Russian media spread the news that the Ukrainian government allegedly wanted to “seize Crimea in order to build NATO bases on its territory.” Some media outlets cautiously wrote that they were allegedly talking about "ceremonial" and not "military" bases of the North Atlantic Alliance. This was announced by the former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the current Deputy Chairman of the Center for Defense Strategies Alina Frolova. This is not true.

In fact, in a speech at one of the Crimean Platform panels, Alina Frolova drew attention to the fact that over the years of occupation, Crimea has turned into a Russian military base, which is damaging not only Ukraine, but also the security of the entire world community. According to the official, there is every reason to believe that tactical nuclear weapons capable of hitting the capital of any European state can now be deployed in Crimea. Frolova believes that the Crimean peninsula is a strategic foothold for security control in the Black Sea. Crimea should not be a military base, but its complete demilitarization after de-occupation is also impossible. In the future, the presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy on the peninsula, the official proposes to introduce the principle of "friendly militarization" - that is, the friendly coexistence of civilian and military life.

“We want Crimea to be open to the international community – to NATO and the EU, including our military cooperation. NATO's lack of attention to the Black Sea showed that this was a misguided strategy, as the Black Sea is one of the biggest threats to the security of NATO countries. Therefore, we will welcome our partners from NATO and our other partners there,” said the former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine. It was these words that the Russian media used to manipulate.

Russian propaganda constantly manipulates quotes from Ukrainian and Western politicians in order to pass off wishful thinking. Previously, propagandists used quotes from Dmytro Kuleba to promote the message that Europe allegedly abandoned the special tribunal over Russia and recognized the war in Ukraine as aggression. Using quotes from Western media, they tried to promote the message that the United States and Germany do not trust the Ukrainian authorities. More details.