Some Ukrainians In Russia Do Not Believe War In Ukraine: ‘No One Is Bombing Kyiv’

Some Ukrainians living in Russia have dismissed reports that Russian troops have launched a war in Ukraine and are, instead, believing claims that Kremlin is “de-Nazifying” the country.

Misha Katsurin, a 33-year-old Ukrainian restaurateur, once called his father, a church custodian living in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, to inform him that Moscow has launched an attack against Ukraine.

“I’m trying to evacuate my children and my wife — everything is extremely scary,” Katsurin told his father, Andrei.

However, instead of showing concern, Andrei dismissed the attacks, Katsurin told The New York Times. He said that his father argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army had conducted a special military operation to free Ukrainian people from its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who Kremlin has painted as a “drug-addled Nazi.”

Valentyna Kremyr, a Ukrainian, wrote to her siblings in Russia to tell them about the intense fighting and bombing in Ukraine. However, her siblings said the Russians are only striking military infrastructure.

“No one is bombing Kyiv, and you should actually be afraid of the Nazis, whom your father fought against. Your children will be alive and healthy. We love the Ukrainian people, but you need to think hard about who you elected as president,” Kremyr’s siblings said, she told The Times.

Kristina Nikolayeva, another Ukrainian, had also received a call from a family member living in Russia who said he was joining the Russian army in its attack on Ukraine. While her uncle did not fully believe Putin’s claim of Nazis in Ukraine, Nikolayeva told The Business Insider that he was “very enthusiastic” about Ukraine’s current situation.

Since Putin first announced the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has passed a law that would punish anyone for reporting on its invasion of Ukraine. Russian television channels have also been banned from showing Moscow’s bombing of Kyiv, its attacks on other Ukrainian cities and peaceful protests against the war cropping up in Ukraine and across Russia.

The law also allows Russian authorities to punish anyone who supports the sanctions against Moscow or those who urge Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Penalties for such actions include serving time of up to 15 years and fines of up to 5 million rubles or $45,000.

Russia continues to squeeze the free flow of information online by banning social media platforms Facebook and Twitter last Friday, citing “discrimination” as a reason, according to communications regulator Roskomnadzor.

As of Tuesday, at least 474 civilians, including 29 children, have been killed in Ukraine since the conflict began on Feb. 24. At least 861 civilians have been wounded in the attacks, the United Nations’ human rights office said. However, they noted that the real toll could be much higher than reported.