DISINFO: The actions of Ukrainian government in 2014 provoked the emergence of LPR
SUMMARY
The [Luhansk People's] republic's formation was a "response" to the refusal of the Ukrainian authorities in 2014 to perform the functions of the state in Donbas.
There were people who took responsibility for the fate of their compatriots to build a state system in the LPR. This was necessary because in 2014 the authorities in Kyiv lost their legitimacy.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine alleging that the war in Donbas is a civil conflict provoked by Euromaidan and the Ukrainian government.
The war in Ukraine is not a civil conflict, provoked by the government of Ukraine or Euromaidan, but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014.
There is irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in Ukraine. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government."
The involvement of Russian personnel and equipment in the creation of the DPR and LPR has been well documented already for years. The destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea have been condemned by the Council of the European Union and led to restrictive measures since 2014.
See similar disinformation cases in our database: the coup pushed DNR and LNR to be independent; Donetsk and Luhansk proclaimed independence following Kyiv nationalist coup; Crimea rejoined Russia due to a referendum and LPR and DPR became independent after the 2014 coup in Ukraine; only Ukraine is responsible for civil war in Donbas; the Donbas conflict has an internal character and originates in the unconstitutional coup d'etat.