DISINFO: Russia is not directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, which was the result of a Western coup
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: actualidad.rt.com (archived)*
  • Date of publication: April 19, 2021
  • Article language(s): Spanish
  • Reported in: Issue 240
  • Countries / regions discussed: Russia, Ukraine
Tags:
War in Ukraine Donbas

DISINFO: Russia is not directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, which was the result of a Western coup

SUMMARY

If you read the headlines, there is only talk of a “Russian threat”, that Russia must stop its actions, when Russia is not directly involved in the conflict. Russia is only present in the Normandy format and in the contact group to try to find a political solution to a conflict that erupted, let’s recall, by a tremendous coup by the US and Western countries, those who were giving cookies in Maidan, a coup that ended with an impoverished country, with a divided people and with fighting among brothers.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests and the war in Ukraine.

There was no coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction from several segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013, after pressure from Russia. See the full debunk The Western-backed coup in Ukraine has torn the country asunder.

There is irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government".

The European Union stated in July 2014 that "arms and fighters continue flowing into Ukraine from the Russian Federation". Also, according to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Russian special forces and troops operated to mobilise, lead, equip, and support separatist militias in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine from spring 2014 to the present, although their presence was denied by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Russia's military presence in Ukraine in 2015.

See other examples in our database, such as the claims that by provoking Russia, Ukraine fills the role assigned by NATO, that the US may be sending Ukraine to a meat grinder in Donbas, that Ukraine intends to commit genocide in Donbas, or that by accusing Russia of playing a role in Donbas, Ukraine has renounced the Minsk agreements.

This disinformation message appeared in the same TV programme as the claims that “Joe Biden has senile dementia and is a puppet of the Obamas and the Clintons”, that “Pro-Nazi Ukrainian battalions may carry out a purge in Donbas, leading Russia to intervene” and that “Ukraine is violating the Minsk agreements and the West prefers to ignore it”.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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