Attributing the destruction of Ukraine to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s policies

What it claims

Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure are framed as a logical response to allegedly provocative actions by the Ukrainian leadership. Manipulators claim that the president's policies led to the depletion of air defenses and the destruction of the energy grid, shifting the blame away from the aggressor.

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.

• Zelenskyy is personally to blame for Ukraine running out of air defense missiles because he dragged the US into a conflict with Iran.

  Diana Panchenko, 5 Aug 2026

  x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2084868155134922966

• Russia is destroying Ukrainian infrastructure only because Zelenskyy started attacking commercial vessels and ports.

  Diana Panchenko, 5 Aug 2026

  x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2084868155134922966

We link archived copies rather than the posts themselves, so that checking our work sends no traffic to the source. Where a platform cannot be archived, we print the post's address instead of linking it.

Goal

To sow despair among the civilian population and shift the responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe from Russia to the Ukrainian authorities.

Techniques used

• Loaded LanguageUsing emotional accusations like “You are destroying Ukraine!” to amplify panic.
• Causal OversimplificationClaiming that Russian attacks on ports and markets are merely a “response” to Zelenskyy’s actions.

The real grievance it exploits

Fear of constant shelling, lack of electricity, and the depletion of air defense resources.

How to counter

• Reframe: Russia launched a full-scale invasion and the systematic destruction of Ukrainian cities long before any retaliatory strikes, using terror against civilians as a strategy.

Sources (all time)

• Diana PanchenkoTier 1163,942 followers
  6 posts · 5–20 Aug 2026

  • 20 Aug · x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2090311431493140810
  • 16 Aug · x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2089043654803362117
  • 13 Aug · x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2087686228766253455
  • 10 Aug · x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2086893178783728093
  • 7 Aug · x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2085728384198352946
  • 5 Aug · x.com/Panchenko_X/status/2084868155134922966
• Strategic CultureTier 1~700K monthly visitors
  3 posts · 30 Jul – 5 Aug 2026

  • 5 Aug · strategic-culture.su/news/2026/08/05/why-zelensky-fired-his-popular-defense-minister/
  • 31 Jul · strategic-culture.su/news/2026/07/31/the-zelensky-curse-revisited-and-its-ultimate-victims/
  • 30 Jul · strategic-culture.su/news/2026/07/30/trumps-new-migraine-did-iran-and-ukraine-wars-just-merge-into-one/
• RTTier 2~40.6M monthly visitors
  1 post · 13 Aug 2026

  • 13 Aug · www.rt.com/news/644213-zelensky-patriot-math-mistake/