Spain Summons Russian Ambassador Over 'Misinformation'

Spain said Friday that it summoned the Russian ambassador over a video shared on its social media accounts that falsely portrayed Spanish troops fighting in Ukraine.

The video posted Wednesday -- which has since been removed -- showed what the embassy said were Spanish soldiers on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to Spanish media reports.

The images were contrasted with a clip of Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles saying Spanish troops would never fight in Ukraine.

Spain's foreign ministry demanded the "immediate" removal of the video and summoned Russia's ambassador to Spain "to protest the attacks on social media against the government," a ministry spokesman told AFP.

The foreign ministry expressed "its strong rejection of this type of publication" during its meeting with the ambassador, which took place on Thursday, the spokesman added.

Asked about the video during a Madrid press conference with her visiting counterparts from France and Germany, Robles reiterated there are no Spanish troops in Ukraine.

"There are absolutely no NATO troop, no Spanish soldiers belonging to Spain's armed forces, or the armed forces of any NATO country, in Ukraine. None," she said.

"We all know that a country like Russia, which is massacring citizens in Ukraine right now, uses all kinds of methods, including misinformation to undermine the friendship of the nations that are part of the European Union and NATO."

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The gun, if fielded, probably won’t shift the balance against Ukrainian forces decisively. But it’s another escalation and defiance of the West by the Kremlin, and North Korea too.

Spain, a NATO member which will assume the rotating presidency of the EU in July, is a staunch ally of Ukraine.