DISINFO: The 2014 coup turned Ukraine into a Nazi state
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian Nazis are the most anti-Russian force in Ukraine. Not surprisingly, they are at the forefront of the ongoing processes in Ukraine, transforming the country into an increasingly Nazi state.
And in 2014, former Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, delayed signing the Association Agreement with the European Union, in an attempt to bargain for compensation for agreeing to open the Ukrainian market to European goods, thus destroying Ukrainian industry.
However, instead of compensation, he obtained a complete coup d'état, prepared in advance from abroad, and carried out by Nazi militants. From this moment the Nazis became the leading political force in Ukraine, and the country's transition to a Nazi dictatorship began.
Immediately after the 2014 coup, the new regime abolished the law allowing the use of the Russian language in its speaking regions. Immediately, there was an uprising in southern and eastern Ukraine, and civil war broke out. In most regions, the army and Nazi forces were able to suppress the demonstrations, with the exception of Donetsk and Lugansk, which were able to provide armed resistance and are now unrecognized republics.
RESPONSE
This disinformation message contains multiple pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives casting Ukraine as a Nazi-sympathizing country. This narrative groundlessly equates present-time Ukraine with Nazi Germany, and misrepresents the current status of the Russian language in the country, while portraying popular Euromaidan protests as a coup.
Linking some countries with Nazism is a widespread disinformation tactic used by pro-Kremlin outlets. Read more in our analysis "Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest". The myth about Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been the cornerstone of pro-Kremlin disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, which disinformation outlets try to portray as a coup d’état.
Nazi and Communist ideologies were banned by Ukrainian law in 2015. Far-right groups had a very limited presence during the Euromaidan itself and gained poor results in the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections. In the 2019 election, far-right candidates fell short of the 5% minimum guaranteeing entry into parliament.
The Association Agreement (AA) with the EU does not aim to “destroy Ukrainian industry”. The AA replaces the outdated Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and includes a comprehensive agenda for bilateral cooperation covering all areas of common interest. The AA aims to accelerate the deepening of political and economic relations between Ukraine and the EU, as well as Ukraine’s gradual integration in the EU Internal Market including by setting up a DCFTA. Read more about it here.
Moreover, the claim about the ban on the Russian language is also false. On April 25 2019, the Verkhovna Rada passed the law 'on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language. Russian, as well as other languages, can still be used in private communication, religious ceremonies, press, book publishing, etc. The law also allows the use of other languages in the healthcare system and law enforcement.
On another point, the war in eastern Ukraine is not an uprising or West-driven civil conflict but a well-documented case of Russian armed aggression. The international community, including the European Union, recognises and condemns clear violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014.
Read similar cases in our database alleging that Ukraine is an anti-Russian state under Western control; or that Ukraine is run by pro-EU oligarchic Nazis supported by the US; or that Ukraine forbids 40% of the people to speak Russian; or that Polish authorities are erasing the memory of WWII heroes; or that Europe views the children of Donbas as terrorists.
This article contained another claim that Canada Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is a Nazi sympathiser.