Disinfo: Baltic states joined USSR in accordance with international law

Summary

The Baltic states joined the Soviet Union in accordance with norms of international law. Thus, the term ‘occupation’ cannot be used here, as no military actions took place. Also, the governments of the Baltic countries accepted the Soviet troops based on a clear agreement between them.

Disproof

A recurring attempt of historical revisionism aiming at justifying Soviet actions. On 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression (Molotov-Ribbentrop) pact whose secret protocols divided the territories belonging to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Romania into Soviet and Nazi spheres of influence. The Baltic States were not beneficiaries of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Like other countries mentioned in the pact, they lost their independence and territories. Soviet occupation of the Baltic States lasted for 50 years and resulted in mass deportations and repressions against local populations. 24 December 1989, the Parliament of the USSR, the Congress of the People’s Deputies, adopted a resolution, acknowledging the annexation of the Baltic states as a violation of the USSRs obligations. An English translation of the full text here:

The Congress notes that during this period the relations of the USSR with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were regulated by a system of treaties. Pursuant to the 1920 Peace Treaties and 1926-1933 Non-Aggression Treaties, the signatories were obliged to honour each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability under any circumstances. The Soviet Union had assumed similar obligations to Poland and Finland.

See similar disinformation narratives on history and Baltic states here and here.

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sputnik-abkhazia.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 166
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/09/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Baltic states
  • Keywords: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, WWII
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Disproof

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Disinfo: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact did not pave the way for the outbreak of the Second World War

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Sep 20, 2019
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about World War Two and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It is a part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to portray Russia's role in World War II as non-aggressive. The "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact" was accompanied by a secret supplementary protocol on the delimitation of areas of mutual interest in Eastern Europe. In particular, Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide Poland. The agreement also indicated that the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Bessarabia and Finland, also belonged to the respective areas of interest of Germany and the USSR. Just a week after the signing of the Pact, the German attack on Poland started World War II. Two weeks later, Soviet troops entered Polish territory. See similar cases here, here, here, here and here Read more about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact here.

Disinfo: MH-17: Russia gave evidence to Joint investigation team but it was ignored

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Disproof

The report advances recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the MH17 crash. The "evidence" claimed by Russia, namely radar data and the documentation on Buk's engine identified origin are only a small sample of misleading claims advanced by Moscow since 2015, some of which have contradicted one another. Also this disinformation article refers both to a Russian radar which did not detect any Buk missile and at the same time, to the claim that the Buk was of "Ukrainian origin" (evidence advanced by Russia which Novaya Gazeta found to be fabricated). On the 24th of May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, the Dutch Public Persecution service will prosecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering the 289 persons on board. The public hearing is scheduled for March 9th 2020 in the Netherlands. See debunking by Bellingcat and similar cases here, here, and here.