DISINFO: Ukrainian civil war broke out as a result of coup d'etat in Kyiv
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian civil war broke out in 2014 in the wake of a Western-backed coup in Kyiv.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives painting the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv as a coup d'état, and the ongoing Russian military involvement in the Donbas as a "civil war."
There was no coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former president Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.
Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated by continuos acts of aggression by Russian armed forces since 2014.
See also the statement / blog blog here by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell when he visited Ukraine, including Kyiv and the Stanytsya Luhanska check point in early January 2022. He speaks of the background and consequences of the war. The High Representative said, inter alia:
“I could eyewitness the consequences of the war in the Donbass region and hear and see how the conflict has dramatically affected the lives of thousands of people, with many destinies destroyed. ...
Russia is a party to this conflict, and not a mediator as it often claims. Our main interest, concern and purpose is to get Russia to de-escalate tensions.”