'I don't know the dates but I have an opinion': the 'For the Return of Crimea' medal dated 20 Feb 2014 (23.04.2026)

Date
23 April 2026
Duration
06:42
Platform
YouTube

A street debate by Vitaliy Dribnytsia with a proponent of the “civil war in Ukraine” myth (ru-orig, from St. Petersburg). The key moment: the historian invites his interlocutor to check the Russian medal “For the Return of Crimea” — a departmental award of the Russian Ministry of Defence established on 21 March 2014 by order No. 160 — whose reverse bears the dates of the campaign “20.02.2014 – 18.03.2014”. The start date of February 20 falls at a time when Yanukovych was still president (he fled on the night of February 22), so Russia’s own award refutes the “response to a coup” and “civil war” narrative. A source for the article on the Russian–Ukrainian war of 2014.

Key moments

  1. 00:00 The 'civil war in Ukraine' myth: Dribnytsia suggests checking the medal
  2. 03:37 Statute of the Russian MoD medal 'For the Return of Crimea': order No. 160 of 21 March 2014
  3. 04:06 The dates on the medal 20.02.2014–18.03.2014 — 'February 20, when Yanukovych was still president'

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