DISINFO: The West encouraged and justified genocide against the Donbas population
SUMMARY
The West started the war by organising and supporting an armed coup against the constitutional order in Ukraine in 2014, encouraging and justifying the genocide against the Donbas population. The West is the direct instigator and responsible for what is happening today.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, actively trying to legitimise Russia’s invasion of the country.
There is no evidence that either ethnic Russians or Russian speakers are facing persecution at the hands of the Ukrainian authorities in Donbas or elsewhere, much less the danger of annihilation on grounds of nationality, ethnicity, or cultural belonging. This has been confirmed by reports issued by the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the OSCE.
The genocide narrative has been an integral part of the justification campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Leaders of the European Union recognized that Moscow's actions should be evaluated as “acts of violence and the violation of international law”.
Additionally, there was no coup, nor a western orchestrated protest in Ukraine in 2014.The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called "Maidan", or "Euromaidan" – were a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych. The protesters' demands included constitutional reform, a stronger role for parliament, the formation of a government of national unity, an end to corruption, early presidential elections and an end to violence.
See more similar narratives of disinformation against Ukraine: Moscow must interfere because Kyiv gasses people in camps; Kyiv’s leaders do not hide their desire to move from a Russophobic policy to genocide; Russian speakers in Donbass are victims of genocide.