The military observer of Izvestia, Alexey Ramm, exposed a fake spread on the Network about an allegedly broken column of Russian troops. According to him, the video captures the equipment of the Armed forces of Ukraine (AFU), not Russia.
As an argument, the military observer noted that the camouflage of military equipment indicates this. Ramm explained that the last car captured on the video is a modernized BMP-1 in Ukraine. And there is no such equipment in the Russian Armed Forces.
On the same day, earlier in the Network, a fake spread about allegedly destroyed Russian tanks was exposed. It turned out that these were pictures taken six years ago during the so-called Ukrainian anti-terrorist operation near Debaltseve in 2015.
Roskomnadzor announced a wave of fake publications on the Internet about Russia's special operation to protect Donbass. The ministry noted that in recent hours, the number of cases of distribution of unverified and unreliable information by the media and other information resources has increased significantly.
On the morning of February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his special televised address that a special protection operation would be carried out in Donbass in order to ensure the safety of civilians.
The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, stressed that this cannot be called a war. He pointed out that the Russian authorities are still open to dialogue, but they do not intend to allow a new bloodbath in the Donbass.
After that, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that Kiev was severing diplomatic relations with Moscow and expelling its diplomats from the embassy.
Before that, on February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the LPR and the DPR. Also, the Russian leader and the heads of both republics Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. The documents were ratified the next day by both the republics themselves and the Russian State Duma.
The situation on the contact line in Donbass escalated on February 17. In the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, intense shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including from heavy weapons, was reported. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.
