Disinfo: Belarus proved the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant is safe

Summary

Lithuanian politicians regularly protest against the construction of the Nuclear Power Plant [in Belarus]. Despite the proof from the Belarusian side that the power station is safe and complete transparency about the matter of its functioning, Lithuanian parliament even discussed the possibility to ban the energy import from the Belarusian NPP.

Disproof

A recurring Kremlin-backed narrative concerning the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) in Astravets. Lithuania opposes construction of the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) as the project does not comply with the international standards of environmental protection and nuclear safety, and is built on the site that was not duly justified over the alternative ones. Serious concerns about the safety of the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant remain. On 7 June 2011, Lithuania lodged a complaint with the Implementing Committee of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment (the Espoo Convention) on the Astravets nuclear power plant case. In February 2019 the Meeting of the Parties of the Espoo Convention adopted the decision, which acknowledged that Belarus had failed to comply with some Convention provisions regarding site selection and encouraged Belarus and Lithuania to continue bilateral expert consultations. In August 2019 the Pre-Operational Safety Review Team (Pre-OSART) from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made several recommendations aimed at strengthening operational safety in a timely manner to assure operational readiness and promised to submit the final report to the Belarusian Government within three months. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Lithuania fights against Belarusian NPP on the orders of Sweden and Finland, Dalia Grybauskaitė's opposition to the NPP is an attempt to hide Lithuania's own failures in nuclear power, that the "Chernobyl" series aimed to discredit the Belarusian power plant and Belarus-Russia relations and that Western-financed environmental NGOs in Belarus stage a big campaign against Rosatom and Russia.

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sputnik.by (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 169
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 01/10/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Belarus, Lithuania
  • Keywords: Nuclear issues, Energy, Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: Baltic states followed Greta Thunberg's agenda, it resulted in complete degradation and dying

Greta Thunberg proposed the UN General Assembly to deny the achievements of human civilisation, neglect economic development and material well-being for the sake of saving nature. This “positive agenda” is not new, it was made a reality in the Baltic states after the USSR collapsed. They fought the so-called “legacy of occupation” using ecological slogans. This all resulted in the complete degradation of the Baltic states. The Western liberal ruling elite promotes the programme of the future through Greta. This programme is extremely regressive as it denies human creative powers, science and progress and proposes the past to the world. The Baltic states made this programme of deliberate simplification, degradation, and archaisation real. Under the mottoes for saving nature, they run through the Bacchanalia of de-industrialisation and de-intellectualisation. The Baltic States can take some credit for the ecological situation though. The remaining small population only happens to be bothered by beavers and wild boars walking in downtown Riga. Hence, the path proposed by Greta Thunberg leads to the dying-out as the case of the Baltic states proves.

Sep 30, 2019
Disproof

This disinformation message combines conspiracy theories, ungrounded generalisations and simplifications, and is aimed to downsize the pressing problem of climate change, discredit both the ecological agenda and the Baltic states. It follows recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about extreme socio-economic difficulties in the Baltic states and Greta Thunberg as a mouthpiece of powerful political forces with hidden agenda. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the Baltic states are dying because they chose not to be with Russia and that Lithuania will be depopulated in 20 years, that decaying Latvia and Lithuania envy Belarus its strategic relations with Russia and that Greta Thunberg is a political tool, whose key targets for “green blows” will be Russia and China.

Disinfo: Robert Mueller’s investigation proved there was no collusion between Trump and Russia

It cannot be excluded that scandal around the phone call between the Presidents of the US and Ukraine is the consequence of the failure of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation to prove Moscow intervened in the US elections.

Sep 30, 2019
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the Robert Mueller report connected also with the recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Robert Mueller's investigation did conclude that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Mueller's report determined that there were "two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election". It led to US senators' proposals to extend sanctions on Russia to deter it from further election meddling. The claim that the report provides no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion is spurious. Gathering evidence of "collusion" - which is not a legal concept - fell outside the scope of the investigation. The aim of the probe was not merely to ascertain contacts between the Trump Campaign and Russia-linked individuals during the election period, but to establish whether these interactions were deliberate enough on the part of Trump Campaign officials to sustain charges of conspiracy (p. 2). The report explicitly identifies "numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign" (p. 9).

Disinfo: Ukraine is going to restore passenger links with Crimea

The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krikliy said in an interview with Radio Liberty that Kyiv decided to restore passenger transport links with the Crimea.

Sep 30, 2019
Disproof

A deliberate misinterpretation of a statement by a Ukrainian official, recurrent with a popular pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the "international recognition of the Russian status" of the occupied Ukrainian peninsula. In an interview for Radio Liberty, the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krikliy answered the question whether there will be legal passenger transportation to and from the administrative border with Crimea, as well as a bus station near the control point. The resumption of passenger transport links with Crimea was not discussed. Later, Minister Krikliy moved to correct the false news, saying that “Ukrainian carriers will carry passengers through Ukraine, exclusively in Ukraine. It’s not about the resumption of any transport links to and from the occupied Crimea.”