In December 2013 and January 2014, the Kremlin tried to help Yanukovych crush protest [in Ukraine] and thereby make it possible for him to complete his turn from the EU towards Eurasia. Yanukovych claimed that both Europe and Russia wanted Ukraine, and each needed to pay him off. While the EU refused, Putin was ready to offer Yanukovych money.
—Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
#putin #yanukovych #russia #eu #ukraine

National Endowment for Democracy Deletes Records of Funding Projects in Ukraine

The NED played a pivotal role in helping to trigger the conflict with Russia by supporting two color revolutions directed against Ukraine’s pro-Russian (not really - note mine) leader Viktor #Yanukovych — a potential successor to Vlodymyr #Zelensky if Russia wins.

The 2004 color revolution replaced Yanukovych with Viktor Yushchenko, who favored admitting Ukraine to NATO and adopted an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustment program that benefitted U.S. investors while cutting social programs.

NED activists employed a broad public relations strategy that included: a) busing paid out-of-town protesters into Kyiv; b) creating an online TV protest station and agitation paraphernalia; and c) providing offshore training to the anti-Yanukovych student leadership. The strategy was based on the writings of Gene Sharp and a template that the NED had successfully employed in Serbia with a youth group called “Otpor,” which helped secure the defeat of socialist Slobodan Milosovic in September 2000 elections.
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As a sign of the NED’s influence, Ukrainian President Petro #Poroshenko (2014-2020)—a main beneficiary of the #Maidan coup currently awaiting trial on treason charges—bestowed the Order of Princess Olga, one of Ukraine’s highest honors, on Dr. Nadia Diuk,[42] a former vice president and senior adviser to the NED for Europe and Eurasia.

US: overt and covert destabilisation

When a scandal in the 1980s revealed the CIA’s 35 years of international manipulations, President Ronald #Reagan established the National Endowment for Democracy as a more discreet and less controversial instrument. It had the same purpose – to destabilise unfriendly governments by funding the opposition.

#NED #USA #US #american #democracy #CIA #IMF #NATO #deepstate #intelligence #NED #propaganda #fraud #psyops #ukraine #ukrainian #war against #Russia #russian #history