Ukraine; Russia; Donbas
Far-right groups and wartime abuses are real, but there is no credible evidence that Ukraine was Nazi-controlled or committing genocide that justified invasion.
Ukraine's government was elected competitively, far-right parties had limited electoral support, and international monitoring did not validate Russia's genocide justification.
NAR-20220224-002
Fact check: Russia's claims that Ukraine was Nazi-controlled or committing genocide in Donbas were not supported by credible evidence.
Ukraine Nazis genocide Donbas Russia invasion denazification
No credible evidence established that Ukraine was governed by Nazis or committing a genocide in Donbas that required a Russian invasion.
Ukraine has far-right organizations, and the Donbas conflict caused serious civilian casualties, abuses, and displacement.
Those facts are inflated into claims of Nazi state control or genocide. International bodies did not substantiate the genocidal campaign alleged by Russia as a basis for invasion.
The claim is a central justification used to oppose Canadian assistance to Ukraine and circulates in Canadian information spaces.