The launch by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine of a campaign to correct articles in the Wikipedia Internet encyclopedia will be a movement towards falsification of historical facts. This opinion was expressed by Oleg Morozov, a member of the international committee of the Federation Council.

“This is an obvious attempt, with reference to the“ opinion of the people ”, of mass falsification of facts in favor of current political problems. It is clear that such a massive and uncontrolled editing of information does not lead to the search for truth, but leads away from it, ”RIA Novosti quotes the senator.

In turn, a member of the State Duma’s committee on international affairs, Sergei Zheleznyak, noted that the Kiev-corrected articles on issues such as integration with the EU and NATO or Crimea’s affiliation would become a “stream of absurdity and lies”.

“These next attempts to rewrite the history of our own country, as well as correct world history for our political interests, are a very dangerous game. Such an action is certainly a political order, aimed primarily at the consciousness of the younger generation, ”said the parliamentarian.

On the eve of the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, a message appeared about the launch of a “large-scale campaign to fill Wikipedia with impartial information about Ukraine and the world.” So, in May, the “Month of Ukrainian Diplomacy” online marathon starts, within which articles about supposedly Russian aggression, Kiev’s Euro-Atlantic integration, relations with other countries and Ukraine’s activities in international organizations will be amended within a month. We are talking about both the Russian-language segment and other languages.

As political analyst Ivan Mezuho notes, Kiev’s intentions to introduce amendments to a free information portal with the help of government agencies can have a detrimental effect on the image of Ukraine in the international community.

“This discredits the very principles of Wikipedia. The fact that the state officially officially declares that it is going to work on this site speaks, firstly, of the lack of education of Ukrainian propagandists, and secondly, this situation puts Ukraine in a very delicate position in front of its so-called Western partners and administrators “Wikipedia,” the source said.

At the same time, he noted that the Ukrainian authorities have been engaged in "myth-making and rewriting their own history" over the past years.

“It says black on white, black on white. The same coup d'etat of 2014 is presented as the so-called "revolution" ... The events of the Great Patriotic War are interpreted by completely false interpretations, collaborators are presented by heroes, almost worship takes place before the Nazi occupiers, ”the political scientist said in an interview with RT.  

Recall that in 2015 Ukraine adopted a package of four laws on decommunization. So, Soviet symbols were equated with Nazi, banning its public demonstration, and a company began to change the names of streets and settlements dating back to the Soviet era. In addition, the term "Great Patriotic War" was abolished, and the former accomplices of the Nazi invaders were given special status and benefits.

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With the coming to power of the new President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, the policy on decommunization weakened a little, but no one canceled it, the expert notes.

“Zelensky somewhat reduced the hateful rhetoric in the media, but in essence he continues the policy of his predecessors to fool the population of Ukraine, spread various historical myths and create new myths about the history of Ukraine today,” Mezyuho emphasized.

A source in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry explained to RT that by rewriting Wikipedia, Kiev is trying to create a positive information background around the country.

“The media in the European Union and the United States write about Ukraine only in a negative light, and not a word about the country's achievements. Moreover, Ukraine cannot tell its version of events about military operations in the east, close and effective cooperation with the EU and NATO ... We understand that the support of Ukraine by Western partners depends on this, ”the source said.

There is no guarantee that the rewritten online materials can improve the image of Ukraine, because it is influenced by many other factors, explained the representative of the Voice party to RT.

“You can, of course, write a positive response on one of the sites, but what does it make sense if Western investors in Ukraine regularly encounter raiding? Ukraine will soon be back on the front pages of world media, ”he stressed.

The representative of the Golos party also added that “the best opportunity to get a positive image is to achieve reforms, fight corruption and crime, and protect private property.”

The "Fatherland" also disagree with the fact that the image of the country should be corrected by rewriting online portals. According to the representative of the party, the initiatives of the authorities are becoming more and more “unexpected”.

“And how should they write about Ukraine? If there are no achievements, but there are a lot of problems. Chernobyl forests burn, the evacuation of Ukrainians ends in clashes. But now all this can be corrected - just describe your version of events, blame Russia for all the troubles, ”the source said.