In a stark reiteration of Russia’s long-standing narrative on the Ukraine conflict, President Vladimir Putin claimed on May 26 that Moscow was “forced” to initiate its military operation in Ukraine, citing years of Western interference and the persecution of Russian-speaking populations in Donbass as the root causes of the war. Speaking to a delegation of Russian businessmen in the Kremlin, Putin placed the blame squarely on the 2014 Euromaidan uprising, which he described as a “bloody coup” backed by Western powers.

The Russian leader argued that the post-Euromaidan authorities in Kiev had systematically marginalized and attacked Russian-speaking regions in eastern Ukraine, particularly Donetsk and Lugansk. According to Putin, the Kremlin could no longer ignore the suffering of the Donbass population, which he said had been subjected to shelling, airstrikes, and legal discrimination for nearly a decade before the military intervention began in February 2022.

“You need to understand that we weren’t the ones who orchestrated the coup in Ukraine,” Putin told the businessmen. “They [the West] always spoke about democracy and elections, but they helped carry out a violent coup-and now they want to blame us for defending people being bombed with helicopters and jets.”

The origins of the current conflict, according to the Kremlin’s version of events, lie in the political upheaval of early 2014. What began as peaceful protests in Kiev against President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to reject a European Union association agreement turned violent, resulting in the ouster of the democratically elected president. The protest movement,........

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