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Disinfo: Donbas conflict: internal Ukrainian conflict

Summary

Russia is not needed so much in the continuation of the peace process in Donbas since it is an internal conflict.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine. 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. See similar narratives about Ukraine's role in the conflict and the Minsk Agreements here.

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Pervyi Kanal (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 173
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 12/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Eastern Ukraine, Civil war, Donbas, War in Ukraine
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What is happening in Ukraine is a Western project

What is happening in Ukraine now is a completely Western project. Co-production from the USA and the EU. They supported the coup in 2014, and dragged Poroshenko, turning a blind eye to everything.

Nov 11, 2019
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. It's also a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative undermining the statehood of Ukraine. The message also repeats disinformation narratives about EU and US relations with Ukraine. Ukraine is recognised in international law as a sovereign nation-state, with its own flag, nationality, language and with a democratically-elected president and parliament. The EU and the US support the democratic development of Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter’s principles of non-interference into internal affairs and respect towards territorial integrity and political independence. 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. 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.

Ukraine is a completely artificial country

From how many pieces is Ukraine shaped? It is completely artificial. There are Poles, there are Hungarians, there are Romanians, there are Russians. Where is Ukraine?

Nov 11, 2019
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian statehood. The history of Ukraine dates back to the times of the Kyivan Rus’ in the IX-XIII centuries. As a nation-state, Ukraine was formed during the XVI-XIX centuries when it was divided by major European states: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires. However, in the middle of the XVII century, parts of Ukraine's territories received independence from Poland and created an independent Cossacks Hetmanate. Later, it signed a military and political cooperation deal with Moscow, which was then used by Russian rulers to deprive Hetmanate of its sovereign rights. In the early XX century, after the collapse of the Russian empire, the Ukrainian People’s Republic was proclaimed. In Western Ukraine, which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Western Ukrainian National Republic was created. On 22 January 1919, the two states signed a Unification Act creating a unified state. Other territories wanted to join the new Ukrainian state, such as Northern Bukovyna and Crimea and appealed to the government of a unified Ukrainian People’s Republic.