Pro-Kremlin cartoon explains Russia-Ukraine war to kids, shows two friends falling out

The cartoon film starts with inseparable 'friends' Ukraine and Russia playing together in a sandbox and sat next to each other at school before Ukraine leaves to 'hang out by himself, representing its independence from the Soviet Union. (Image credit: Screengrab from video on YouTube)

The Russian state media has released a short cartoon film explaining to children the reason Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. The three-minute video shows children wearing t-shirts that resemble the flags of Ukraine, Germany, Russia and the US before going on to explain the conflict.

The cartoon, "How to explain to a child what the war in Donbas is and why Russia and Ukraine quarreled?"  was created by Russian state media. The opening caption reads: “Show this to your kids: a story of Vanya and Mykola.”

It starts with inseparable 'friends' Ukraine and Russia playing together in a sandbox and sat next to each other at school before Ukraine leaves to 'hang out by himself', representing its independence from the Soviet Union.
The cartoon film then depicts the moment Ukraine establishes diplomatic relations with the US in 1991 - breaking their 'friendship' for good.

It goes on to show the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic who became self-proclaimed breakaway states located in Ukraine, formed on 7 April 2014.

The pro-Kremlin message says: "Ukraine began to oppress the Russian population so these two oblasts wanted to separate and become a part of Russia - but Ukraine disagreed and began to go to war with those territories".

The cartoon film also says that the reason Putin went to war was because "Russia tried to stop the killing of people and resolve the issue peacefully".

Meanwhile, the cartoon added 'The West doesn't listen because Ukraine is telling everyone that Russia wants to kill people. Our country always stands for peace and open conversation around any conflict'.

The video has since gone viral on social media. But, Kremlin has received severe backlash not only for the propaganda, but also for targeting children.

И это показывают сейчас детям? Геббельсиновщина. «Я не бью, я просто отбираю палку». Расскажи это детям, которые сейчас в подвалах голодные сидят, пока их дома бомбит Путин pic.twitter.com/d1saJQgQSd

— Соболь Любовь (@SobolLubov) March 4, 2022

Russian propaganda film for children, telling them that Russia is a peaceful country and Ukraine an aggressor...https://t.co/hvOY9rAdvF

— Karl Brodowsky

This is not only about Putin. Russian citizens are responsible for this war too. And the propaganda is insane, targeting even children, like in this cartoon. Pure evil.https://t.co/mqtXDIeiZH

— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 4, 2022

This video is about Russian propaganda for children, bringing their version of the war story. Basically it is said that Russia only wanted to protect the autonomous countries, Donetsk and Lugansk https://t.co/fXobvyIOR1#WARINUKRAINE #WarCrime #RussianUkrainianWar

— Gabilé (@gabile21) March 5, 2022

Putin has, on more than one occasion, accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists after its pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych, was removed from office in the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution.

Read more: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Live Updates | Airport in central Ukraine's Vinnytsia destroyed in Russian strike: Zelenskyy

Prior to the invasion, Putin repeated his unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine wanted to exterminate Russian speakers in the east of the country. He said the West was "closing its eyes... to the genocide that four million people are suffering" - a reference to the mostly Russian-speaking population of eastern Ukraine, the Daily Mail reported.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 14,000 lives since it broke out in 2014 with casualties on both sides.