Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
There’s a lot to choose from.
There’s a lot to choose from.
You can say a lot about Putin
But looking at what he’s said over the years, there’s no doubt the Russian President has a very vivid imagination – or simply do not care about how the real world actually looks.
Lying to start a war
The most outrageous lies from Putins seem to have been presented during the last decade or so, as he has continued to use false narratives to wage war in Ukraine – and to even start it.
So what has he said?
From Ukraine not being a real country to Ukraine planning to attack Russia, here’s a list of som of the biggest lies, Putin has ever told – along with the facts.
1. The West is out to destroy Russia
Putin has said on several occations that the West (NATO, US, EU) pose an existential threat to Russia, and that they are even threatening to destroy Russia.
The facts
The West has never said it’s goals were to destroy Russia, but instead to help Ukraine defend it’s sovereignty.
The economic and military sanctions imposed on Russia has also been aimed at stopping the war, not to topple the Russian state.
2. Ukraine was never a real country
Putin has said that Ukraine has no legitimate history as an independent nation and claims Ukraine was created by Russia.
He uses this narrative to justify his invasion of Ukraine.
The facts
Ukraine has a distinct culture, language and history, predating Russian rule by centuries.
Even before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukrainians fought fiercely for independence.
3. “De-nazifying” Ukraine
This was one of the main excuses for invading Ukraine back in 2022, as the Russian leadership accused the Ukrainian government of being nazis.
The facts
Ukrainian President, Volodomy Zelenskyy, is Jewish, and lost most of his family in the holocaust.
There are extremist, rightwing groups in Ukraine, but they have minimal influence, and no international observers say that Ukraine is not a democratic nation.
4. Russia only focus on military targets
The Kremlin insists that Russian forces are only targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure using “precision strikes”.
The facts
Both eyewitness accounts as well as independent nvestigations have shown that Russian forces have bombed schools, theaters, apartment blocks, hospital and evacutation routes.
Russia is even being suspected of using “double taps”, where they target the rescuers trying to help people hit by the initial attack.
5. NATO betrayed Russia by expanding westward
According to Putin, NATO made a verbal promise to not expand westward after the cold war.
The expansions including the Baltics, Poland, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and more is a betrayal of that promise.
The facts
There was never any formal agreement signed on preventing NATO expanding westward, and in fact a lot of Eastern European nations sought NATO membership to protect themselves from Russian aggression.
6. Ukraine was planning to attack Russia
According to Putin, Ukraine and NATO was actually planning to attack Russia before the war.
He argues that these plans forced him to strike first and attack Ukraine.
The facts
Putin has not shown any evidence of such plans, and neither Ukraine nor NATO has ever admitted that such plans existed.
7. The global food crisis was caused by the West
According to Putin, the Western sanctions is the cause of food shortages in The Middle East and Africa as well as the disruption of the global supply chains.
The facts
It was Russian blockades of Ukrainian ports as well as Russian attacks on Ukrainian grain storages that disrupted the global food supply chains.
Especially developing countries were hit hard, as they rely heavily on Ukrainian exports.
8. Most Russians support the war in Ukraine
According to Putin, the war in Ukraine is the “people’s war”, claiming the war is backed by an overwhelming majority of the Russian public.
The facts
It is difficult to measure the support for the war among the Russian population, and some independant poling suggest that many Russian support he war out of fear.
That being said, thousands of Russians are fleeing conscription, and protests and mass arrests show that there is a significant opposition to the war in Russia.
9. The Russian economy is doing great
Putin claims that the Russan economy has not only survived Western sanctions but is actually thriving.
The facts
The Western sanctions have not been able to cripple the Russian economy, but the inflation in Russia is currently over 10 %.
The national currency (rubles) has been weakened, and experts suggest that the military overproduction paints a deceiving picture of the true state of the Russian economy.