Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Kremlin media and officials have tried to shape it as an internal conflict in which Russia plays no part. While Western media afdmit vast Russian aid to the so-called "separatists," they still largely use such terms as “rebels” and “government troops,” unwittingly contributing to the Kremlin’s civil war narrative. This is understandable, since this manufactured conflict is shaped to look like a bona fide civil war, with Russia denying its involvement save for the "volunteers" on vacation who choose to fight for the "separatists" in Donbas. Yet there are several facts demonstrating that this war is not an internal Ukrainian conflict.
