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Disinfo: Terrorist acts in Ukraine are signs of a new Maidan

Summary

Two people have recently taken hostages in Ukraine. One took a hostage on a bus and another took a police officer. Both acts prove that Ukrainian society is angered by economic and political crisis dominating the country.

The majority of the population hates the regime and Zelenskyy is not a president with full authority. The real dictators are the US, British, Canadian and Polish secret services, which murdered their opponents in 2014. Many people in Ukraine are threatened openly and they are afraid of standing up to anything. Thus, societal dissatisfaction finds a way to materialize, for instance in the form of terrorist acts.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation about socio-economic situation in Ukraine,  Euromaidan and Ukrainian governance.

The Euromaidan demonstrations started in Kyiv in November 2013. They emerged organically as a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych's last-minute U-turn on the highly anticipated EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which had been under negotiation for seven years. See the full debunk of this disinformation claim here.

Ukraine is a sovereign country. Ukraine's allies are focused on realising and strengthening a stable, democratic, prosperous and free Ukraine, more closely integrated into Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures. Russia is, in fact, violating territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine with continuous acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014.

According to World Bank data, the Ukrainian economy grew steadily between 2016 and 2019. Ukrstat states that average monthly income has also increased gradually in past years. The unemployment rate is also down from 10.1% in Q1 2017 to 8.5% in Q1 2020. While the ruling party's popularity is down to 30.7% according to Europe Elects, it is still by far the most popular political force in the country. Thus, nothing suggests that there would be widespread popular discontent in the country that would lead to a series of terrorist acts and a new "Maidan".

The two events discussed in the News Front article did indeed take place. A gunman took 13 hostages on a bus in Lutsk and only let the hostages go once President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video on Facebook endorsing a 2005 animal rights documentary. In another, unrelated case, a crime suspect took a police officer captive with a grenade. However, these do not indicate that a new Maidan would be coming.

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publication/media

News Front - Hungarian (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 207
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26/07/2020
  • Language/target audience: Hungarian
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Keywords: Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian disintegration, Euromaidan, Ukrainian statehood

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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