DISINFO: Ukraine violates right of ethnic Russians to self-determination
SUMMARY
Ukraine has violated the right of ethnic Russians and those who belong to the Russian culture to self-determination. They did not accept the coup in Ukraine (in 2014) and announced a referendum in Crimea. Eight years later, the DNR and LNR proclaimed independence.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to rewrite the recent history of Ukraine, bringing together a series of claims which have already been disproven: the alleged abuse and persecution of the Russian minority in Ukraine, portraying the EuroMaidan as a coup attempt, and describing the illegal annexation of Crimea as the result of a legitimate political process. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Human rights missions that travelled to Ukraine in 2014 did not find evidence that the Russian minority would have been in danger. See, for instance, the Advisory Committee’s Ad hoc report on the situation of national minorities in Ukraine, adopted on 1 April 2014 by the Council of Europe; the June 2014 report on the human rights situation in Ukraine by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; and statement by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities on her Visit to Ukraine published on 4 April 2014.
Crimea is a part of Ukraine. It was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 through a series of anti-constitutional actions, including a referendum, held at gun-point the 16 March 2014. No international body recognises the so-called referendum. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled ‘Territorial integrity of Ukraine’ on 27 March 2014, stating that ‘the referendum held in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on 16 March 2014, having no validity, cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or of the city of Sevastopol’.
The European Union does not recognise the illegal annexation either and continues to condemn this violation of international law.
On 7 November 2021, the EU Council decided to renew the sanctions introduced in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol until 23 June 2022. The restrictive measures currently in place against Russia in response to its unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine include economic sanctions, such as a ban on imports of products originating in Crimea or Sevastopol into the EU, and limited access to the EU primary and secondary capital market for Russian-issued financial instruments.
The latest, fourteenth package of sanctions against Russia, was adopted in June 2024. It contains important new energy-related measures targeting liquified natural gas (LNG), and measures targeting vessels which support Russia's war.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that In 2014, Crimea overwhelmingly voted to rejoin Russia, that Anti-Russian sanctions are unfair, and that Russia does not crave Ukrainian lands but protects people from Nazis.