DISINFO: NATO promotes fascism in Europe and uses proxy wars to destroy Russia // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 16, 2024 /
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives portraying the war in Ukraine as a proxy war and blaming NATO and the so-called “Collective West” for it, accusing the EU of Nazism and claiming that Europe’s aim is to invade and destroy Russia in the long run.
These claims are made in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and aim to deflect Russia’s responsibility for its aggression against this country.
Indexed on 2024-05-16 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Fascism, Hatred and bigotry, International community, NATO, Russia, and Russian propaganda
DISINFO: The attack on Robert Fico linked to NATO and Ukraine sponsored terrorism // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 16, 2024 /
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives blaming Ukraine and the West for the attempt to kill Slovakian PM Robert Fico and for the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow.
These baseless disinformation stories are part of a wider campaign by Russian officials and media -including by Vladimir Putin himself- to blame Ukraine, NATO and and other actors for both the attacks.
Indexed on 2024-05-16 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, International community, NATO, Ukraine, and USA
DISINFO: The IMF opposed the transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 16, 2024 /
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation aimed at deterring nations from seizing Russia’s frozen assets to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction by warning of an imminent economic collapse. The narrative also aims at undermining Ukraine’s cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.
The disinformation is based on a press conference by Julie Kozack, Director of the Communications Department of the International Monetary Fund, on May 16, 2024. Answering a question from journalists about the possible use of Russian assets to support Ukraine, Kozack noted that the International Monetary Fund insists on a thorough study of this decision and its consequences.
Indexed on 2024-05-16 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Russia, Ukraine, and United Nations
DISINFO: The Switzerland peace conference is set up to issue useless ultimatums to Russia // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 16, 2024 /
This is an pre-emptive attempt to discredit the peace summit which Switzerland will host on 15-16 June 2024.
Following Ukraine’s request, Switzerland has invited over 160 delegations from around the world to join for the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine. The invitees include members of the G7, G20, BRICS, many other countries from all continents, as well as the EU, three international organisations and religious representatives. According to the Swiss government, the summit aims to create a framework favourable to comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, as well as “a concrete roadmap for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”
If the summit does not provide fruitful results, it will be because of Russia’s impossible preconditions for a peaceful settlement. Russia refuses to engage in any talks before the “unconditional surrender of the Kiev [sic] regime.”
Indexed on 2024-05-16 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Narratives, Negotiations and peace deals, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
DISINFO: Ukraine may be involved in the attempt on Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 16, 2024 /
Unsubstantiated claim about the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. This claim was made in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
No evidence is provided to support the claim.
Fico was shot as he was speaking to people in the small town of Handlová after a government meeting there on 15 May 2024. The suspected gunman, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old former security guard and amateur poet Juraj Cintula, was charged with attempted premeditated murder and was put in pre-trial detention by a special penal court on 18 May 2024. Fico is out of immediate danger now but remains in intensive care. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the attack on the prime minister of Slovakia.
Indexed on 2024-05-16 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings and Ukraine
DISINFO: EU ban on Russian media is Russophobia and murder of free speech // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 15, 2024 /
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU violating freedom of speech and press.
On 15 May 2024, EU ambassadors agreed in principle to place an additional four Russian media outlets on the sanctions list, accusing them of propaganda. These are Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestiya and Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The decision was based on the fact that these media outlets are used as a tool of Russian propaganda and disinformation. See here for the list of outlets sanctioned previously.
The EU countries are considered free and democratic by Freedom House. In contrast, Russia is considered one of the least free countries in the world. This is the reason why pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives strongly attack democracy and the EU as a viable model to Russia’s autocratic system.
Indexed on 2024-05-15 12:00 // Categories: Democracy, European Union, Fact checks / debunkings, Freedom of speech, International community, Russia, and Ukraine
DISINFO: EU mission in Armenia is an instrument of the EU’s hybrid war // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 15, 2024 /
Intensively repeated disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets attempting to discredit the EU mission in Armenia, accusing it of espionage, anti-Russian, anti-Iranian and anti-Azerbaijani activities.
From the very beginning, this exclusively civilian mission has been fully transparent about its plans to operate from six hubs. It has no links to NATO or troops from its member countries. From the moment of its launch, EUMA was a target for disinformation, as discussed in our analysis The wrong the wicked and the wacky. Claims about the EU mission in Armenia.
The mission was launched in Armenia in response to a request by Armenia. EUMA conducts routine patrolling and reports on the situation, which strengthens the EU’s understanding of the situation on the ground.
Indexed on 2024-05-15 12:00 // Categories: European Union, Fact checks / debunkings, International community, NATO, Russia, and Russian propaganda
DISINFO: Russia is open to fair dialogue on Ukraine // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 15, 2024 /
This is an often used pro-Kremlin narrative according to which the West is interested in prolonging the war in Ukraine.
The assertion that Western countries harbour a desire for the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine lacks any substantial foundation and is devoid of factual support. Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have a track record of pretending negotiations which are, in fact, just blunt demands for Ukrainian unconditional surrender. We have analysed and exposed this disinformation tactic in several articles, especially: “Prepare for winter” (30 Nov. 2023), “Russian so-called ‘peace proposals’ are empty PR stunts” (18 Jan. 2023) , “What He Said and What it Really Means – Vol. 2: “Negotiations” (1. March 2022) and “The Kremlin security demands” (21 Dec. 2021).
Indexed on 2024-05-15 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Narratives, Negotiations and peace deals, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
DISINFO: The attempt on Slovak PM Robert Fico’s life was political terrorism in retaliation for his pro-Russian position // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 15, 2024 /
There is no evidence of the involvement of any Western country in the assassination attempt on Fico.
Slovakian media identified the shooter as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a self-described writer who previously worked as a security guard and is allegedly linked to pro-Russian group SlovaÄki branci. Slovakia’s interior minister, Matus Sutaj Estok, told reporters that Cintula was a “lone wolf, whose actions were accelerated after the presidential election since he was dissatisfied with its outcome.”
Indexed on 2024-05-15 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Russia, and Russian propaganda
DISINFO: The Polish special services fabricated documents against the Polish judge for his pro-peace position // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 15, 2024 /
This message is a part of a wider narrative about the lack of democracy in Western countries, in this case, it promotes the idea that an “aggressive” Poland persecutes its citizens for their political views.
No evidence is provided to support this claim.
This claim was made in connection with the accusations and statements of the Polish Judge Tomasz Szmydt, who ran away to Belarus on 9 May 2024 seeking “political asylum” in this country. In Poland, he is under the suspicion of espionage in favour of Belarus and was stripped of his immunity.
Indexed on 2024-05-15 12:00 // Categories: Democracy, Fact checks / debunkings, Freedom of speech, International community, Poland, and Ukraine
DISINFO: The Polish, American, British and Ukrainian secret services may hunt the Polish run-away judge down // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 15, 2024 /
This message is a part of a wider narrative about the lack of democracy in Western countries, in this case, it promotes the idea that “aggressive” Poland and other democratic countries order political murders of the run-away “dissidents”.
No evidence is provided to support this claim, which is part of a classic “whataboutism” along the line “you blame me for bad things, but you do the same yourself”. It is a whataboutism attempt to deflect attentiona away from Russia’s assignations made in UK (like Alexander Litvinenko), Germany (the Tiergarden murder) and other attempts on political opponent such as former rusisan agent Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia which were targeted with a Novichok chemical nerve critical in Salisbury, UK.
This claim was made in connection with the accusations and statements of the Polish Judge Tomasz Szmydt, who ran away to Belarus on 9 May 2024 seeking “political asylum” in this country. In Poland, he is under the suspicion of espionage in favour of Belarus and was stripped of his immunity.
Indexed on 2024-05-15 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Poland, and Ukraine
DISINFO: In Ukraine, Russia defends traditional values for the benefit of the whole world // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 14, 2024 /
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the morally corrupt West which is presented as a justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and serves to deflect responsibility for Moscow’s illicit actions. Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is absurdly portrayed as a war against the West and as a noble cause of fighting for the benefit of mankind against the “culture of degeneracy, perversion, and pathology.”
Western values as well as concepts which are not necessarily linked with Western values and policies but nevertheless attributed to the West in the article are intended to present the West as pernicious, immoral, degenerate, and a threat to traditional values. The narrative about threatened values is one of the most common pro-Kremlin narratives. It portrays the Russian civilisation as morally superior to the Western. Russia uses this narrative to proclaim itself the defender of traditional social and spiritual values all over the world. Progressive Western attitudes about a variety of normative issues, including the rights of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and LGBTQ groups, among others, are often undermined and distorted in pro-Kremlin outlets. Respect for individual choices is often falsely portrayed in the pro-Kremlin media as state policies aimed at propagating and imposing specific actions, such as sex changes on the population.
Indexed on 2024-05-14 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
DISINFO: International law expert Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt assesses Ukraine’s war crimes // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 14, 2024 /
False claim made in connection with the case of Polish Judge Tomasz Szmydt, who fled to Belarus seeking “political asylum”. For several months, he was observed by the Polish special services who suspected him of espionage in favour of Belarus and Russia.
Tomasz Szmydt is not an expert in International Public Law and has limited professional authority to accuse Ukraine of war crimes (see previous accusations in our database).
In 2019, as explained by DW: “Szmydt made headlines when he was identified as being a member of a group of judges waging a smear campaign on social media against other judges”
Indexed on 2024-05-14 12:00 // Categories: Democracy, Fact checks / debunkings, Freedom of speech, International community, Poland, Ukraine, and War crimes
DISINFO: Ukrainian government is planning to relocate to Lviv // EU vs Disinfo
Source published on: May 14, 2024 /
The article contains baseless speculation devoid of any factual basis. It serves the pro-Kremlin aim of eroding morale and a narrative of a disintegrating Ukraine that is in retreat militarily.
The article references a Reuters article, which states that foreign investment and the increase in internally displaced people are most noticeable in the western regions (Lviv and Transcarpathia). However, this fact, which is a consequence of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, has no bearing on the claim that the Ukrainian government is planning a resettlement to western Ukraine, specifically Lviv.
Ukraine has no intention of abandoning Kyiv, the capital city. Even during the height of the war in spring 2022, the government and the president remained in Kyiv.
Indexed on 2024-05-14 12:00 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
The White House didn’t say Ukraine, U.S. fought together in WWII | verifythis.com // VERIFY
Source published on: May 9, 2024 /
A video of White House Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre was manipulated with fake audio to make it sound like she said Ukraine, U.S. fought side-by-side in WWII.
Indexed on 2024-10-14 08:48 // Categories: Context, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Faked news reports, International community, Media taken out of context, Methods, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, USA, and USSR (Soviet Union)