Portraying Ukrainians as “hostages” of Kyiv’s decisions

What it claims

Kyiv residents and displaced people are portrayed as “hostages” of the authorities, while Russian strikes are cast as a consequence of Ukraine’s defence and attacks on targets in Russia. Experiences of displacement, air raids and danger are inflated into an image of a population stripped of agency and doomed by the decisions of Kyiv and its partners. Strikes on Kyiv and the Kyiv region at the end of September are used to set civilians against the authorities.

Target audience

Examples (paraphrased)

We paraphrase rather than quote: propaganda's exact wording is built to spread, so we carry the claim and not the craft. Each example cites the post it came from.

• Kyiv residents and displaced people are paying for Kyiv’s and the West’s decisions, although they do not support them themselves.

  ЗеРада, 30 Sept 2026 · Archived copy

• Ukrainian strikes on Russian enterprises supposedly turned an agreed sphere into war and triggered Russia’s response.

  ЗеРада, 29 Sept 2026 · Archived copy

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Goal

To weaken Ukrainians’ support for defence and state decisions by imposing the idea that the authorities and their partners supposedly knowingly turn civilians into bargaining chips in the war.

Techniques used

• Causal OversimplificationUkrainian strikes on Russian facilities are reduced to the sole cause of Russia’s subsequent attacks on civilian life in Ukraine.
• Black-and-White Fallacy / DictatorshipCivilians are depicted either as the authorities’ “accomplices” or as their powerless hostages, leaving no room for people’s differing views and choices.

The real grievance it exploits

The narrative exploits exhaustion from air-raid alerts and attacks, fear for children and loved ones, and the pain of people who have already been forced to leave their homes and are again living in danger.

How to counter

• Fact-check: Responsibility for missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities lies with Russia, which carries them out. Ukraine’s right to self-defence does not transfer that responsibility onto people living under attack.
• Prebunk: Be cautious of explanations that attribute attacks on civilians to a single Ukrainian action. This causal pattern conceals the choice of whoever decides to strike cities.

Sources (all time)

• ЗеРадаTier 1425,342 subscribers
  2 posts · 29–30 Sept 2026

  • 30 Sept · Archived copy
  • 29 Sept · Archived copy