Disinfo: The US and EU control Ukraine

Summary

Ukraine never existed as an independent state. The country is under external control.

Disproof

Another conspiracy theory that the United States and the European Union control Ukraine’s foreign and domestic policies.

Ukraine is an independent state whose sovereignty is respected both in the EU and in the USA. The United States recognised Ukraine as an independent state on December 25, 1991. Since then, Washington has been working closely with Ukraine, directing its assistance to support the development of a safe, democratic, prosperous and free Ukraine, fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic community. The European Union also supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Ukraine is a priority partner for the EU. In June 2014, the EU and Ukraine signed an Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, which promotes deeper political ties, stronger economic links and the respect for common values.

The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine are respected by most of the free world but were violated by Russia in 2014.

See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the US has turned Ukraine into a puppet, that Colour revolutions are used by the West to intervene in the affairs of sovereign states and that the US State Department and US Embassy in Ukraine represent a system of “Gauleiter's".

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Pervyi Kanal (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 175
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 24/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Ukraine
  • Keywords: West, Sphere of influence, European Union, Ukrainian statehood, Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: The US plans to take over Kalinigrad region

The US plans for war against Russia are voiced more and more. Dr. Richard Hooker, senior researcher at the Jamestown Foundation (USA), recently talked about a plan to invade Kaliningrad, while the American publication Foreign Policy reports that Washington will “protect itself from Russia” by horizontal escalation, that is, by attacking the Russian contingent in Syria […].

Nov 23, 2019
Disproof

This is recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Western aggression against Kaliningrad. The origins of this NATO scenario comes from a recent report by the American Jamestown Foundation entitled “How to Defend the Baltic States”, published in October 2019. The report mentions that “three Baltic States—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—face powerful Russian forces” and therefore this report comes to “lay out the military units and force posture, along with changes to Alliance command and control, that would be needed to prevail in case Russia was to spark hostilities in the Baltic States”, after it was proven that "Russian aggression in Chechnya, Georgia, Donbas, Crimea and Syria have proven that military force can be used successfully without eliciting a forceful response from the West". As for the publication in Foreign Policy, the article describes the theories of “offshore balancing” or “offshore control”, stating that "in the event Russia seized the Baltic states, the United States could strike at Russian forces in Crimea or Syria". In addition, during the Warsaw summit in July 2016, NATO has made it clear that "The Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia".

Disinfo: In 2018, Ukrainian ships deliberately violated Russian border in the Kerch strait

[In 2018] three ships, Nikopol, Berdyansk and Yany-Kapu, deliberately violated the borders of the Russian Federation in the area of the Kerch Strait.

Nov 23, 2019
Disproof

This is a part of recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation on the Kerch incident. On 25 November 2018, border patrol boats belonging to Russia’s FSB security service seized two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tugboat and their crews after shooting at them, wounding several Ukrainian servicemen and arresting 24 members. Russia argued that they were in Russian waters. However, a bilateral treaty between Russia and Ukraine, signed in 2003 and ratified by Russia in 2004, governs the use of the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov, which in the treaty is considered to be the “internal waters” of both Russia and Ukraine. On 25 May 2019, the United Nations Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered Russia to immediately release Ukrainian sailors and allow them to return to Ukraine. The EU urged Russia to release the captured crew. Twenty-four military sailors returned to Ukraine on 7 September 2019 as part of a mutual release of detainees by Ukraine and Russia. On 21 November 2019, Russia returned the ships to Ukraine.

Disinfo: US sponsored Maidan in Ukraine in 2014

In the United States, it was confirmed that Washington participated in the preparation of the Euromaidan in Ukraine in 2014. Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said $5 billion was spent preparing the Revolution.

Nov 23, 2019
Disproof

This is a recurring narrative that Ukraine is influenced by the West, and Maidan in 2014 was a coup d'etat, planned by the West.

This is about a statement by former US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland in late 2013, in the midst of the Dignity Revolution in Ukraine (video from 07:27). Then she said that the United States has invested $5 billion in more than 20 years to develop democratic processes and reforms in Ukraine. The diplomat said that this is the total amount of assistance that Washington has allocated to Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Money was allocated for fair elections, to fight corruption and to develop the energy sector. Victoria Nuland later frequently repeated these theses, including in various interviews.