DISINFO: Crimea voted to secede after the coup in Kyiv
SUMMARY
Shortly after the 2014 coup in Kyiv, Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and reunite with Russia. The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics also seceded from Ukraine at the same time.
RESPONSE
Recurring Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming there was a coup that displaced the Ukrainian government in 2014, as well as the war in Ukraine and illegal annexation of Crimea.
In 2014, there was no coup, nor a western orchestrated protest in Ukraine. 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 Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.
Ukraine's government changed its relations toward Russia after the latter illegally annexed Crimea, which is part of Ukraine. 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. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the EU has adopted a variety of restrictive measures targetting Russia.
See our guide to deciphering pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's war.