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.

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Reported in: Issue 195
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 30/04/2020
Language/target audience: English
Country: Russia, Ukraine
Keywords: Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine, Civil war, War in Ukraine, Coup, Donbas, Euromaidan
Outlet: Sputnik News

EU is supposed to mean solidarity but in practice, it fails

The European Union is based on solidarity. We are being told this story at every European election.

However, when the coronavirus crisis emerged there was no solidarity. Italy was not helped by the EU. It was helped by China, by Russia and by Cuba and unfortunately, not at all by the European Union. They feel abandoned.

May 04, 2020

Disproof

The COVID-19 outbreak constituted a serious challenge on Europe's readiness for a crisis. But the claim that "EU has done nothing" is false.

The European Commission has approved a €50 million Italian aid scheme to support the production and supply of medical devices, as well as to help Italy provide the necessary medical treatment to those infected.

The US and EU provided modest assistance to Italy, contrary to Russia

Russian military doctors have provided Italy with effective assistance in the fight against coronavirus. This was expected to excite Moscow’s “partners” from NATO structures, because the assistance rendered to Rome by the United States or Europe seemed, to put it mildly, modest.

May 04, 2020

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that the EU left Italy alone to fight coronavirus. The COVID-19 outbreak constituted a serious challenge on Europe's readiness for a crisis and was politically exploited by anti-EU forces, including official Russian media.

The European Central Bank announced a €750 billion ($820 billion) asset purchase programme in an effort to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll in Europe continued to rise. As part of the programme, investors will purchase Italian securities to help the country counter the serious risks of the coronavirus.

US is rewriting the history of victory in WWII

On the 75th anniversary of the victory, the State Department is making another cynical attempt to rewrite history. America is trying to deny the decisive contribution of the Soviet people in the victory over Nazism.

May 04, 2020

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on WWII and the West.

The accusation against the US came amid the 75th anniversary of Victory Day after the US Embassy in Hungary announced a competition for "proposals for programmes that foster truthful recognition and remembrance of the tragedies of the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the long road to freedom that followed." What angered pro-Kremlin media is that, amongst others, the proposals should "focus on individual experiences and oral histories... under the tyranny of the Soviet Union".