Disinfo: A civil war began in Ukraine after the clique seized power in the country

Summary

The Maidan turned in to a civil war. The clique seized power in the capital and immediately began suppressing the citizens who opposed the overthrow of the legitimate government. The junta began to suppress the peaceful resistance of the Southern and Eastern oblasts of Ukraine. That eventually led to a civil war in Ukraine. On the one hand, there was a fascist clique with its own Bandera ideals, on the other, those who did not recognise the coup that had taken place in the country.

Disproof

This is an example of recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the 2013-2014 Maidan protests and the war in Ukraine.

The war in eastern Ukraine was not caused by the Euromaidan. Protests in favour of EU association and reforms were held in all major cities of Donbas. The war is not a civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces.

This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government. In turn, the active phase of the Donbas war was triggered with the 12 April 2014 assault on the city of Slovyans'k, led by Russian intelligence officer Igor Girkin. By September that year, Russia had sent up to 15,000 regular troops into the region.

See similar disinformation cases alleging that Donbas rebelled because Russians in Ukraine were subjected to ethnocide, that after Euromaidan Ukraine lost its sovereignty and is falling apart, or that Ukraine committed a crime by attacking its citizens in Donbas in 2014.

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  • Reported in: Issue 222
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 30/11/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine
  • Keywords: Ukraine, Eastern Ukraine, Civil war, Euromaidan, War in Ukraine
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Disinfo: Germany depends on the US in the sphere of security

Germany is a dependent state in the sphere of security. This country is helpless without the US. This is a sign of dependence.

Nov 29, 2020
Disproof

Recurring disinformation narrative about US hegemony in Europe. Pro-Kremlin outlets like to present other countries as American puppets. See similar narratives here, here and here.

Germany is an independent state and implements an independent policy. The narrative of the dependence of this country on the US is disinformation presented without any clear evidence. The statement that US military presence is “a sign of German dependence” is a speculative one. Germany and the US have close partner relations of two sovereign and independent countries. The US military presence in Germany is in the interest of both countries as well as in the interest of Europe security.

Disinfo: Too expensive for the Baltic States to synchronise their energy grids with Europe

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia together with Russia and Belarus are part of the BRELL energy ring. The Baltic States want to disconnect from this ring and synchronise their grids with the rest of Europe through Poland by 2025. Lithuania explains that want to leave BRELL to be “energetically independent from Russia” but experts say that the process of disconnecting from BRELL will be too expensive for the Baltic States, the price of electricity for users will grow.

Nov 29, 2020
Disproof

The case is part of the Kremlin's disinformation campaign about European energy policy.

The BRELL energy ring is a Moscow-controlled grid. It is a potential threat for the Baltic States because Russia continuously uses energy politics as a foreign policy instrument.

Disinfo: Sandu wants to arrange a second Karabakh in Transnistria

Sandu wants to arrange a second Karabakh in Transnistria (the title).

Sandu in an interview […] says without hesitation: withdraw the peacekeepers as soon as possible, and we will arrange our Karabakh for Tiraspol. That is, it intends to use the army against Transnistria.

Nov 29, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative spread before the recent Presidential elections claiming that if Maia Sandu won, relations with Transnistria will deteriorate and the conflict will break out again. The elected president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, is credited with statements she did not make in an interview given on November 20 to the publication Европейская правда (Ukraine).

In the interview, she said nothing about Russian peacekeepers, the introduction of the army into Transnistria, or Nagorno-Karabakh. On the contrary, she spoke of a peaceful settlement of the conflict: ”I believe that one day there will be a geopolitical opportunity for the reunification of Moldova, and we must be ready for this. But in any case, it should be a peaceful solution”. Talking about the solution of the conflict, Maia Sandu said ”it should include the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Moldova”.