DISINFO: Ukraine’s Crimea Platform is futile, joining Russia was people’s will
SUMMARY
The Crimea Platform will lead to no results because the Crimeans joined Russia out of their own free will.
RESPONSE
This case contains two intertwined disinformation narratives from pro-Kremlin outlets. One is a recurrent disinformation message claiming that Crimea reunited with Russia in 2014 in the wake of a legitimate popular referendum. The other one is quite recent, alleging that the Crimea Platform, a Ukrainian initiative aimed at bringing the Crimea issue to the surface, is doomed to fail because local residents reunited with Russia out of their own free will.
In reality, Crimea was invaded by Russian troops in 2014 and then illegally annexed under the pretext that the Russian-speaking population was exposed to danger because of what pro-Kremlin outlets often call a coup d'état in Ukraine. The Revolution of Dignity was a popular uprising rather than a coup. The then-president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union in late November 2013 and ordered riot police to suppress mass protests that followed. After violent clashes between police and protestors, which caused the death of more than a hundred people, Yanukovych in late February fled to Russia, where he has since been living.
Several days after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military action. Armed people without insignia poured into Crimea from Russia, helping local pro-Russian separatists against Ukrainian patriots. The Russian leader’s statements about Russia’s invasion of Crimea were inconsistent. In December 2013, he ruled out sending troops to Crimea. In March 2014, he said that those who captured government buildings in Crimea were members of a local militia. However, he acknowledged in April and November 2014 that it was Russian troops who invaded the Ukrainian peninsula.
An illegal referendum was held on 16 May 2014, resulting in succession from Ukraine and in what so-called reunification with Russia. Moscow officially announced the pro-Russia vote at 97 per cent. However, this data could not be independently confirmed, and it was hardly possible to hold a free referendum at gunpoint
As for the Crimea Platform, its first meeting was held in Kyiv on 23 August 2021 with the participation of presidents, prime ministers, and other high-ranking officials from 44 foreign countries. It is a new international consultation and coordination format aimed at improving the effectiveness of the international response to the ongoing occupation of Crimea. It is also supposed to respond to growing security threats, increase international pressure on the Kremlin, prevent further rights violations and protect victims of the occupation regime. The main goal of the Platform is to ensure that Russia ceases the occupation of Crimea and the Ukrainian government regains control of the peninsula. The participants adopted a joint declaration in which they condemned Russia's occupation and further annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula and pledged to welcome necessary joint diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
The United Nations and other international organisations do not recognise the annexation. The UN issued a resolution on 27 March 2014, which backed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and declared the Crimea referendum invalid. The European Union does not recognise the annexation and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law. In response to the illegal annexation of Crimea, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation.
Read more disinformation narratives claiming that Crimea is historically Russian land and that it reunited with Russia through a legitimate referendum.