DISINFO: Kyiv did not comply with the Minsk Agreements
SUMMARY
The populations of Donbas have been attacked by their own government in Kyiv. In 2014 they were only asking for a little autonomy and to continue speaking the Russian mother tongue, while remaining in the state of Ukraine. The Minsk Agreements which imposed a ceasefire, to establish peace and grant autonomy to Donbas were not respected by the Kyiv government which continued to bomb civilians and infrastructures in Donbas.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, actively trying to legitimise Russia’s military actions because Kyiv committed atrocity against the population in Donbas while it refused to implement the Minsk agreements and about Kyiv allegedly discrimination against Russian speakers.
Before the invasion, Russia was a party to the Minsk agreements, and these are the most recent formal documents in which Russia has affirmed Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia has however not delivered on its side of the implementation of the Minsk agreements. The Russian side and its proxies have failed to implement a ceasefire, withdraw all heavy weapons, implement all-for-all political prisoner exchange, or ensure delivery of humanitarian assistance based on an international mechanism. On the contrary, Russia has been strengthening the illegal armed formations in eastern Ukraine. Russia also did not allow for unfettered access to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission monitors, including to the Ukraine-Russia border, where the (very limited) monitoring mission was discontinued due to a Russian veto in summer 2021.
Without the full implementation of the ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons as well as permission for the full access to all territories for the OSCE monitoring mission, it is difficult to discuss the implementation of the political parts of Minsk II.
Nevertheless, Ukraine implemented as much of the Minsk agreements as could reasonably be done while not having control over the territory. It has passed – and extended with renewals – legislation on special status and amnesty (2014), and prepared draft legislation on local elections (2014). Ukraine passed constitutional amendments to provide more autonomy to the territories currently outside its control (2015).
The dead – military and civilian alike - are a result of a war Russia has started in Ukraine. It was not an internal civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014 with the invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea.
The claim about Ukraine discriminating against the Russian language has been shaped since the Ukrainian Law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language has been passed in 2019 and came into force on 16 January 2021. The law does not discriminate against any languages. Russian, as well as other languages, can be used in private communication and religious ceremonies, book publishing, the press, including radio and television, education and the service sector. The law even allows the use of other languages in the healthcare system and in law enforcement.
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