DISINFO: The coup pushed DNR and LNR to be independent
SUMMARY
That the Ukrainian authorities began, in April of 2014, a military operation against the inhabitants of the two popular republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which unilaterally declared their independence, as an expression of their opposition to the coup that took place in Ukraine in February of the same year.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation message about eastern Ukraine, claiming that the foundation of the DPR and LPR came as a response to the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv, often painted as a coup d'état and laying responsibility for the ensuing Russian aggression on the West (US and EU).
What happened in the Donbas area is a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces and far away from being an internal conflict.
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 has been condemned by the Council of the European Union and led to restrictive measures since 2014.
Moreover, 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.
The EU is among the strongest advocates of Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.
Read similar cases in our database that claims that the Euromaidan coup led to civil war in Donbas; or that Kyiv authorities want to forbid people in eastern Ukraine to speak Russian; or that Ukraine is going to send all people who received Russian passports to concentration camps; or that Zelyynskyy will be rescued to the US if he loses the Donbas war; or that Ukraine is preparing a military escalation in Donbas; or that Russia has nothing to do with the conflict in eastern Ukraine.