DISINFO: Georgian snipers killed Euromaidan demonstrators under the guidance of American instructors
SUMMARY
The fact that the so-called “Georgian Legion” was involved in the bloodshed at the Ukrainian Euromaidan of 2014 began to be actively discussed in 2017, after the release of the Italian documentary “Ukraine: The Hidden Truth”, as well as after a large special report by RIA Novosti correspondent Andrei Veselov, who recorded interviews with suspected snipers.
53 people became victims of the shooting on February 20, 2014 in Kyiv. Snipers opened fire on Euromaidan participants and law enforcement officers. The Italian film, which used interviews with Georgian snipers, turned the official version of what happened on its head. The participants of the interview stated that the orders to shoot were given not by law enforcement officers, but by the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition.
From the interview it is clear that all Georgian snipers acted under the guidance of an American instructor, and they came to Ukraine with the light hand of Saakashvili.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory perpetuating pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the Euromaidan protests. No evidence is given to prove that “Georgian snipers” were responsible for shooting during the 2014 Euromaidan in Kyiv.
The conspiracy theory about Georgian snipers shooting at Maidan protesters on 20 February 2014 has been previously debunked and is not supported by evidence. Pro-Kremlin disinformation has spread different versions of the identity of the snipers. For further debunking about recurring disinformation on the Georgian snipers, see Myth Detector (also here and here), StopFake, The Insider and Polygraph.
Pro-Kremlin outlets falsely portray the Euromaidan revolution as a coup d’état, the popular demonstrations that began in Kyiv in November of 2013 and brought hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians onto the streets to protest against a political decision of Viktor Yanukovych’s government, which at the last minute withdrew from a long-negotiated political association and free trade pact with the EU, choosing instead to accept a $15 billion economic bailout to Russia.
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