Disinfo: Antifa are burning their own country

Summary

Not only Trump supporters, but also many apolitical Americans are convinced that the forests were set on fire by Antifa militias, sponsored by the Democratic Party. This explains the unprecedented scale of fires this year in the US.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory and recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the US Democratic Party. There is no evidence that Antifa or members of the Democratic Party are deliberately starting forest fires. One of the latest fires in California that has burned more than 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares) was caused by a firework at a “gender-reveal party”, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has found. In a statement released late on September 9, the department said: “The fire began at 10.23 am on September 5, 2020 in the El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa,” before spreading north. Climate change is also making the situation with the wildfires in the US worse. "Wildfire activity in the United States is changing dangerously, particularly in the west, as conditions become hotter and drier due to climate change," the Union of Concerned Scientists says.

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vz.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 214
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20/09/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US
  • Keywords: Democratic Party (US), Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: Tsikhanouskaya’s participation in an EU Council meeting is interference in Belarus’s affairs

The participation of the former presidential candidate in the Belarusian elections, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, in the meeting of EU foreign ministers indicates that Brussels has pulled away from its announcement about its lack of intention to interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus.

Sep 19, 2020
Disproof

This is part of an ongoing Russian disinformation campaign about post-electoral protests in Belarus, portraying demonstrations against president Alexander Lukashenko as Western-led. EU foreign ministers met Tikhanovskaya before a European Council meeting designed to discuss the situation in Belarus and the sanctioning of 40 Belarusian officials. The protests in Belarus erupted to contest the results of the presidential election on the 9th of August, which are considered fraudulent by a large part of Belarusian society. The European Union has also stated that the elections were neither free nor fair. Read similar disinformation cases claiming that “the United States is behind the protests in Belarus”, that "Belarusian protests are managed from the US, Poland, Lithuania, and Czechia" and that Interference in Belarus follows a similar model to the one used in Venezuela

Disinfo: Russian progress in Covid-19 vaccine has become for the West an outrageous challenge

Russia’s advances in the development of a vaccine against coronavirus alarmed the West.

The Russian lead in the development of a vaccine against coronavirus has become not only an unpleasant surprise for the West but an outrageous challenge, both for political and financial reasons. On the one hand, deeply undemocratic Russia simply has no right to make such breakthroughs in complex scientific and technologically advanced fields. On the other hand, a jackpot of such astronomical sizes is at stake, that the thought that it might swim past Western pharmaceutical companies could cause heartburn there.

Sep 18, 2020
Disproof

A pro-Kremlin narrative about the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V.

There is credible evidence that the Russian government pressed Russian scientists and researchers to be the first to find a vaccine against Covid-19, and did everything at hand to shorten the process, raising concerns about the safety and efficiency of the Sputnik V vaccine. Reservations and criticism of the Sputnik V vaccine are caused by the fact that Russia hasn’t completed large trials to test the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and the roll-out of an inadequately vetted vaccine could endanger the people who receive it.

Disinfo: Ukraine loses visa-free travel and 1.5 billion euros of loans from the EU

Ukraine loses visa-free travel and 1.5 billion euros of loans from the EU.

Sep 18, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine and its relations with the EU. This disinformation claim appeared following the approval by Verkhovna Rada, on September 17, of the representatives to the competition commission for the election of the head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. There is no intention to suspend visa-free travel. The last European Commission report, adopted on 10 July 2020, confirmed that Ukraine continued to fulfil the visa liberalisation benchmarks. Later, the Joint Declaration after the Ukraine-EU summit on October 6, 2020, welcomed the continued successful implementation of the visa-free regime for the citizens of Ukraine and underlined the importance of continuing to fulfil the visa liberalisation benchmarks and accelerating related reform efforts. The EU has mobilised 1.2 billion EUR macro-financial assistance programme for Ukraine. In the summit, the EU and Ukraine reaffirmed the emphasis on maintaining Ukraine’s macro-economic stability, keeping the IMF commitments on track and implementing all medium-term structural policies agreed within the EU macrofinancial assistance programme. Read a similar case: Visa liberalisation for Ukraine “bites the dust”.