Russia's Foreign Ministry said Moscow was acting to end the "systematic extermination of the Donbas population" that had been supposedly ongoing since 2014. DW Fact Check explains why this is false.
The claim is this: "Russia did not start a war, it is ending it," wrote Maria Zakharova, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a recent Facebook post.
In doing so, she framed the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the wider Donbas conflict, which has been raging for years. Russian President Vladimir Putin had argued similarly at the outset of the Russian attack, when he falsely justified Russia's offensive as an act of self-defense in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter. Zakharova also claimed that Ukraine planned the "systematic extermination of the Donbas population."
It's a narrative that's also being spread by Russian state broadcaster RT.
Both of Zakharova's statements are false. The current armed conflict began when Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 21, shortly after Putin, during a televised speech, announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine. Russia started the fighting and triggered an ongoing escalation when it crossed into Ukrainian territory.
The second claim made by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson is also false: There is no evidence whatsoever that there was a "systematic extermination" of people in the Donbas.
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