Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, speaking at a briefing, called the “peacekeeping” forces that may be sent to Ukraine as part of a “coalition of the willing” — occupational forces.
With this statement, the Kremlin’s top propagandist highlighted a series of narratives that Russian propagandists generate to discredit Ukraine and its European partners. Moreover, the minister’s message contains hidden lies and fabrications.
At a briefing on September 17, 2025, Lavrov stated the following:
“And by pumping the Zelenskyy regime with weapons, and recently also by forming peacekeeping forces, which are essentially occupational forces, by talking about creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine… Europe is now deliberating whether it’s possible to shoot down objects over Ukraine from neighbouring countries’ territory, or whether they should wait until these objects approach the border…”
Lavrov’s message about European “occupational forces” in Ukraine is absurd in essence, but requires factual arguments for refutation.
According to the Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia (GUE), the term “occupation” from Latin occupatio means taking possession, seizing, or from occupare — to capture.
In international law, occupation is the temporary seizure by armed forces of an enemy’s territory during peacetime or wartime.
Under the 4th Hague Convention, occupation begins with the establishment of actual control over occupied territory and the formation of an occupational administration.
Occupational forces are the armed forces of a state that temporarily captured part or all of another state’s territory without acquiring sovereign rights over it. Their activities are regulated by international conventions, such as the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention of 1949, which establish rules for treatment of occupied territory and population.
From this, we can summarize two key points:
— occupation is the forcible seizure of a state’s territory by another state;
— this is the holding of territory. Forces that capture and hold these territories are occupational forces.
This contradicts the logic of what is being discussed between Ukraine and its European partners. Ukraine is actually proposing, primarily to European countries, to place their peacekeeping forces (also called deterrent forces) on its territory. That is, there are no forcible actions involved — this is a voluntary proposal.
The forces that may be deployed in Ukraine as peacekeepers will not be holding any territories. According to the agreements currently in place between Ukraine and countries from the “coalition of the willing,” they will be stationed in certain cities and zones. “Peacekeeping” forces will not create any administrations in Ukraine, as specified in the interpretation of the concept of “occupation.”
On September 4, a meeting of representatives from “coalition of the willing” countries took place in Paris. Among the states ready to deploy their forces in Ukraine are the coalition leaders — the United Kingdom and France, as well as the Netherlands, Australia, Nordic countries, and Baltic States. The function of Western forces in Ukraine has not yet been finally agreed upon — there are assumptions that these will only be training missions deployed in major cities in central and western Ukraine.
Another key point that Lavrov ignores is that according to plans, the “coalition of the willing” forces will be deployed in Ukraine after the end of hostilities.
So either Lavrov and the Kremlin leadership are planning to fight in Ukraine to the last Russian and drag out the war for years. Or Moscow is already hinting that even after a ceasefire or peace agreement, it will continue military provocations against Ukraine.
In any case, Lavrov’s message is fake and manipulative. And by speaking about European peacekeeping forces as occupational, the Russian minister indirectly affirmed the propagandist narrative that Ukraine is part of Russia. Because only in that case is there logic in the words of the minister-propagandist.
However, Ukraine is and remains an independent and internationally recognized state. And it is precisely Russian forces that are occupiers, and Russia is the aggressor country that on February 24, 2022, launched a large-scale war against Ukraine, but cowardly called it a “special military operation.”
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