DISINFO: Extreme nationalists staged coup and brought Poroshenko to power in Ukraine
SUMMARY
Extreme nationalists were the driving force in the 2014 coup that brought Poroshenko to power in Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative painting the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests as a far-right uprising which culminated in a coup against the democratically elected President Yanukovych. It fits the wider portrayal of Ukrainian politics as dominated by "fascists." Radical nationalists played a very limited role throughout the Euromaidan, had not initiated the protests in the first place, and did not install the Poroshenko to power. Petro Poroshenko won the presidency in a competitive and transparent election, as reported by the OSCE. The two most popular nationalist candidates won a combined 1.84% of the national vote, and their respective political parties failed to achieve the minimum electoral threshold in the October 2014 parliamentary race.