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DISINFO: A referendum and a coup forced Luhansk and Donetsk to declare independence

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

AI translations:

Tags:

Manipulated elections/referendum Referendum election meddling War against Ukraine Ukrainian statehood Eastern Ukraine Ukraine Occupation Sovereignty DNR LPR Viktor Yanukovych Civil war Donbas Euromaidan Coup

DISINFO: A referendum and a coup forced Luhansk and Donetsk to declare independence

SUMMARY

On May 12, 2014, the "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic" declared their independence after most of the residents of the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk voted in a referendum in favour of secession from Ukraine.

The rift began to widen rapidly between Kyiv on the one hand, and Donetsk, Luhansk, and a number of other regions in eastern Ukraine on the other hand, following a coup in Kyiv in February 2014 that overthrew President Viktor Yanukovych. It originates in Donetsk, and unleashed the forces of the extreme nationalist right whose custodial base is located in the west of the country.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the creation of the so-called DNR and LNR which remain part of Ukraine, after the alleged anti-constitutional “coup” in 2014.,

There was no coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests.

On May 11, 2014, the Kremlin organised a semblance of voting in the Donbas, after which the DNR and LNR groups proclaimed “independence” from Ukraine. The Russian leadership "respected" the "choice" of the inhabitants of Donbas, even though no international election observers, not even Russian ones, were present during the referendums, and their "independence" is still not recognised.

Since 2014, Russia has waged large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine and is also responsible for the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine after it engineered the creation of rebel militias in Donetsk, Luhansk and other places, with its army actively participating in military clashes, which has been well documented already for years.

The EU does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. And in January 2022, the EU High Representative Josep Borrell visited Ukraine, including Kyiv and the Stanytsya Luhanska checkpoint where he said:

Russia is a party to this conflict and not a mediator as it often claims.

And this goes similarly with a statement from the G7 leaders who said:

“We remain firmly of the view that Russia is a party to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, not a mediator. We affirm our support for the Normandy Process to secure the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and call on Russia and the armed formations it backs to engage constructively and recommit to the ceasefire.”

See related disinformation claims in our database alleging that Crimea has never been Ukrainian; or that the Euromaidan led to civil war in Donbas; or that Russia has nothing to do with the conflict in eastern Ukraine; or that the Donbas conflict has an internal character; or that Donetsk and Luhansk proclaimed independence following Kyiv nationalist coup; or that Kyiv want to forbid people in eastern Ukraine to speak Russian; or that Crimea’s reunification with Russia was legal.

See also: They even needed this to declare indepence.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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