Disinfo: Euromaidan coup led to civil war in Donbas

Summary

The civil war in Ukraine has been raging since 2014 when Donetsk and Lugansk declared their independence from Kiev following a violent coup d’etat in the Ukrainian capital.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative painting the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv as a coup orchestrated by the West, and alleging that Russia's armed aggression in east Ukraine is a civil war. There was no coup d'état in Ukraine. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was an organic reaction by numerous segments 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 here. 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.

Go to search

publication/media

sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 195
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 30/04/2020
  • Outlet language(s) English
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Eastern Ukraine, Donetsk, Civil war, Euromaidan, Donbas, Coup, War in Ukraine
see more

Disinfo: Kyiv tried to arrange a «COVID-19-sabotage» on Donbas

Kyiv tried to arrange a «COVID-19-sabotage» on Donbas. The Ukrainian side handed over to DNR a prisoner who was infected with the coronavirus infection COVID-19.

Apr 29, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about Ukrainian aggression against residents of Donbas in addition to Ukraine's management of the coronavirus crisis. This is an unfounded claim, presented without any evidence. Based on a large number of photos and videos taken during the exchange of detained persons between Kyiv and “LDNR” on 16 April 2020, it can be seen that they were all provided with personal protective elements such as masks. The respective photos and videos were published by Ukrainian media. Even Newsfront itself published photos showing that the detainees are wearing Personal Protective Equipment.

Disinfo: Ukraine lost territorial integrity after Zelenskyy signed the land market law

Zelenskyy has no right to talk about the territorial integrity of Ukraine after he signed the land market opening law. The Ukrainian government continues to destroy systematically the formerly sovereign state. The physical extermination of their people, financial slavery, and now the sale of land are far from all the methods that the Kyiv regime is capable of.

Apr 29, 2020
Disproof

This is a recurrent narrative aimed to discredit Ukrainian statehood. The claim that the adoption of the law on the land market is an illustration of foreign control and loss of territorial integrity for Ukraine is false. The law states that only Ukrainian citizens and companies registered in Ukraine and under Ukrainian law will be eligible to buy agricultural land in Ukraine. Other restrictions are prescribed by the law. Also, the Association Council welcomed the official Kyiv steps to open the land market, which "should be based on the rule of law and the principles of sustainability, transparency, fairness and inclusiveness."

Disinfo: The Skripal affair was forgotten because after two years no essential evidence was found

The Czech Republic accused Russia of attempting to poison officials who demolished the Marshal Konev monument. These accusations remind us of the Skripal affair which everyone forgot because no essential evidence was ever found.

Apr 29, 2020
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative attempting to delegitimise any criticism of Russian actions by presenting it as a manifestation of the West's "anti-Russian" provocations. In fact, incidents such as the Skripal case and the downing of MH17 are well-documented cases of acts of Kremlin-enabled violence outside Russia. Although the entirety of evidence against Russia in the Skripal case has not been made public, the evidence in the public domain is very significant and leaves no room for doubt. Two operatives of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (known as its former Russian acronym GRU) have been identified by UK Police Authorities as the chief suspects. Their identities have been further studied by investigastion network Bellingcat: Anatoliy Chepiga and Aleksandr Mishkin. The monument in Prague to Marshall Konev was erected in 1980 during the "normalisation" period in communist Czechoslovakia. The democratically elected leadership of Prague's Municipal District 6, which retains legal ownership of the statue, voted to move the monument to a museum and replace it with a memorial commemorating Soviet sacrifices in the fight against Hitler in general, and the liberation of Prague in particular. More information available here. The Kremlin's reaction to this decision has been extremely hostile, and as of last week, the mayor of Prague 6 has been under police protection after a Russian agent allegedly arrived in the Czech Republic carrying ricin poison. See similar cases here that there was no evidence of Russia's involvement in the poisoning of Skripals and that Russia is accused of US election meddling and the Skripals’ poisoning without proof. For further cases on the Konev monument, see here.