Debunked Russian Lies
General Russian Lies
| Russian Lies | The Reality |
|---|---|
| In 2014, Putin claimed that the heavily armed soldiers occupying government buildings in Crimea, Ukraine weren't Russian, but "local self-defense forces." He also said that Russia was not going to annex Crimea. (NPR) | A year later, Putin made it clear on state television that the "little green men" who took control of Crimea were Russian soldiers. He admitted that "he told top security officials of his intent to take Crimea" a month before Russia annexed it. (RFE/RL) |
| Russia claimed that in a referendum during its annexation of Crimea, Ukraine, 97 percent voted in favor of joining Russia, with an 83 percent voter turnout. (TASS) | A "leaked report from the Russian president’s Human Rights Council put turnout at only 30 percent, with about half of those voting to join Russia." The referendum did not give an option to vote for the status quo; the two choices were for Crimea to have greater autonomy from Ukraine, or to join Russia. The referendum took place without credible international observers, and the annexation of Crimea was illegal. (Brookings Institution) |
| Russia denied that its army was aiding separatists in eastern Ukraine prior to the full-scale invasion in 2022, claiming that Russian citizens fighting there were "volunteers" on leave from the army. (NPR) | Experts say that Russia "largely created the separatist movement" in eastern Ukraine, arming them and helping to establish puppet governments. "Russia-backed fighters, led by former Russian intelligence officer Igor Girkin and supported by Russian special forces" set off the war in the Donbas region in 2014. (ABC News) |
| Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, which killed 298 people, claiming instead that Ukrainian troops launched the missile. (Reuters) | A Dutch court found that "a Russian-made missile supplied from Russia and fired by an armed group under Russian control brought down flight MH17." (BBC) Investigators also found "strong indications" that Putin approved the supply of anti-aircraft weapons to the separatists who shot it down. (NPR) |
| In the months before February 2022, Russia denied that it was planning to invade Ukraine. Officials dismissed reports of the possible invasion as "fake news," saying that Russia "doesn't threaten anyone" or "harbor aggressive plans." (Polygraph.info) | An investigative report found that Putin decided to invade Ukraine in March 2021. In October 2021, top Russian officials planned to "forcibly change the government in Ukraine," and in December 2021, they discussed how the country would "be shared between major Russian corporations." (RFE/RL) |
| Putin claimed that Russia had been "patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries regarding the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe," while its diplomats faced "cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail." (New York Times) | "Europe’s security order has been continually negotiated between Moscow and Washington, including in formal agreements over diplomatic and military arrangements." Before its invasion of Ukraine, Russian diplomats issued demands so extreme that they were "widely seen as poison-pill provisions meant to derail talks." (New York Times) |
| Putin justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine by claiming it needed to fight "neo-Nazis" in the Ukrainian government and society. (New York Times) | Experts on the region say "the claim that Ukraine is corrupted by Nazis is false." Ukraine's government was democratically elected, its president is Jewish, and "all far-right parties combined received only about 2 percent of parliamentary votes in 2019 — short of the 5 percent threshold for representation." (New York Times) |
| Putin justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine by claiming it needed to prevent a "genocide" of Russian-speakers in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. (New York Times) | Claims that the Ukrainian government was committing genocide in eastern Ukraine were false. In reality, Russian-backed separatists "in Ukraine's east rule it through violence, and Ukrainians, including those who natively speak Russian, express overwhelming distrust of Russia." (New York Times) |
| Shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian UN Ambassador claimed that "secret American labs in Ukraine" were developing banned biological weapons. (AP News) | There is no evidence for this claim. Ukraine does have "public health laboratories that work to research and mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases," some of which receive financial support from the US. Details of US involvement are not a secret and can be found on the US embassy website. (BBC) |
| During its siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Russia said it would open humanitarian corridors for civilians to evacuate. State news also claimed that Russia was only targeting military infrastructure, not cities, and that there were "no threats whatsoever to the civilian population." (TASS) | An advisor to the mayor of Mariupol said that the agreement on a humanitarian corridor had been a "trap" and that Russian forces had fired "their artillery on the exit zone just moments after announcing through loudspeakers that a green corridor had been opened." The regional governor reported that “Russians continue to deliberately fire at civilians and to destroy critical infrastructure." (The Guardian) |
| Russia's UN ambassador claimed that Western sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine were causing a global food crisis, and that Ukraine was blocking the export of grain from its own ports. (AP News) | Western sanctions against Russia "exempt exports of food, fertilizer and seeds." (AP News) Russia "imposed a blockade on Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea," cutting off its exports, which accounted for 9% of the global supply of wheat. Russia's blockade of Ukrainian grain disrupted food supplies particularly in Africa and the Middle East. (The Guardian) |
| Russia spent years denying the existence of the Wagner mercenary group and its connections to the Kremlin. (NBC News) | Founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner has fought in Russia's war on Ukraine "and is active in various locations in Africa and the Middle East." In 2023, Putin admitted that the "maintenance of the entire Wagner Group was fully provided for by the state" and that it had received more than 86 billion rubles from the Russian defense budget. (Politico) |
| Putin claimed that while Russia had a stockpile of cluster bombs, it had "not used them yet." (Reuters) | Russian cluster munitions killed and wounded at least 890 Ukrainians in 2022 alone, "the vast majority civilians." In one instance, a Russian cluster bomb "killed at least 58 civilians and injured over 100 more" at a train station they were using to evacuate. (Human Rights Watch) |
| Russia denied that it "had violated an international ban on chemical weapons" during its war on Ukraine, saying it "remains committed to its obligations under international law." (Reuters) | The US accused Russia of "deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops." In April 2024, the Ukrainian military reported an increase in Russia's illegal use of riot control agents such as CS and CN gases, saying that "at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for exposure to toxic substances and one was killed by suffocating on tear gas." (Reuters) |
| Russia has denied that the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, and it has "sought to cast blame for documented chemical incidents on Syrian rebels." (RFE/RL) | Between 2012 and 2023, the Syrian regime carried out 217 chemical weapons attacks, resulting in the deaths of 1,413 civilians. (Syrian Network for Human Rights) |
Treaty Violations
| Treaty Agreement | How the Treaty Was Broken |
|---|---|
| Nuclear Treaties | |
| The Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1987 prohibited the United States and Russia from possessing, producing, or testing missiles with ranges of 500-5000 kilometers. In 2017, Russia claimed their 9M729 cruise missile had "not been developed or tested for a range banned by the INF Treaty." (TASS) | In reality, the Russian 9M729 (SSC-8) cruise missile has a range of 2500 kilometers and has been operational since 2017. (CSIS) |
| Under the New START Treaty of 2011, Russia agreed to limit the number of its intercontinental nuclear weapons. It also agreed to allow on-site inspections to monitor treaty compliance. (US Department of State) | Russia suspended on-site inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not agree to resume them. It suspended its participation in the New START treaty in 2023. (Arms Control Today) |
| Treaties with Ukraine | |
| In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons. In exchange, Russia agreed to "to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine" and "to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine." (Lawfare) | Russia's annexation of Crimea, invasion of the Donbas region in 2014, and full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and attempted to end its political independence. |
| In the 1997 Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty, or "Big Treaty," Russia agreed to "respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and borders between the two countries," among other cooperation. (Ukraine World) | Russia's annexation of Crimea, invasion of the Donbas region in 2014, and full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and borders. |
| In the 1997 Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet, Russia agreed to pay Ukraine annually to lease the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol, Crimea, as well as to respect its sovereignty. This agreement was renewed in 2010. (DW) | Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea violated Ukraine's sovereignty, and it no longer pays to lease the base in Sevastopol. |
| In the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements, Russia agreed to "a ceasefire, withdrawal of foreign military forces, disbanding of illegal armed groups, and returning control of the Ukrainian side of the international border with Russia to Ukraine." (CEPA) Russia later claimed it "is not a party to the Minsk agreements." (TASS) | Russia was one of the signatories of the Minsk Agreements. It did not respect the ceasefire agreement, withdraw its troops, disband illegal armed separatist groups in eastern Ukraine, or return control of the international border to Ukraine. (CEPA) |
| Treaties with Georgia | |
| In 1992, Russia signed the Moscow Agreement between Georgia and Abkhazian separatists, which established a ceasefire and "ensured the territorial integrity of Georgia." Russia agreed "to ensure compliance with the Agreement." (UNSC) | In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, violating its territorial integrity. Russia continues to occupy the regions of Tskhinvali and Abkhazia, which account for 20 percent of Georgian territory. (CSIS) |
| In 1992, Russia signed the Sochi Agreement, which established a ceasefire between Georgia and Ossetian separatists. It was also intended "to rule out the possibility of involvement of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in conflict." (UN Peacemaker) | In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and occupied the region of South Ossetia, committing "a series of human rights violations" there. (The Guardian) |
| At the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul, Russia agreed to leave its military bases in Georgia by 2001. (OSCE, p. 252) | Russia didn't close two of the four bases until 2007, and only did so after further agreements with Georgia. (Reuters) One base is still used by Russia after it signed an agreement with the separatist republic of Abkhazia. (RFE/RL) |
| After Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia, France negotiated a ceasefire agreement between the two countries, in which Russia agreed to withdraw its armed forces. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) | Russia continues to occupy 20 percent of Georgia's territory and has continuously violated the ceasefire agreement, "actively militarizing and using the occupied regions as leverage against Tbilisi." (CSIS) |
| Treaties with Moldova | |
| Russia agreed twice to withdraw its troops from the Moldovan separatist region of Transnistria - first in 1994 (CSCE, sec. 2, p. 9), then in 1999 (OSCE, p. 50). In 2016, Russia again announced it would withdraw its troops. (TASS) | Russian troops remain in the Moldovan separatist region of Transnistria to this day. (Kyiv Independent) |
Election Interference
| Russian Lies | The Reality |
|---|---|
| In 2014, a Kremlin adviser accused the US of "crudely interfering" in Ukraine's internal affairs. (New York Times) In 2019, Russia denied "orchestrating large-scale cyber attacks" against Ukraine, as well as "any interference in Ukraine's election campaign." (Reuters) | In reality, it is Russia who has interfered in several Ukrainian elections. In 2002, Russia pressured Ukrainian media outlets to censor candidate Viktor Yushchenko. In 2004, it attempted to secure a victory for Viktor Yanukovych by falsely linking Yushchenko to a terrorist attack, and possibly attempting to assassinate him. (Kuzio, 2005) In 2014, hackers connected to the Russian government infected Ukraine's Central Election Commission voting system with malware and "manipulated election data in favor of a far-right candidate." (Alliance for Securing Democracy) |
| During a 2017 meeting with French candidate Marine Le Pen, "Putin insisted that Russia has no intention of meddling in the French election." (NBC News) | Marine Le Pen "received an almost 13 million dollar loan from the Kremlin to finance her party’s 2014 campaigns" for the European Parliament election. Right before the 2017 election, "Emmanuel Macron’s campaign was hacked—probably by the Russian government cyber actor sometimes called APT28." (CSIS) |
| Russia "denies meddling in Moldova's affairs." (Reuters) Before Moldova's 2020 elections, the Kremlin accused the US of plotting a "coloured revolution" to oust the pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, a reference to prodemocratic movements such as Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution. (Balkan Insight) | In reality, it is Russia who has meddled in multiple Moldovan elections. In Moldova's 2014 election, the pro-Russian Patria party was disqualified after its illegal use of foreign funds in the campaign and allegations that the head of the party admitted "he was being controlled by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB)." (RFE/RL) In 2020, Russia provided "illicit financing – including funds earmarked for bribes and electoral fraud – to support pro-Kremlin political activity in Moldova." (US Department of State) |
| In 2014, "Russian 'election observers' from the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law cast doubt on the validity of the Scottish referendum on independence from the United Kingdom a day before the vote." (USA Today) | 55% of Scottish voters voted against independence. (BBC) In reality, Russia has spent years attempting to “undermine Britain’s democracy and corrupt its politics.” It interfered in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum “through disinformation spread by traditional media outlets” and “the use of internet bots and trolls” (New York Times). |
| Russia dismissed allegations of its involvement in an attempted coup during Montenegro’s 2016 election as “absurd” and unsubstantiated, stating that it does “not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including Montenegro.” (The Guardian) | Two officers from Russian GRU Unit 29155 were involved in a coup attempt in Montenegro, planned for the day of its 2016 elections. They had plotted to "kill the country’s prime minister and seize the Parliament building" (New York Times). |
| "Putin has repeatedly denied Russian election meddling" in the 2016 US elections, and suggested that the 13 Russian nationals charged for a plot to influence the election could have been "Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship" that "do not represent the interests of the Russian state." (CBS News) | A US Senate Intelligence Committee report concluded that "election systems in all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016." (New York Times) Additionally, a US Department of Justice report concluded that a Russian organization used "disinformation and social media operations in the United States... with the aim of interfering with the election." (CSIS) |
| Leonid Reshetnikov, a "former Russian spy, acknowledged meeting with the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party" in 2016, "but denied delivering any document." (Wall Street Journal) | Reshetnikov delivered a "secret strategy document" written by a Kremlin-connected think tank to Bulgaria's Socialist Party in the run-up to their 2016 elections. It suggested planting fake news and promoting exaggerated polling data. (Wall Street Journal) |
| The Russian embassy in Malta said that "Russia has never interfered into Malta’s domestic affairs and has no intention to do so in the future." (The Guardian) | The Maltese government's IT systems saw a rise in cyberattacks in the month before its 2017 general election, likely from the Fancy Bears, "a hacking collective that is often associated with the Kremlin." (The Guardian) |
| Russia denied involvement in the 2021 hackings of German lawmakers, calling the allegations an "extraordinary P.R. story." (New York Times) | Before Germany's 2021 elections, the Ghostwriter hacking group launched a cyberattack on its Federal Statistical Office, which oversees elections. It also attempted to steal the data of German lawmakers, possibly "to spread disinformation before the vote." EU members have associated Ghostwriter with the Russian state. (AP News) |
Assassinations (and attempts)
| Russian Lies | The Reality |
|---|---|
| In 2006, Russian FSB defector Alexander Litvinenko died from polonium poisoning in London. Russia denied that it was involved in his death (France 24) and referred to investigation results as a "joke." (DW) | A British investigation "concluded that the Russian government was behind" Litvinenko's murder, and that Putin "probably approved" it himself. (RFE/RL) |
| In 2015, Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot and killed in Moscow. Russian authorities "deny any involvement" (BBC), and Putin even condemned the murder. (The Guardian) | An investigation found that "in the months running up to the killing, Nemtsov was being followed across Russia by a government agent linked to a secret assassination squad." (BBC) |
| In 2015, Emilian Gebrev, an "arms manufacturer who had been selling ammunition to Ukraine," survived a poisoning attempt in Bulgaria. (New York Times) "The Kremlin denies any role in the poisoning of Gebrev." (RFE/RL) | "Western security and intelligence officials" found that Gebrev had been poisoned by Russian GRU Unit 29155. (New York Times) |
| Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza was poisoned in both 2015 and 2017. "Russian authorities denied involvement in the incidents." (Reuters) | An investigation found that members of a Russian FSB "poison squad... systematically tailed Vladimir Kara-Murza before both" incidents. (Bellingcat) |
| In 2018, a former Russian spy and his daughter, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, survived a poisoning attempt with a nerve agent in England. A British woman later died after coming into contact with the discarded bottle of poison. Russia "denied any role — and has gone further and mocked the British for what it called a bungled investigation." (Washington Post) | The British government concluded that the perpetrators of the poisoning were "from Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, and the attack was 'almost certainly' approved at a senior level of the Russian state." (BBC) |
| In 2019, a former Chechen insurgent fighter named Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was shot and killed in a park in Berlin. The Russian government "categorically" rejected responsibility for his murder. (The Guardian) | Khangoshvili was shot by Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB agent. A German court ruled that "the Russian state had orchestrated the murder." (New York Times) |
| In 2020, Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny survived a poisoning attempt with a nerve agent in Russia, as well as possible earlier attempts. He died in prison in 2024. Putin "rejected allegations that the Kremlin was behind the poisoning" of Navalny, but said that "if there was such a desire, it would have been done." (AP News) | An investigation found that Russian FSB operatives with experience in chemical warfare tailed Navalny during his trips across Russia. A member of the FSB poison squad was recorded describing how his unit carried out the poisoning. (Bellingcat) |
