Disinfo: Alleged poisonings of Skripal, Navalny were Western provocations against Russia

Summary

In the last three years, our so-called Western partners twice alleged that Russia used chemical weapons against individual targets - Sergei Skripal and Alexei Navalny.

There is obviously no evidence to support these provocations. On the contrary, there is evidence that these were deliberate, planned provocations. These tactics can be deployed in any context, and the West has been perfecting them in recent years.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying Moscow's involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and Alexei Navalny.

Moscow's involvement in the Skripal poisoning has been proven via a thorough investigation.

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 here and here for further debunking.

Likewise, there is unequivocal evidence that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 235
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14/03/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: Chemical weapons/attack, Alexei Navalny, novichok, Anti-Russian, Provocation, Sergei Skripal, Skripal, Maria Zakharova
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Disinfo: Normandy format decides nothing, only direct talks between Russia and the US can change the situation

The Normandy format does not decide anything. Only direct talks between Russia and the US can change the situation. The US, who sponsors Ukraine’s leaders, needs a long-standing conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is successfully implementing this instruction. Fewer and fewer chances are left for a quick, one-or-two-year-long settlement of the conflict. The Americans are unlikely to agree to any compromises. The Donbas conflict will last a long time, and what is important in this situation is to avoid new bombings and casualties.

Disproof

Recurring propaganda narratives claiming that the Normandy format is useless and that Ukraine is controlled by the US. The Normandy format could be an effective tool for the settlement of the Donbas crisis. The reality is that Russia continues to insist that Ukraine comply with the Minsk Agreements, which were signed in the Belarussian capital in 2014 with a view to ending the conflict while Russia fail to honor its commitment incl. withdrawing military forces and stopping supplying weapons and ammunitions.

Regarding the claim about the US, it does play an important part in the process. Both former president Donald Trump and now president Joe Biden, have been making efforts to end the war.

Disinfo: The funds from NATO countries are being looted in Syria

A Syrian militant revealed that the funds that NATO countries allocate to supply armed terrorist groups under their control in Syria are being systematically looted by field commanders and US army officers who are in the country and control the militants' activities.

Disproof

No evidence is given on this matter.

Furthermore, this narrative fits a recurring narrative targetting NATO, while forgetting to mention that there are no NATO troops on the ground in Syria.

Disinfo: The US and EU organized a coup in Ukraine to overthrow legally elected government

Washington and Brussels directly violated the Helsinki Accords by organizing a coup in Kyiv and the overthrow of the legally elected government in Ukraine in 2013-2014.

Disproof

There was no coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests, depicting the 2013-14 revolution as a coup d'état and laying responsibility for the ensuing Russian aggression on the US and EU.

The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was not provoked from outside, rather, it was a reaction from several segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013, after pressure from Russia.