Kremlin propaganda systematically tries to discredit the Ukrainian military in the eyes of the international community and among the Russian audience. This time, agitprop spread the rumor that the Armed Forces plan to create a separate battalion for LGBT soldiers. As proof, the propagandists spread the alleged order of the Ministry of Defense signed by the Chief of the General Staff A. Bargilevich. However, this document is a fake. We will tell you in more detail later.
Fake
The fact that Russian society and the government are homophobic is not news. For Russia in general, homophobia is already a part of national policy and cultural education. In particular, propaganda systematically criticizes the “imposition of values” of the “decaying West”, contrasting them with “traditional family values” followed in the Russian Federation. That is why Russians use the sign of sexual orientation to discredit people or even states, including Ukraine.
For example, Russian Telegram channels spread the so-called order of the Ministry of Defense No. 274t of 09/04/2024 on psychological testing among the military in order to identify representatives of the LGBT community (more precisely, “gays and dark-skinned people”) and create a separate unit of the Armed Forces from them.
“Now there will be separate divisions and companies for gays and other dark people in the village. The order of the independent Ministry of Defense was leaked to the network, in which it is proposed to separate heterosexual fighters from other filth “for the sake of comfort”. For this, special tests were even invented,” propagandists write in the original language.
The document itself states that the order was issued with the “purpose of following European values”, as well as to “guarantee the safety of representatives of the LGBTQ+ community”.
Among the tasks allegedly issued by the Chief of the General Staff A. Bargilevich – to the commanders of military units to ensure special conditions of service for LGBTQ+ servicemen; company commanders to ensure compliance with the conditions of service and discipline aimed at maintaining harmony and security in the newly created units.
“Failure to comply with this order will be considered a violation of stability and order in the armed forces at the time of a full-scale invasion of the aggressor. Staff psychologists in military units should conduct LGBTQ+ testing among personnel. Report on the execution of the order to the Chief of the General Staff by September 19, 2024,” the alleged order also states.
Note that this order contains a number of errors that are unacceptable in official documentation. And in fact, such a document simply does not exist. It is not available on the website of the Ministry of Defense either by number or date of issue. http://surl.li/rsqomq
Indeed, LGBT people have been serving in the Ukrainian army for a long time. Plans to create a separate battalion with LGBT servicemen were never announced by either the leadership of the Defense Forces or the state. After all, the military commissions do not ask about sexual orientation, because people are not selected for the army on this basis. On the contrary, attention to the sign of sexual orientation could be considered as discrimination.
CONCLUSIONS
In Ukraine, there are no plans to create separate battalions of military representatives of the LGBT community or conduct testing to identify LGBT representatives among the soldiers of the Armed Forces. Such messages are spread by propaganda to fuel the narrative of a West that is “rotting” and that ignores so-called “traditional values.” In addition, agitprop justifies the war in Ukraine in the eyes of the Russian society with such innuendos. They said, Ukrainians are drawn in by LGBT and other “dark monsters”, from which Ukraine must be saved, and it doesn’t matter in what way.
