukraine
• Putin warned about possible war with NATO over Crimea and accused the United States of trying to hinder the development of Russia.
• The situation is heating up. Russia removes its diplomats from Ukraine and sends troops to Belarus, allegedly for the sake of exercises, and the US Secretary of State is urgently going to Kiev.
• US suspends embassy in Ukraine and take diplomats out of the country, assuring Ukraine of its full support.
• But due to the aggravation of the crisis, the United States is transferring its embassy in Ukraine from Kiev to Lviv.
• US and Europe announce Russian provocations being prepared to attack Ukraine: propaganda body video.
• In the US, they believe that Russia may invade Ukraine in some moment.
• Putin after his address to the nation signed decrees recognizing independence of the 'LPR' and 'DPR' and friendship with them.
• Soon Russia sent its army to the east of Ukraine. The terrorists of the “LPR” demand that Kiev give it the entire Luhansk region.
• European countries and the United States reacted for Russian recognition of independence 'LPR' and 'DPR' - sanctions were introduced, the most significant from Germany.
• And Russia, after the ratification of the decrees on the recognition of the “DPR” and “LPR” and the world reaction, evacuates its diplomats from Ukraine.
• Later, Putin in earnest invited the West to recognize Crimea as Russian, and Kyiv to renounce NATO.
• The crisis in Europe is getting worse, as are sanctions against Russia. US imposes sanctions on public debt, officials and banks Russia, and all meetings between the politicians of the two countries have been cancelled.

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