On February 4, during the broadcast of “Time for Solidarity,” Giorgi Arghvliani, the regional secretary of the political party Solidarity for Peace, spoke about Ukraine’s lands and territorial integrity issues. According to him, almost every neighboring country has claims on Ukraine’s territory. He also stated that foreign landowners in Ukraine refuse to allow their land to be used for burying soldiers killed in the war.
Giorgi Arghvliani: (39:12) “The owners of black soil farmlands – foreigners – expressed objections to having soldiers who died defending their land buried on their property. Can you imagine what they’re dealing with? And here I do not feel sorry for Zelenskyy but consider him a nobody.”
(41:48) “Almost every neighboring country has claims on Ukraine’s territory.”
Giorgi Arghvliani’s claims about Ukraine’s land and territorial disputes with neighboring countries are not true: 1. False claims about foreign-owned lands in Ukraine and restrictions on burying soldiers there have been spread multiple times in the past. In reality, foreign companies or individuals without Ukrainian citizenship are not legally allowed to purchase agricultural land in Ukraine. Therefore, they could not express such objections; 2. With the exception of Russia, Ukraine’s neighboring countries have no territorial claims against it. They support international resolutions that recognize Ukraine’s territorial integrity. This type of propaganda has long been disseminated by Russian sources, yet the leaders of Ukraine’s neighboring countries have never expressed claims over Ukrainian land.
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Foreigners Are Legally Prohibited from Purchasing Land in Ukraine
Ukraine’s Land Law prohibits foreign companies and individuals without Ukrainian citizenship from purchasing agricultural land in the country. Article 130 of this law outlines the requirements for land ownership. Agricultural land in Ukraine can only be owned by citizens of Ukraine, legal entities established and registered under Ukrainian law whose owners are Ukrainian citizens, territorial communities, and the state. According to Ukrainian legislation, foreigners, stateless persons, and legal entities cannot acquire shares or stakes in authorized capital or become members of legal entities that own agricultural land.
According to the legislation, foreign nationals and companies are prohibited from owning land in Ukraine. Consequently, the claim that foreign landowners in Ukraine refuse to allow the burial of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war on their land is false.
Similar disinformation has been spread in the past, alleging that foreign companies opposed the burial of Ukrainian soldiers on their land. Last year, Myth Detector investigated claims made by Kremlin propagandist Nikita Mikhalkov and other actors, suggesting that the American corporation BlackRock owned land in Ukraine and prohibited the burial of fallen Ukrainian soldiers on it. It was found that the original source of this claim was a Russian satirical Telegram channel, and the information was false. The Ukrainian fact-checking platform StopFake also examined a similar claim about BlackRock and found it to be untrue.
- Disinformation, as if the head of BlackRock bought Ukrainian lands and banned the burial of military personnel
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Ukraine’s Neighboring States Have No Territorial Claims Against It
Ukraine shares land borders with seven countries: Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. Among them, only Russia has territorial claims against Ukraine.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Kremlin propagandists and state media have been pushing the narrative that Ukraine’s neighbors have territorial claims against it. Interested actors place particular emphasis on Poland and claim that Poland seeks to annex western Ukrainian territories.
During the ongoing war in Ukraine, the United Nations has adopted multiple resolutions reaffirming the country’s territorial integrity. Ukraine’s neighboring states, except for Russia and its close political ally Belarus, have supported these resolutions. On October 13, 2022, the UN adopted a resolution recognizing Ukraine’s territorial integrity and condemning referendums held in certain Ukrainian regions aimed at joining Russia. The resolution’s purpose was to reject these referendums and declare the territories as annexed by Russia. This resolution, numbered ES-11/4, was supported by all of Ukraine’s neighboring countries except Russia and Belarus. A similar resolution, recognizing Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its 1991 borders, was also adopted by the UN in 2014. Poland, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary voted in favor of it, while Russia and Belarus opposed it.
In 2022, a map was circulated depicting Ukraine’s territory as divided among neighboring countries – Poland, Russia, Romania, and Hungary. Propaganda sources presented the map as if it reflected Poland’s actual plans to partition Ukraine. However, this map did not represent a plan by Poland or any other neighboring state to distribute Ukraine’s territories. It first appeared on Polish television in 2014 and was based on a letter from then-Russian Duma member Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Back then Zhirinovsky proposed to Poland that it take part in Ukraine’s partition, and the map was used to visualize Zhirinovsky’s idea. Disinformation claiming that Poland planned to annex western Ukraine after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war has been widely spread by Kremlin propaganda channels. For more on this topic, see:
- Is Poland Going to Share the Territories of Ukraine with Russia, Hungary, and Romania?
- Disinformation Messages of the Kremlin about Poland’s Alleged Plans to Annex Western Ukraine
Ukraine remains a key target of Russian propaganda. Kremlin actors attempt to discredit Ukrainian politicians, spread visual manipulations to fabricate conflicts between Ukraine and the West, and damage the reputation of Ukraine’s military. Myth Detector regularly fact-checks such misleading claims that circulate in Georgian and Russian media sources.
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