DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
- Outlet: abrag.akwadon.com ( archive, original ) , akhbarak.net ( archive, original ) , Al Minasa Press ( archive, original ) , alshbaka.net ( archive, original ) , arabic.rt.com ( archive, original ) , Arabnews 24 ( archive, original ) , el-3rb.com ( archive, original ) , essahra.net ( archive, original ) , kol-masr.com ( archive, original ) , lomazoma.com ( archive, original ) , mangish.net ( archive, original ) , newsformy.com ( archive, original ) , sahafah24 ( archive, original )
- Date of publication: January 28, 2021
- Countries / regions discussed: Ukraine, Russia
DISINFO: Ukrainian authorities encourage the honouring of Nazi collaborators
SUMMARY
After the Maidan coup in 2014, Ukrainians, including the younger generation are de-facto encouraged by authorities to honour these criminals [former Nazi collaborators and perpetrators of mass killings of Jews, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians in Ukraine during Nazi Germany occupation in 1941-1944] as national heroes.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative casting Ukraine as a Nazi sympathizing country, and a describing the 2014 protests as a coup.
The myth of Nazi-ruled or sympathized Ukraine has been the cornerstone of Russian disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, when it was used to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy.
In fact, far-right groups enjoyed a very limited presence during the Euromaidan itself and had 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 Nazi and Communist ideologies were banned by a Ukrainian law in 2015.
The accusation of Nazism is a popular propaganda technique used by pro-Kremlin outlets. Read more: Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest.
Furthermore, there was no coup in the country, the spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction of numerous parts of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.
Read similar cases alleging that Ukraine is a neo-Nazi state and that pro-Western civil society in Ukraine is a fascist fifth column; and that Europe supports the revival of fascism