Disinfo: Allegations about Kiselyov-controlled RT, Russia's implication in Skripal poisoning and MH17 downing work only for anti-Russian audiences

Summary

Lithuania has banned the broadcasting of five RT TV channels on its territory, following Latvia’s analogous decision. The decision claims that RT is controlled by Dmitry Kiselyov, whereas, in reality, RT has nothing to do with news agency Rossiya Segodnia chaired by him. Allegations about Kiselyov-controlled RT, Skripal poisoned by Vladimir Putin and MH17 downing by Kremlin are fine for anti-Russian audiences. The West increasingly sees no reason to waste its resources on Russia and the forces that sympathize with Russia, apparently considering it as hopeless to persuade and attract them on its side. This sloppy approach was the product of West’s monopoly in information, political, and ideological spheres. It is because of this monopoly that at a certain stage the West ceased to consider it necessary to rigorously and professionally elaborate its policies on a general level, but also in what concerns its competitors. As a result, the West did not notice how it lost the monopoly because of the loss of competences.

Disproof

This message questions Dmitry Kiselyov's relation to RT and presents RT broadcasting bans in Latvia and Lithuania, Skripal poisoning, and MH17 downing as West's anti-Russian provocations to influence public opinion. It is consistent with the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about West's deliberate anti-Russian activities. In fact, the Skripal case, and the downing of MH17 are well-documented cases of acts of Kremlin-enabled violence outside Russia. Latvia and Lithuania have banned the state-owned Russian television channel RT, saying it is controlled by an individual, Dmitriy Kiselyov, who is under EU sanctions. According to the Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), Latvia's national media watchdog, RT and the network of channels operated by it are under Kiselyov's "effective control". Read full NEPLP's position here for details. For further debunking please see the Insider. In Skripal case, approved judgement has been issued around three weeks after their poisoning in March 2018, after a hearing in the Court of Protection. The British Police have presented a solid chain of evidence on the Skripal case, with pictures, connecting the suspects to the locations in the case. Parts of the material have been released to the public. The evidence was sufficient to charge two Russian nationals, Anatoliy Chepiga and Aleksandr Mishkin with the attack on the Skripals, both Russian military intelligence operatives from the GRU, who travelled to the UK using fake names and documents. See more disinformation cases on Skripal's poisoning (Salisbury poisoning). As for MH17, the results of the investigation of the Joint Investigation Team are clear: flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by the BUK TELAR system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the city of Pervomaiskiy in eastern Ukraine, from where the rocket was launched. After firing, the system with one missing missile returned to the Russian Federation. On May 24 2018, JIT announced in its conclusion that the Buk belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces in Kursk, Russian Federation. The public hearing on the incident started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. See similar cases here that there was no evidence of Russia's involvement in the poisoning of Skripal and that just like WADA's doping accusations, Skripal poisoning and the downing of MH17 were Russian provocations.

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RIA (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 206
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/07/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: Sergei Skripal, Diplomacy with Russia, Anti-Russian, Dmitry Kiselyov, MH17
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Disinfo: Western civilisation is corrupt and is dying, the barbarians that it welcomes will inherit its ruins

Western civilisation is corrupt and is dying. The barbarians that we welcome as migrants will perhaps inherit the ruins of Western civilization. But today’s barbarians are different from the barbarians that overran the Roman Empire. The latter admired Roman civilisation, they wanted to achieve similar greatness and changed their way of life after the fall of the Empire. Today’s barbarians despise us and know nothing about us. But we castrate ourselves and behave as if we, and not they, were beggars in a foreign country.

Jul 09, 2020
Disproof

The article provides no evidence to support its sweeping and apocalyptic claims that Western civilisation is dying. It repeats a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that seeks to discredit Western liberal-democratic societies by portraying them as decadent and immoral and claiming that they are collapsing. The article also contains a related pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the corrupt, decadent, and “politically correct” West is unwilling to resist the increasingly massive influx of migrants, who are bound to overrun Western civilisation and to destroy it. This narrative is consistent with the claim that the Islamisation of Europe is proceeding apace. The central values and achievements of the modern West, and of Europe in particular — liberal democracy, the rule of law, human rights, equality before the law, freedom of conscience and expression, rationalism, self-criticism, the disinterested search for truth, the separation of church and state — are still very much alive and continue to be a source of inspiration for people around the world. Read a similar case claiming that Europe is dying because of moral decay and will be destroyed by an army of a million of migrant militants stationed in underground cities.

Disinfo: MH17 tribunal is a politically motivated process against Russia and DNR

It is not a tribunal, but a trial paid for by bribes. It is used by the US to make Russia guilty and to make the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics hostages of the situation, which was provoked by Kyiv and Washington. Meanwhile, we see nothing new.

Jul 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine, aiming to discredit the criminal trial and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). In order to find out the cause of the crash, the Joint Investigation Team investigated all human remains, personal belongings and wreckage of the aircraft found in the vicinity of the disaster site. The traces were secured and investigated and compared by experts. In addition, the JIT sought and heard witnesses and experts, analysed radar and satellite images, assessed large amounts of telecom data such as intercepted telephone conversations and analysed big data. Read more about the investigation here. The results of the investigation of the Joint Investigation Team are clear: flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by the BUK TELAR system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the city of Pervomaiskiy in Eastern Ukraine, from where the rocket was launched. After firing, the system, with one missing missile, returned to the Russian Federation. On May 24 2018, JIT announced in its conclusion that the Buk belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces in Kursk, Russian Federation. The public hearing on the incident started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. You can see other examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation on the MH17 case in our database, such as claims that the MH17 trial is biased against Russia, that evidence collected by JIT could have been fabricated, that JIT falsified evidence confirming that Ukrainian BUK is behind the crash, that the MH17 investigation is deliberately delayed, or that the MH17 case is politically motivated.

Disinfo: Ukrainian officials are obsessed by imaginary invasions and inexistent Russian imperial ambitions

Ukrainians are hysterical about an imaginary Russian threat. In June 2020, two top Ukrainian officials gave an interview where they discussed the Russian imperial ambition and the possibility for their country to face a large scale war with their neighbor. // Psychiatrists should consider opening a whole research institute in Ukraine to assess the level of insanity prevailing among the country’s elites.

Jul 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurrent narrative aiming at dismissing warmongering and weak Ukraine, and, on the contrary, praising peaceful Russia. The claims about Ukrainian elites lacking mental capacity are a classic example of dehumanisation as a tool of pro-Kremlin disinformation. The article refers to the interviews of Vasyl Bodnar by Interfax on June 29 and Alexeï Neijpapa by Dumskaya.net on July 5 If the original statements are read carefully - rather than reading only the account that Moscow or Donetsk of it - then their thoughts immediately sound more rational.

  • Vasyl Bodnar, Deputy Minister, MFA of Ukraine, talked to Interfax on June 29 about the existing military threat from Russia: "we see an increase in military capabilities on the eastern border of Ukraine, and secondly, we see a significant increase in military units of Russian troops in the Crimea. Russian occupation forces on the territory of the occupied Donbass are often brought to increase combat readiness. Any training can quickly go into an active phase of hostilities, so the risk is clearly increasing, and, of course, the military sees it. There was a recent statement by a representative of the Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate that the military clearly understands the threats posed by such actions. (...) Public communications are also active, aimed at showing that Russia is not abandoning its aggressive policy. "

  • In an interview to Dumskaya.net on July 5 Alexeï Neijpapa, the Commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine didn't exclude the possibility that Russian troops will try to break out of the occupied Crimea and into another Ukrainian region, neighbouring Kherson. That is why Ukraine continues to strengthen its position in the area.

The claim by Russian media that "the French make fun of Ukrainian top official declaration" is not correct, since the article quoted from Donbass insider isn't a French media but an independent media based in Donetsk founded by an employee of the DoniPress official press agency and hosted in Moscow. The Agoravox French platform only republished the content and the Inosmi translation platform published a more polite Russian version. To read similar Disinfo: Ukraine is going to launch a missile strike on Russia.