Disinfo: Ukrainian borders and language are artificial. Ukrainian authorities plan to punish any use of non-Ukrainian language e.g. at home, in transport, at school.

According to the Freedom House, Russia used coercion to increase the participation of Crimeans in Russian elections; the Crimean Tatars are being repressed and the Mejlis - an organisation representing the Crimean Tatars - was banned; the Russian FSB use intimidation and harassment to eliminate opposition to Russian occupation; a forced Russification is ongoing (including making anything connected to Ukraine a taboo); and rights to freedom of association are severely restricted: https://bit.ly/2Op9YNH There is a regular pattern of promoting as official the visits by groups that have no official status and do not represent the government view or have their support. In June 2018, the EU prolonged the sanctions for the illegal annexation of Crimea for one year. See also the Fact Sheet on EU's non-recognition policy for Crimea. Current Ukrainian authorities have been elected in legitimate and democratic elections.

The original article say nothing about a "Western conspiracy". One of the respondents merely describes the reaction of the West as not sufficient to change Russia's aggressive behaviour: "Russia is on a clear course of more aggressive behavior toward the West. Strong statements and narrow sanctions won’t change that," said Alina Polyakova from the Brookings Institute to the New Yorker. See the full article here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/russias-image-tanks-in-the-west-but-so-does-trumps Recurring narrative about conspiracies in the pro-Kremlin media. The Western countries recently reacted to Russia's illegal activities such as: annexation of Crimea, Skripal's poisoning and OPCW targeting.