Propagandists claim in their media that Ukrainians are allegedly destroying their own culture, committing “cultural self-genocide”, in addition to attempts to destroy Russian culture. They say that Russian culture in Ukraine is the culture of Ukrainians.

This was noted by specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Such statements are part of the information war waged by Russia, trying to confuse and distort reality. Russian propagandists deliberately use such statements for several purposes.

In this way, the Kremlin tries to justify its actions aimed at destroying Ukrainian culture and identity by distorting the facts and shifting the responsibility to Ukrainians themselves. In this way, they try to portray Ukraine as a self-destructive state. The use of the term “cultural self-genocide” aims to blur the concept of genocide and distract attention from the real crimes of Russia against Ukrainians. Russia seeks to downplay the significance of genocide in order to avoid international responsibility for its actions. Kremlin propagandists also try to create the impression that Ukrainians are solely to blame for their misfortunes in order to undermine the morale of Ukrainians, sow doubts about their own values, and create a sense of hopelessness. In addition, Russia tries to present Ukrainian identity as an artificial product of the Soviet era, allegedly created at the expense of “historical Russia”. This is an attempt to justify the colonial ambitions of modern Russia, which is trying to re-subjugate Ukraine and bring it back under its control.

Therefore, this message is not only far from the truth, but serves as a tool for continuing Russia’s information war against Ukraine and Ukrainians.