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DISINFO: As a result of the Ukrainian coup, Crimea returned to Russia

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

AI translations:

Tags:

Ukraine Eastern Ukraine Ukrainian statehood Donbas Civil war illegal annexation Coup Euromaidan

DISINFO: As a result of the Ukrainian coup, Crimea returned to Russia

SUMMARY

There is great political tension prevailing in Ukrainian-Russian relations since the 2014 events in Kyiv, which resulted in a coup in Ukraine in a process that relied heavily on Western-backed nationalist forces.

Since then, the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine has witnessed a military and political crisis. These events have also resulted in great tension on the Crimean peninsula, which is inhabited in majority by Russians. In March 2014, a popular referendum was held that voted in favour of the region's return to Russia's bosom.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Euromaidan, the illegal annexation of Crimea, and the war in Ukraine.

There was no coup d'état in Ukraine. 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.

No international body has recognised the so-called Crimea referendum, announced on 27 February 2014, and held on 16 March 2014. On 27 March 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it 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. On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. In response to the illegal annexation of Crimea, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. In June 2021, the European Council decided to renew the sanctions introduced in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation until 23 June 2022.

Read similar stories in our database claiming that a civil war began in Ukraine after the clique seized power in the country, or that the Russian Army is not involved in the war in Ukraine, or that the Crimean people chose to be with Russia through the democratic procedure, that Crimea never belonged to Ukraine, that Crimea’s reunification with Russia was legal and that Crimea is a Russian sovereign region.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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