Disinfo: Donetsk and Luhansk independence triggered a Ukrainian military operation

Summary

In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, which declared their independence unilaterally, as an expression of their opposition to the coup in Ukraine in February of the same year.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, aiming to portray the conflict as Ukraine's civil war.

The war in eastern Ukraine is not a civil conflict, but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014.

There was no coup d'état in Ukraine. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was an organic reaction by numerous parts of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk of this disinformation claim.

See further the claim that Russia is not a part of the conflict in Ukraine.

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publication/media

sptnkne.ws
albidda.net
saadaonline.net
bbcnews1.com
  • Reported in: Issue 185
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Arabic
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Eastern Ukraine, Donetsk, Ukrainian statehood, War in Ukraine
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Disinfo: Lithuanian authorities rewrite the history of their own country

If someone rewrites the history of Lithuania, then it is the Lithuanian authorities themselves, since the 90s, for the past 30 years. As a result, entire pages have been torn out of the country’s history. The current history is false and does not reflect anything. Any attempt to build a false history of Lithuania is doomed to fatal collapse.

Feb 18, 2020
Disproof

This article appeared right after a statement by the President of Lithuania made on 17th February 2020 part of which stated: "We will also have to rebuff any attempts by unfriendly forces to fabricate the history of Lithuania and the other Baltic States. We are ready to critically and fairly evaluate our past, but we will not tolerate the attempts of some countries to spread false narratives."

This disinformation message is a part of an ongoing pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign targeting Poland and the Baltic States ahead of the WWII anniversary. See also here.

Disinfo: Leaked documents reveal there was no BUK TELAR near MH17 crash site

The crash of the Malaysian passenger Boeing in eastern Ukraine in July 2014 occurred in an area where there was not a single Buk anti-aircraft missile system. This was reported with reference to a document by the Netherlands Military Intelligence and Security Service on Monday, February 17. New media reports on the circumstances of the crash of the Malaysian Boeing in the skies over the Donbas in July 2014 cast doubt on the position of an international investigation team that accused Russia of involvement in the tragedy. This once again shows that there is still a huge number of issues that seriously question such a biased position, which has already been voiced many times.

Feb 18, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to discredit the International Joint Investigation (JIT) into the downing of flight MH17. The allegedly leaked documents do not contradict the findings of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). According to the Russian investigative journalism site The Insider, the documents list the coordinates of the points where the Ukrainian and Russian Buk-M1 systems known to intelligence were located and conclude that none of them could have brought down the Malaysian airliner. However, it is not an exhaustive list of BUK missiles that could have been located in the area of the disaster. See further reporting by the Insider. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) - which is comprised of the the Dutch Public Prosecution Service officials and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine - has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy (or: Pervomaiskyi). At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT), has concluded that the BUK-TELAR used to down MH17, originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT the Dutch Public Persecution service will persecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering the 298 persons on board. The public hearing is scheduled for 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. The European Union and NATO have called on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability. On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the Buk installation that was used to down MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable. For further cases on MH17, see here.

Disinfo: Russia is groundlessly accused of the downing of MH17

The international investigation team groundlessly accused Russia in the incident, but so far no tangible arguments nor evidence were submitted.

Feb 18, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the downing of MH17 that denies Russia's responsibility.

Contrary to the claims, the multi-national Joint Investigation Team conducted an intensive investigation, with a mountain of evidence which will be presented at the forthcoming trial. The JIT announced that it will issue international arrest warrants for three Russian military and intelligence officers – Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, Oleg Pulatov – and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko, commander of the military combat unit in Donetsk. They will be prosecuted for their involvement in the murder of the 298 passengers aboard MH17, which was brought down by a Russian Buk missile.