Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Ukraine's statehood and Ukrainian nation. https://euvsdisinfo.eu/disinformation-cases/?text=&disinfo_issue=&disinfo_keywords%5B0%5D=77158&date=&offset=10 There was no coup in Ukraine in 2014. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called "Maidan", or "Euromaidan" – were not provoked from outside but 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 http://bit.ly/2ftv6iT. The European Union does not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and continues to condemn this violation of international law, and that Russia’s illegal actions remain a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all States. It was Russia that provoked a war in East of Ukraine, and it is not a civil war. 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 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 https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/otp/161114-otp-rep-PE_ENG.pdf Regarding Ukraine’s economy and corruption: Ukraine's economy has continued the recovery started in 2016, following the recession of 2014-2015. GDP grew by 2.5% in 2017 and is projected to grow by 3.5% in 2018. Ukraine has made significant progress in consolidating public finances, notably by reducing the fiscal deficit from 4.5% GDP in 2014 to 1.4% in 2017. Inflation has decreased substantially since 2015, down to 13.7% in 2017 and 8.9% by July 2018. According to the World Bank's Doing Business survey, Ukraine ranks 76th in 2018, which is an improvement from 80th in 2017, and 142nd in 2010, the EU’s Association Implementation Report says. https://cdn3-eeas.fpfis.tech.ec.europa.eu/cdn/farfuture/aZnrbQ70ZJtiXaRXV69qTtPI-d-gbCzZxpirQUpU6EY/mtime:1541749617/sites/eeas/files/2018_association_implementation_report_on_ukraine.pdf The report notes the slower pace of reforms in the areas of the judiciary and anti-corruption measures.
