DISINFO: "Berkut" soldiers did not commit any crimes during coup d'etat in Ukraine
SUMMARY
“Berkut” soldiers did not commit any crimes during coup d’etat in Ukraine. The ex-“Berkut” soldiers insist on their innocence: “We have nothing to hide – we have committed no crimes. We want to restore the honest name of the ‘Berkut’ Special Forces and we want those who are actually responsible for the murder of law enforcement officers and protesters to be punished.” (…) They describe the Ukrainian revolution in 2014 (also known as “Euromaidan”) as a “coup d’état”.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Euromaidan protests and a coup d'etat in Ukraine. According to a 2015 report of International Advisory Panel on Maidan investigations, “--- the PGO investigation found evidence relatively quickly to the effect that a Berkut unit had killed 39 protesters with AKS 7.62mm calibre weapons on 20February 2014.” 2015 ICC Report on Preliminary Examination Activities states that “(t)he acts of violence do not appear to be a mere aggregate of random acts, but rather evidence a pattern of behaviour suggesting that such acts formed part of a campaign or operation against the Maidan protest movement. In this respect, it is noted that the alleged acts committed share common features in terms of their characteristics and nature (including in relation to a pattern of excessive and indiscriminate use of force, such as during public order operations, and the means used, such as batons, firearms and other special means), the population targeted (Maidan protesters and other civilians in the vicinity of the protests), the alleged perpetrators (state security forces –most often the Berkut and Interior Troops –and titushky), and locations (mainly the sites of demonstrations, predominantly in the city centre of Kyiv and to a lesser extent in other regions and cities in Ukraine, such as Cherkasy and Dnipropetrovsk)." The New York Times also established that “Berkut” forces were behind the killings that took place on 18-21 February 2014. Finally, 'Euromaidan' was not a coup but a nationwide popular protest against the government's sudden announcement that it would not sign the promised EU Association Agreement. See the full debunk here. Read similar disinformation cases alleging that far-right influence on Ukrainian politics grew after 2014 Kyiv coup, that Euromaidan was a coup led by fascists and that civilian killings during Euromaidan were orchestrated by opposition leaders.