'West has pushed Putin to attack Ukraine': foreign fakes for July 15

According to the National Security and Defense Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, two fakes appeared in the world on July 15.

Disinformation: Irish journalist Chay Bowes wrote on his X page: "The same people telling you Biden is competent are also telling you Russia started the war in Ukraine. Both are completely untrue.”

Rebuttal: The journalist misleads foreign audiences with such statements in an attempt to whitewash Russia's reputation and justify its invasion of Ukraine. In fact, it was Russia that initiated the aggression against Ukraine, starting with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and continuing with military operations in Donbas and a full-scale invasion in 2022.

Disinformation: Former US Secretary of Defense Douglas Macgregor wrote on X: "For those still feeding on corporate media lies: Putin wants to avoid a direct confrontation with the US and NATO. We are the ones who pushed him to attack eastern Ukraine. Wake up!”

Rebuttal: Macgregor is promoting the Kremlin narrative that the "collective West" provoked Russia to invade Ukraine, thus trying to justify Russian aggression. In fact, the Russian invasion was driven by the Kremlin dictatorship's imperialist appetite and fear of democracy in the neighboring country.

• "Ukrainian special services are preparing to kill Zaluzhnyi": Russian fakes for July 12.