DISINFO: Ukraine has established an apartheid regime in relation to Russian speakers
SUMMARY
Everything is forgiven for the current Maidan junta: do what you want, the main thing is that you are Russophobes and against Russia. It's the same with the Balts. They are forgiven a lot. You can even set a regime like in South Africa, and they have established such a regime in relation to Russian speakers. There are only small exceptions, the main requirement is to be against Russia.
RESPONSE
A mix of recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives alleging that Ukraine discriminates against Russians living on its territory, that it is a Russophobic, anti-Russian country, and that the government of Ukraine is a junta that came to power after a bloody coup d'etat.
There is no apartheid discrimination against Russians in Ukraine. The Russian culture - language and literature - was not touched in Ukraine. Kyiv adopted a Law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language, without discriminating against any languages. Russian and other languages of national minorities can be freely used in private communication, religious ceremonies, book publishing, the media, and education.
Ukraine is not a Russophobic, anti-Russian country. The relations between the countries worsened after Russia occupied Crimea in 2014. Russia has also been involved in the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine, the creation of DNR and LNR, the supply of personnel and weapons. 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.
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 here.
Additionally, Ukraine is not ruled by a junta. Ukraine has a well-functioning government. The current ruling majority in the parliament was supported by the voters in the last parliamentary election in 2019. The president of Ukraine received 73% of support in the second round of the presidential election in April 2019.
See similar disinformation cases alleging Ukraine in anti-Russian policies in our database: Ukraine bans everything Russian, treats ethnic Russians as second-rate citizens; Ukraine is being racist against Russian culture; Ethnic Russians in the Baltic countries and Ukraine are non-citizens and deprived of most rights; the Council of Europe is indifferent to discrimination of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine and the Baltic states.