In February 2024, a quote from Dmitry Kuleba circulated on social networks, who allegedly found an “elegant solution”: the surrendered Ukrainian city should be named after the capital of the Czech Republic, so that NATO countries would start a war with Russia. We checked to see if he said that.
Since February 15, reports have been spreading across the Internet that the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry proposed giving Avdeevka in the Donetsk region a different name, so that NATO members would subsequently enter into direct confrontation with the Russian Federation. In the Telegram channel "Sanya in Florida”(446,000 views at the time of writing this analysis) the following quote is given: “The occupation of the territory of Ukraine is one thing, the capture of Prague is another. This will lead to the entry into force of Article 5 of the NATO Charter; the member states of the alliance will be forced to start a war with Russia. Personally, I think this solution is very elegant.” The author of the channel commented on the news as follows: “A decision from the world of Ukrainian supermarathons. Ukraine can also be renamed Germany, for example.”
According to the TGStat service, in just a few days, posts with this quote received a total of about 1 million views on Telegram. It was posted by the channels "Uncle Slava"(182,000 views), "Russian format" (61,000), "Isn't it a Russian bear?" (55,000), "Infantryman" (53,000), "News Bazaar 18+" (37,000), "Patriot Z" (37,000), "People's Russia" (23,000), "I'm shocked"(22,000), "Lightning" (19,000), "Echoes of War"(19,000), etc. At the same time, the quote in the posts is slightly different - for example, in a number of cases, Kuleba calls his solution not “very elegant”, but “very elegant.” The alleged statement of the Ukrainian minister also went viral on VKontakte (examples here, here, here And here) and on the social network X in English. So, a pro-Russian account wrote about him Zlatti71, whose tweet has received more than 141,000 views. Some English speaking users called Kuleba is “damn stupid.”
Avdeevka is located in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. October 10, 2023 Russian army started a massive assault on the city, and after four months of fighting, Ukrainian troops left their positions. “Based on the operational situation that has developed around Avdeevka, in order to avoid encirclement and for the sake of preserving the lives and health of military personnel, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defense on more advantageous lines,” - wrote on social networks, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky on the night of February 16-17, 2024.
Kuleba’s quote began to circulate on February 15, meaning he had to make a statement about renaming Avdiivka shortly before the city was captured by the Russian army. However, none of the publications mentioned above specified where, when and under what circumstances the minister put forward such a proposal. “Verified”, in turn, studied social networks Kuleby and website The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, but did not find such a statement there. Reputable Ukrainian media did not write about him either. In April 2023 in its article “Why should NATO accept Ukraine?” for an American magazine Foreign Affairs Kuleba wrote this:
Ukraine seeks to join NATO with protection Article 5, which provides that an armed attack against one or more allies in Europe or North America is considered an attack against all of them, and obliges them to take “actions that may be considered necessary, including the use of armed force, for the purpose of restoring and preserving security in the North Atlantic region.” Who in our place would not strive for such protection? But we are realists. We do not seek to involve the United States or other NATO countries in a war. This is our war, and we are fighting it successfully with the generous support of our partners and allies.
We have never called on any country to send troops and do not intend to make such a request. We are not looking for a “magic wand” that will miraculously end war and eliminate the need to win it on the battlefield. What we are striving for is a specific timetable for Ukraine's accession to NATO.
The original source of the viral quote “Verified” was discovered in the Telegram channel “and here is my Yandex wallet"(22,000 views), where the post appeared on February 15 at 09:40 Moscow time. There, Kuleba’s phrase looks like this: “The occupation of Ukrainian territory is one thing, the seizure of Prague is another. This will bring into effect the fifth article of the NATO charter; member states of the alliance will be obliged to go to war with Russia. Personally, I find this solution very elegant.”
In fact, “but my Yandex wallet” is a satirical blog with fictitious stories, which the author openly talks about declares in the description: “Parody, satire on political reality. Only verified fakes.” In addition, a little later the same post appeared in another satirical Telegram channel - “Pezduze"(179,000 views).
Thus, Dmitry Kuleba did not propose to rename Avdiivka to Prague. Numerous bloggers and owners of Telegram channels in another times they mistook satirical news for a real event.
Cover photo: @FirstLadyOfUkraine (Telegram)
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