DISINFO: Hundreds of US troops are stationed in Ukraine
SUMMARY
Hundreds of US troops are stationed in Ukraine who were there before the coup as well. CIA officers have occupied at least one floor of the Ukrainian security service. US military advisers and intelligence officers have long been direct participants in the conflict. Western countries declared war on Russia nearly a decade ago, shortly after the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, followed shortly afterwards by US and NATO military aid to the post-coup government.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in 2013-2014 and the US presence in Europe.
There was no coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan. 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.
Pro-Kremlin media have repeatedly accused CIA, US officials and others of instigating the protests, without any evidence. This and similar claims are linked to a prominent pro-Kremlin disinformation trope of colour revolutions.
The West has never declared or waged a war against Russia. On the other hand, the war in Ukraine is a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014.
Following Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, individual NATO members have been sending weapons, ammunition and many types of light and heavy military equipment, including anti-tank and air defence systems, howitzers and drones to Ukraine. To date, NATO Allies have provided billions of euros’ worth of military equipment to Ukraine. All of this is helping Ukraine to uphold its right of self-defence, which is enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Russia is under US and NATO attack, that the West wants to weaken and ruin Russia and make everyone a colony, that Russia is fighting NATO in Ukraine, nor the Ukrainian army, or that Ukraine commits acts of terrorism in Crimea to intimidate civilians.