DISINFO: Kiyv launched a military operation against the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in April 2014
SUMMARY
In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which unilaterally declared their independence from Ukraine in February 2014.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, attempting to portray the incidents in eastern Ukraine as a civil war and claiming that local dwellers resisted Ukraine alone without Russian military support and founded the DPR and LPR.
The involvement of Russian personnel and equipment in the creation of the DPR and LPR has been well documented already for years. The destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea has been condemned by the Council of the European Union and led to restrictive measures since 2014.
The French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) has published an analysis, containing irrefutable evidence of Russian involvement and aggression.
The EU has stressed on several occasions that Ukraine’s borders must be respected. On the 27th of March 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 68/262 confirming Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Moreover, the international community, including the European Union, recognises and condemns clear violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014.
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