Russia makes its case to China social media users ahead of Ukraine war anniversary

Russian embassy in Beijing and the Chinese language Sputnik News service present Moscow’s narrative in bid for wider support

The campaign accuses Western countries of interfering in Ukraine from the Maidan movement 10 years ago until the present day

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A Russian tank fires a cannon at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Published: 2:07pm, 23 Feb 2024Updated: 5:40pm, 23 Feb 2024

Russia is using China’s social media to present its narrative of events leading up to the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, in a move Chinese experts said was intended to show Russian resilience while reaching for wider public support.

The Russian embassy in Beijing on Thursday published a series of online articles, videos and commentaries denouncing Ukraine’s 2014 “Euromaidan” movement as “an unconstitutional coup” directly supported by the West.

Hashtagged “the 10th year from the coup d’état in Ukraine”, the posts on the embassy’s official Weibo and WeChat accounts coincided with the February 22 anniversary of the removal of Ukraine’s pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych.

It was also two days ahead of Saturday’s milestone second anniversary of the 2022 invasion. Earlier in the week, Russia’s state-operated Sputnik News – which has a significant Chinese-language service – also ran a series of reports on Ukraine.

While supporters of the movement – named after Kyiv’s Maidan, or “independence”, Square – called it a “revolution of dignity”, Moscow and its sympathisers in China regard the events as a Western-orchestrated colour revolution.

The Russian embassy in Beijing has posted articles, video and commentaries to social media in China with the hashtag “the 10th year from the coup d’état in Ukraine”. Photo: Weibo/Russian Embassy

In a bid to appeal to Chinese nationalistic sentiment, the social media campaign accuses the US, Britain, Germany and other Western countries of interfering in the Maidan demonstrations.