DISINFO: The coup of 2014 and the resulting suspension of relation with Russia has halted Ukrainian development
SUMMARY
Under the policy [of cooperating with Russia and Europe], Ukraine was able to increase the pace of economic development in the period 2011 – 2013. But the coup happened, and the opportunity that was afforded to Ukraine was lost. Those brought to power by the 2014 coup stopped cooperating with Russia.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign against Ukraine, containing multiple disinformation narratives regarding the Ukrainian economy and Ukrainian statehood. It promotes a narrative stating that the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests resulted in an illegal coup; painting Ukraine as a failing state incapable of making its own foreign policy choices.
The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was an organic reaction by numerous parts of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk of this disinformation claim here.
Also, it is not true that Ukraine's economic growth suffered from a severing relationship with Russia as a result of its occupation of the Crimean peninsula. The occupation of Crimea, which has not been recognised by the democratic world, including the United Nations, and the war in Donbas caused a deep economic crisis in 2014-2015. However, the Ukrainian economy already began to recover in 2015, and has reached consistent growth rates between 2-4 percent between 2016 and 2019.