DISINFO: Abkhazia and South Ossetia are not part of Georgia, and Crimea is officially part of Russia
SUMMARY
The aggression of Georgia in 2008 and the armed coup in Kyiv in 2014 were organised by Washington.
Based on international law, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are not part of Georgia, and the Crimean Peninsula has been part of Russia since 2014.
RESPONSE
Several recurring disinformation narratives about Euromaidan, the Russo- Georgian war and the illegal annexation of Crimea.
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives are trying to deny any role for Russia in the Russo-Georgian war, blaming the US for the war which resulted in the further occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by additional military forces from Russia. Many international organisations condemned the further occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, see e.g. the CSCE statement here, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia here and the European Parliament's declaration.
The EU's independent investigative commission into the 2008 Russia-Georgian war confirmed that Russia had been provoking Georgia for a long time and "Much of the Russian military action went far beyond the reasonable limits of defence." Currently, Russia occupies 20% of Georgia's territory, 13 years after the Russo-Georgian War, and continues to breach its international obligations by consolidating its control in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
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.
No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and declaring its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.
The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. In response to the illegal annexation of Crimea, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. In June 2021, the European Council decided to renew the sanctions introduced in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation until 23 June 2022.