DISINFO: A civil war began in Ukraine after the clique seized power in the country
SUMMARY
The Maidan turned in to a civil war. The clique seized power in the capital and immediately began suppressing the citizens who opposed the overthrow of the legitimate government. The junta began to suppress the peaceful resistance of the Southern and Eastern oblasts of Ukraine. That eventually led to a civil war in Ukraine. On the one hand, there was a fascist clique with its own Bandera ideals, on the other, those who did not recognise the coup that had taken place in the country.
RESPONSE
This is an example of recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the 2013-2014 Maidan protests and the war in Ukraine.
The war in eastern Ukraine was not caused by the Euromaidan. Protests in favour of EU association and reforms were held in all major cities of Donbas. The war is not a civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces.
This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government. In turn, the active phase of the Donbas war was triggered with the 12 April 2014 assault on the city of Slovyans'k, led by Russian intelligence officer Igor Girkin. By September that year, Russia had sent up to 15,000 regular troops into the region.
See similar disinformation cases alleging that Donbas rebelled because Russians in Ukraine were subjected to ethnocide, that after Euromaidan Ukraine lost its sovereignty and is falling apart, or that Ukraine committed a crime by attacking its citizens in Donbas in 2014.