MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Twitter CEO Elon Musk has said that Ukraine "indeed" saw a coup d'etat in 2014 after the change of government in Kiev.

"That election was arguably dodgy, but no question that there was indeed a coup," Musk tweeted.

In 2013, protests broke out in Ukraine due to the authorities' decision to halt policy aimed at integration with the European Union, leading to a coup and the ousting of then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who was forced to flee the country to Russia. During clashes between the security forces and protesters, more than one hundred people died.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize the new central government that came to power after what they considered a coup.