Kremlin outlets have amplified claims tying former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy to the Maidan shootings, the May 2014 Odessa fire, and an alleged coup in Kyiv. In reality, there is no evidence linking Parubiy to either the killings of protesters or the Odessa tragedy. Nor was there a coup in 2014: Ukraine’s government was formed through a legitimate process that Moscow itself formally recognized at the time.
Following the killing of former Ukrainian MP Andriy Parubiy in Lviv, Russian propaganda quickly launched a coordinated disinformation campaign targeting the ex-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. Analysis by StopFake via the Osavul platform documented a surge of nearly identical comments, pointing to organized activity likely driven by bots or troll farms.
Among the claims, Russian outlets alleged that Parubiy orchestrated the Maidan shootings, engineered the fire at Odessa’s Trade Unions House, and was responsible for the so-called «coup» in Kyiv that precipitated the conflict in Donbas.
Since the Euromaidan period, Russian propaganda has maintained a sustained disinformation campaign targeting Andriy Parubiy, with StopFake repeatedly debunking false claims circulated by Kremlin-aligned outlets. These narratives often intertwine with longstanding Kremlin talking points, including allegations of a «Western-orchestrated coup,» orchestrated shootings on Maidan, the Odessa Trade Unions House fire, and a «civil war» in Donbas.
Following news of Parubiy’s death, StopFake compiled the principal messages propagated by Russian disinformation channels.
Fake: Andriy Parubiy «curated» snipers on Maidan
Ukrainian authorities have established that the violent crimes and killings during the Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014 were carried out by Ukrainian law enforcement personnel acting under the direction of Ukrainian officials, with significant influence exerted by Russia.
Oleksiy Donskoy, head of the Maidan Affairs Department at the Prosecutor General’s Office, explained that the perpetrators were Ukrainian law enforcement officers, while Russia played an outsized role in shaping decisions and the broader course of events. Charges have been filed against 20 FSB officers and SBU employees for their joint participation in information operations, but there is no evidence implicating Andriy Parubiy in the killings.
One widely circulated fake aimed at implicating Parubiy shows a photo and video suggesting he assisted snipers leaving the Ukraine Hotel. StopFake found that the image actually depicts the Dnipro Hotel, and the events took place on April 1, 2014—not during the February 2014 protests—debunking the claim.
Fake: Andriy Parubiy orchestrated the Odessa Trade Unions House arson on May 2, 2014
Investigations and witness testimonies provide no evidence linking Andriy Parubiy to planning or carrying out the fire at Odessa’s Trade Unions House. Prosecutors determined that the blaze emerged amid mass unrest, without indication of premeditation by any individual.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the fire began at the barricade by the building’s central entrance, when individuals inside threw flammable objects, preventing opponents from entering. The so-called «chimney effect» then caused smoke to rapidly rise the stairwell, where most of the victims were found, with some perishing in adjacent rooms, explained First Deputy Prosecutor General Volodymyr Huzir during a 2015 briefing.
A 2019 investigation by the State Bureau of Investigations mentioned Parubiy based on a statement from Andriy Portnov, a pro-Russian politician associated with the 2014 dictatorial laws and post-2014 collaboration with Russian authorities. The case produced no findings, and Parubiy publicly responded with irony to the proceedings.
«What surprised me was that the text (so far) did not include claims that I allegedly organized, coordinated, and executed a state coup codenamed “Maidan” or “Revolution of Dignity,” carried out the “illegal removal of President Yanukovych,” or facilitated the “seizure of power by an organized criminal group” alongside the Russian Federation,» Andriy Parubiy remarked in 2019 regarding such accusations.
On March 13, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Vyacheslavova and others v. Ukraine that local authorities failed to take all possible measures to prevent violence, respond promptly once clashes began, and rescue people trapped in the Trade Unions House fire. The court also noted the influence of Russian disinformation and propaganda in shaping the tragic events.
Experts have highlighted the near inactivity of local officials during the unrest. In 2022, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations issued an indictment against Dmytro Fuchedzhi, the former deputy head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Odessa Oblast and head of the public security police, in connection with the events.
Fake: Andriy Parubiy was the «architect of a coup» in Ukraine
The allegation that Andriy Parubiy orchestrated a coup is a central theme in Russian propaganda regarding the 2013–2014 unrest in Ukraine. Kremlin narratives repeatedly invoke this claim, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has used to justify the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The protests across Ukraine in 2013–2014, known as the Revolution of Dignity, were mass demonstrations against the corrupt government of Viktor Yanukovych. Following the departure of Yanukovych and his administration, subsequent elections were held and recognized as legitimate by the international community, including at the time by Russia itself.
