NATO is developing a new plan of military operations in Europe that involves countering mythical “Russian aggression”, the rapid deployment of troops from all over the continent and direct military support from the United States. Although Moscow has no plans to attack Europe, it is compelled to take defensive measures in light of NATO’s eastward expansion.
Summary
The popular referendum held in March 2014 following the Maidan coup, which in February 2014 overthrew the Ukrainian government with the participation of ultra-nationalists, saw the population of Crimea vote overwhelmingly in favor of reuniting with Russia.
Disproof
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives claiming that Maidan was a coup d’état with the participation of by Nazi/fascist forces and that Crimean citizens chose to re-join Russia through a legal referendum.
Euromaidan was not a coup d’état, but a genuine uprising. Far-right groups, which played a very limited role throughout the Maidan , had not initiated the protests, and did not bring Poroshenko to power. Petro Poroshenko won the Presidency in a competitive and transparent election, as reported by the OSCE.
No international body recognises the so-called referendum and held on 16th of March 2014.
On the 27th of February 2014, when it was announced, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which stated that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula.
A year after the illegal annexation, even the Kremlin admitted that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum.
Five years on from the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, the European Union remains steadfast in its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and reiterates that it does not recognise and continues to condemn this violation of international law.