Disinfo: The current government in Kyiv is responsible for war

Summary

The current regime in Kyiv has brought conflict to Ukraine: war, the loss of Crimea, shootings at Maidan, economic collapse, impoverishment of the people, and much more. The basis of the conflict is a coup d’état. If there hadn’t been a coup d’etat, early elections would have taken place, and Crimea and Donbas would have remained in Ukraine.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Euromaidan and events in Ukraine. The Euromaidan demonstrations were a spontaneous civic reaction by the Ukrainian people to former President Yanukovych’s unexpected rejection of the highly-anticipated EU Association Agreement in November 2013. The war in Eastern Ukraine was provoked by Russia. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “[t]he information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 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.” The European Union stated in July 2014 that "arms and fighters continue flowing into Ukraine from the Russian Federation". At the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014, NATO leaders condemned in the strongest terms Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and demanded that Russia stop its aggression and withdraw its forces from Ukraine and away from the country’s border. According to the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Russian special forces and troops operated to mobilize, lead, equip, and support separatist militias in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine from spring 2014, although their presence was denied by Moscow. In 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin finally admitted Russia's military presence in Ukraine and Russian involvement in the occupation of Crimea. The so-called referendum was organised in a matter of weeks by self-proclaimed Crimean leadership lacking democratic legitimacy and installed by Russian military personnel following the seizure of public buildings. The EU does not recognise the referendum as legitimate. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 68/262, adopted on March 27th 2014 and supported by 100 states, asserts that Russia's actions in Crimea, as well as the referendum itself, violate international law. In March 2014, the European Council agreed the first diplomatic measures in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Following the Kremlin's continued destabilisation efforts in eastern Ukraine, the EU imposed economic sanctions in July 2014 and reinforced them in September 2014. In March 2015, the European Council linked the duration of those economic restrictions to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements.

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112.ua - YouTube (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 138
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16/02/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Eastern Ukraine, European Union, Crimea, Euromaidan, Donbas, War in Ukraine
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Disinfo: Neutral Sweden blowing up Russian threats to sell arms

Despite its formally neutral status, Sweden is once again attempting to exaggerate Russia’s military might. Already in the seventies, Sweden started look for Russian submarines, without ever finding any. Sweden is a large arms producer, and all the noise about “Russian threats” is the defence industry’s and the military’s way of increasing funding and raise profits.

Feb 15, 2019
Disproof

Sweden is not "formally neutral", but is observing a policy of non-alignment. More on Swedish foreign policy here. A Soviet submarine ran aground, close to a Swedish naval base on Swedish territorial waters in 1981. Since an incident in 1982, Sweden has not formally charged Russia with violations of its territorial waters.

Disinfo: BBC admits that reason for bombing Syria was fake

The Western media suddenly admits that there was no sarin in Douma, Syria, and chemical attacks as well. BBC admits that reason for bombing Syria was fake, and the video from the hospital was fabricated. “This video was published in April 2018 by the White Helmets cooperating with the Islamists, after which the United States, with the support of Britain and France, launched over a hundred cruise missiles in Syria”. “This is all the exact copy of the events that were developed around Iraq before the start of aggression against a sovereign state”.

Feb 15, 2019
Disproof

The new round of disinformation was launched after Intercept published a new article about the Douma attack. The article states: "At least one chemical attack did take place in Douma on April 7, and people died as a result." The BBC didn't deny the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma. The tweet of BBC's producer Riam Dalati, the source of these claims, doesn't deny the chemical attack. "The producer was expressing his personal opinions about some of the video footage that emerged after the attack but has not claimed that the attack did not happen", the BBC spokesperson told Sputnik. The Interim report of the OPCW fact-finding mission in Syria regarding the incident of alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Douma, it is stated: "Various chlorinated organic chemicals were found in samples from Locations 2 and 4, along with residues of explosive" (p. 2).

Disinfo: The US and EU countries will organise a Moldovan "Maidan" in order to remove the President

The US and the EU will organise the next “Maidan” in Moldova and “encourage the removal of the President”, as they did in Ukraine. President Igor Dodon’s Socialist Party is currently leading in the polls This does not fit into the West’s concept, which uses proven methods of colour revolutions to spur citizens on to division and conflict.

Feb 15, 2019
Disproof

No evidence given. Recurring pro-Kremlin conspiracy narrative that the West is the organiser behind any civil protests and colour revolutions, in this case aiming at undermining Moldova's and Ukraine's EU aspirations. American and European funds provide assistance to strengthen Moldova and Ukraine's democratic governance and economic growth. These help both countries implement lasting democratic and economic reforms that improve living standards for citizens. Recurring disinformation concerning the Maidan-events. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called "Maidan", or "Euromaidan" – were not provoked from outside but were a reaction of Ukrainians to former President Yanukovych's last minute foreign policy change. After seven years of negotiations, he refused to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and halted progress towards Ukraine's closer relationship with the EU as a result of Russian pressure. The protesters' demands included constitutional reform, a stronger role for parliament, formation of a government of national unity, an end to corruption, early presidential elections and an end to violence.