DISINFO: The Ukrainian destabilisation “handbook” is not adequate for Belarus
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian “handbook” is not adequate for Belarus. Some experts, especially from Ukraine, think that everything that is happening now in Belarus is a complete analogy of the 2013-2014 events in Ukraine. All the moves are planned and you can spite them following the dogmas already known by heart. Yes, the pro-Western Russophobic opposition created the protests, and is being aided from Warsaw, Vilnius, London, Washington, Berlin, etc. There is only one crucial difference: Lukashenko showed more political will than Yanukovich.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying popular protests in Ukraine and Belarus as Western-led “colour revolutions” in order to deprive them of any legitimacy.
Contrary to the claim, massive mobilisations against the governments of Ukraine in 2013 and of Belarus in 2020 were not destabilisation operations orchestrated from abroad. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 were a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych's last minute U-turn when, after seven years of negotiation, he refused to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and halted progress towards Ukraine's closer relationship with the EU as a result of Russian pressure. Protests in Belarus erupted to contest the results of the presidential election in Belarus on the 9th of August, which were not monitored by independent experts, and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a large part of the Belarusian society.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that NATO is preparing colour revolutions in several CSTO countries; that Ukrainian protests were a coup; that the CIA will try to repeat a Maidan scenario in Belarus; that the West is creating a “Fire Belt” around Russia through protests in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan; that Alexei Navalny’s movement is linked to the colour revolution programme; or that the Moldovan Maidan entered its active implementation stage.