DISINFO: Euromaidan was an illegal armed coup
SUMMARY
Essentially, the Euromaidan was an illegal overthrow of the government, with all the consequences arising from this situation. […] The fact that Yanukovych was overthrown as a result of an armed coup was clear to everyone except the Ukrainians involved in this “event”.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on Euromaidan depicting the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv as a coup.
There was no armed coup in Ukraine seven years ago. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called "Maidan", or "Euromaidan" – were a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych's last minute U-turn when, after seven years of negotiation, 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.
See similar disinformation cases alleging that the US financed the 2013-14 "colour revolution" and ouster of former Ukrainian president Yanukovych, that in February 2014 a violent coup took place in Kyiv, that deep state with Victoria Nuland was the driving force behind regime overthrow in Ukraine, or that there was a coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014.