In late 2020 and early 2021, some news agencies have published a story according to which Ukraine’s potato supplies have run out, and in order to feed its own army Kiev is buying potatoes and potato mash from Russia. The news has deeply confused public opinion. On the one hand, Kiev made it very clear it opposes Russian aggression in Donbass (the Ukrainian Parliament has recognized Russia as an aggressor state), while on the other hand this fake news released by the press portrays Ukraine as incapable of providing the most basic necessities (food!) to its own army.
Narratives on the “inevitable” collapse of Ukraine, based on the concept of “false state”, have been promoted by Russia since the Euromaidan protests of 2014. After the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Russian and pro-Russian media in Ukraine and in the Russian-speaking world is seizing every opportunity and story to recall that Ukraine is “a false state” that can collapse at any time. Oftentimes the information is deceiving, and the statements of certain experts / politicians are taken out of context.
After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraine, backed by dozens of states, has repeatedly obtained UN General Assembly resolutions condemning the violation of its territorial integrity, which runs counter to international law. The Russian or pro-Russian media in Ukraine have published information about the "failures" of Ukrainian diplomacy, which is allegedly less and less supported at the UN, and the resolutions condemning Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula are called "anti-Crimea.
The publications refer to a meeting organized by the Russian delegation at the UN, which was also attended by representatives of the separatists and some permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council who, in this way, reportedly showed their support for Moscow’s initiative.
