Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov did not say that surrendering Bakhmut will lead to the collapse of the front to the western borders of Ukraine.
Kremlin media and social media users began to spread information that the surrender of Bakhmut in Donetsk region will lead to the collapse of the front and the retreat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the western borders of the country. According to agitprop, this was supposedly “stated” by Secretary of the NSDC Oleksiy Danilov in an interview with the Ukrainian joint telethon “Yedini Novyny”.
As “evidence,” Kremlin media use a quote from Danilov, which is supposed to confirm the truthfulness of the spread “news”:
“This is an important strategic point for us. And it has already been emphasized many times to ones who talked about the need to surrender and withdraw. If we do this, we can quickly reach our western borders.“
These words were indeed spoken by Secretary of the NSDC Oleksiy Danilov in an interview with the telethon. However, they do not confirm that the surrender of Bakhmut specifically will “collapse the front to the western borders.” In the interview itself, as well as in the quote provided by propaganda, Danilov says that the collapse of the front to the western borders can occur if one listens to those who call for “surrender” or “withdrawal” every time.
StopFake listened to all the interviews referred to by Kremlin media. We checked the possibility that Danilov’s quote was cut and the phrase that surrendering Bachmut could “bring down the front to the western borders” could still have been said by him. The Bachmut issue was discussed with the TV host only at the beginning of the interview. In addition to the mentioned quote, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) spoke again about the possible “collapse of the front”, but he did not say that surrendering the city could lead Russian troops to the western borders of Ukraine.
“Every time there is a question about Bachmut. Every time there is a question to the military about the strategy in this direction. And every time the military answers that this section of the front must be held in order for the rest of the front not to crumble. So that we can prepare,” Danilov said.
Apparently, the propaganda took Oleksiy Danilov’s phrase about the “collapse of the front” and attributed to his words that surrendering Bachmut would result in Ukrainian troops withdrawing to the western borders of the country. Earlier, StopFake refuted information that the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Bachmut was allegedly staged.
