Disinfo: Crimea voted to secede after the coup in Kyiv

Summary

Shortly after the 2014 coup in Kyiv, Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and reunite with Russia. The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics also seceded from Ukraine at the same time.

Disproof

Recurring Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming there was a coup that displaced the Ukrainian government in 2014, as well as the war in Ukraine and illegal annexation of Crimea.

In 2014, there was no coup, nor a western orchestrated protest in Ukraine. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former president Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.

Ukraine's government changed its relations toward Russia after the latter illegally annexed Crimea, which is part of Ukraine. No international body has recognised the so-called Crimea referendum, announced on 27 February 2014, and held on 16 March 2014. On 27 March 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it stated that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. In response to the illegal annexation of Crimea, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the EU has adopted a variety of restrictive measures targetting Russia.

See our guide to deciphering pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's war.

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oroszhirek.hu (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 275
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 05/03/2022
  • Article language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: DPR, LPR, Crimea, Euromaidan
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Disinfo: Bill Gates said that the next epidemic will be smallpox

There is information that samples of the smallpox virus were secretly transported to the Kharkiv laboratory in special containers. American microbiologists were able to create a unique structure from the genome of the smallpox virus, which can disguise itself as the coronavirus. American businessman Bill Gates recently said that the next epidemic will be smallpox, which causes 90% of deaths.

Mar 04, 2022
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives targeting Bill Gates and the conspiracy theory on secret elites ruling the world and attempting to achieve a New World Order through population control.

The article does not present any supporting evidence, but only presents these accusations based on unidentified “intelligence”, and tries to build a false link between the variola virus and the regular disinformation target, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who did not warn of a smallpox attack. He simply said there was a need to prepare for the next pandemic, which could happen from a bioterror attack, using a smallpox attack at airports as one example.

Disinfo: Nazi ideology is imposed in Ukraine

The Ukrainian people will be able to define their future after denazification and demilitarisation. Kyiv has been openly oppressing the Russian speaking population in Ukraine and the people of the non-government-controlled territories in Donbas since 2014. Nazi ideology is being imposed in Ukraine and its territory is being speedily militarised, which is a threat to Russia.

Mar 04, 2022
Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media about alleged militarisation and "Nazi Ukraine" used to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Both Nazi and Communist ideologies are banned in Ukraine.

Disinfo: US biolabs were forced to clean up their tracks after the Russian Operation

The Russian special operation on Ukrainian territory forced American virologists to urgently sweep up their tracks. On February 26, information about US biological laboratories disappeared from the website of the US Embassy in Ukraine.

Mar 04, 2022
Disproof

Recurring narrative alleging that the United States develops biological weapons which are consistent with a years-long disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin, yet accelerated with the Russian invasion and war in Ukraine.

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on multiple fronts, as footage, foreign correspondents, social media, local journalists and citizen witnesses have proven beyond any doubt.