Disinfo: The EU trains anti-Russian warriors in Ukraine

Summary

EU military training centres in Ukraine are essentially training anti-Russian fighters.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation claims about the EU’s and NATO’s role in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

The European Union has only a civilian mission in Ukraine. The aim of the European Union Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM), created in 2014, is to assist relevant Ukrainian authorities towards a sustainable reform of the civilian security sector through strategic advice and practical support for specific reform measures based on EU standards and international principles of good governance and human rights. Military training is not amongst its main priorities.

The allegation that EU or NATO forces are or could be in Ukraine had been repeated by pro-Kremlin outlets many times since the war in Donbas. Neither the US nor other Western countries have a permanent military presence in Ukraine and no Western army has ever taken part in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Consequently, the claim is aimed at distracting attention from the Kremlin's continuous support for the hostilities in Ukraine's Donbas region.

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oroszhirek.hu (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 270
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14/01/2022
  • Article language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Euromaidan, European Union, Military, Anti-Russian, War in Ukraine
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Disinfo: Kazakhstan protests necessary for the US and allies to pressure Russia ahead of Geneva talks

The protesters in Kazakhstan were very well prepared and organised, assuming a large amount of money from abroad was invested into the protest. Also, it could be assumed, that the US or their allies are behind the protests and “second Maidan” near the border of Russia. This was done to exert more pressure on Russia before the security talk in Geneva.

Jan 13, 2022
Disproof

This claim advances an emerging pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that the January 2022 anti-government protests in Kazakhstan are part of a foreign inspired and directed plot. The message includes the conspiracy theory that the US and their allies needed these events as a tool to make pressure on Russia before the security talk in Geneva.

The pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors supported by foreign powers who constantly prepare new coups.

Disinfo: Protests in Kazakhstan were funded from abroad; the US might be behind this

The radicals were accused of being funded and trained from abroad. The suspicion that the US may have played a role in Kazakhstan clearly stems from the fact that its proven instruments for regime change, such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), are active in Kazakhstan and typically fund anti-government movements.

Jan 13, 2022
Disproof

This claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that the January 2022 anti-government protests in Kazakhstan are orchestrated from abroad and are part of a US policy of staging “colour revolutions”.

The pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors supported by foreign powers who constantly prepare new coups.

Disinfo: After 2014 pro-American coup in Kyiv, NATO tripled Rapid Reaction Force on "eastern flank"

Washington has been recklessly pushing the North Atlantic Alliance for 30 years to expand to the east and to develop militarily the post-Soviet space, including Ukraine. After the pro-American coup d'état in Kyiv in 2014, NATO tripled the size of the Rapid Reaction Force on the "eastern flank".

Jan 12, 2022
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives painting the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv as a coup d'état, as well as presenting NATO as an aggressive alliance.

There was no 'pro-American' coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former president Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised (and negotiated for years) Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.