 "Ukrainian soldiers of 43rd artillery brigade fire by 2s7 self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Monday. AP File")
Ukrainian intelligence has claimed that Russia is aiming to declare “victory” in its war against Ukraine — and even against Nato — on the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
According to a Politico report, citing the Ukrainian Military Intelligence (HUR), Russian propagandists have been ordered to disseminate “victorious” narratives on the symbolic date of February 24.
The goal is to foster disbelief within Ukrainian society, destabilise the country, and portray Kyiv’s partners as “enemies of peace”, added the report.
The campaign aligns with a significant shift in US foreign policy, as Washington seems to seek consensus with President Putin, who initiated the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the report, in a post on Telegram, HUR said that the central themes of the information campaign feature slogans like “The West betrayed Ukraine,” “Neither Moscow nor Washington cares about the opinion of Europeans and Ukrainians,” or that “the Ukrainian government is illegitimate”, a narrative that has recently been promoted not only by the Kremlin but also by the White House.
On Wednesday, Trump hit out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him a “comedian” and “dictator” who “shattered” the Eastern European country.
He also said Zelenskyy talked the US into spending billions of dollars to go to a war that “couldn’t be won, that never had to start”.
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More Shorts“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump had posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
The US President added, “He (Zelenskyy) refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle’. A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP’, and the Trump Administration, can do.”
In the past week, the US President has initiated negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the war, a move that has left Kyiv perplexed.
Trump spoke with Putin on February 12 for nearly 90 minutes, agreeing to start negotiations to end the three-year war in Ukraine. This was followed by a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh, with no Ukrainian involvement.
They decided to form high-level teams to seek a sustainable resolution. In a shift from decades of US policy, they also aimed to foster future cooperation on geopolitical and economic interests.
Trump’s stance has unsettled EU leaders, prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to host discussions in Brussels.
Trump later claimed Ukraine initiated the conflict and should have negotiated with Moscow. The war, the largest in Europe since World War II, began when Putin launched a “special military operation” in February 2022.
Zelenskyy accused Trump of existing in a “disinformation bubble” and criticised the US president for amplifying Russian disinformation narratives.
According to the report, citing Kyiv’s military intelligence, American aid to Ukraine will also be a main target point of the Kremlin’s propaganda.
“In addition, Russia is preparing to declare an alleged ‘victory’ in the war against Ukraine by the ‘round date’ of Feb. 24, 2025, the third anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale war,” Politico quoted HUR as saying.
“These plans may also include a ‘Russian victory over Nato,’ as Moscow propaganda has long portrayed the war against Ukraine as a war with the alliance,” added the statement.
Military intelligence also reported that the Kremlin’s objective is also to undermine Ukraine’s European partners, who are working to strengthen Kyiv’s position during ongoing Russian-American negotiations involving a €6 billion military aid package.
“For such European governments, the Kremlin is slapping on the ’enemies of peace’ label,” HUR warned.
With inputs from agencies