Disinfo: British royal court recognised Crimea as part of Russia

Summary

The British royal court responded to a letter from school children at the "Little Academy of Science" in Sevastopol, writing Russia in the return address. This is reported on the official Instagram account of the educational institution.

It is worth noting that the Royal Court indicated "Sevastopol, Russia" as the recipient's address on the envelope, thereby recognising it as belonging to the Russian peninsula.

In recent years, the attitude towards Crimea has changed a lot in the world, and the peninsula is increasingly seen by the world's public as Russian territory for a long time and an integral part of Russia.

It would be nice if members of the British royal family came to Crimea and saw with their own eyes how rapidly the peninsula is developing, how satisfied our fellow citizens are to have returned to Russia. This would be particularly useful to Europeans whose opinion about Crimea was formed on the basis of myths which are still invented today by the media and politicians.

Disproof

Disinformation concerning an alleged emerging consensus to recognise Crimea as part of Russia.

At the beginning of April 2014, the Ukrainian State Postal Enterprise (Ukrposhta), indicated to the Universal Postal Union not to address letters to them to be delivered in Crimea due to the Russian occupation making their deliveries impossible.

“Ukrposhta therefore asks the designated operators of UPU member countries to suspend the dispatching to Ukraine of any international postal items addressed to the Crimea (postal codes in the range 95000–99999).”

The address on the envelope does not mean any official recognition whatsoever.

There is no growing consensus to recognise Crimea as Russian. Only Nicaragua opened a consulate there. Furthermore, inhabitants of Crimea are not overwhelmingly enthusiastic after the Russian annexation, a recent open line on the radio Echo of Moscow showed this clearly.

Read also related cases: Russia has never violated the provisions of the Budapest Memorandum, Crimea rejoined Russia as a result of a popular referendum, Accusing Russia of annexing Crimea is ignoring its historical rights to the peninsula, Ukraine, USA and EU recognised the reunification of Crimea with Russia.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 263
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 18/10/2021
  • Article language(s) French, Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, UK, Russia
  • Keywords: Crimea
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Disinfo: Incident in Kerch Strait was a provocation associated with the low rating of Poroshenko

On November 25, 2018, two boats "Nikopol" and "Berdyansk", as well as the tugboat "Yany Kapu" of the Ukrainian Navy violated the Russian border, entered the temporarily closed area of ​​the Russian territorial sea and moved from the Black Sea to the Kerch Strait.

They maneuvered dangerously and did not obey the legal demands of the Russian authorities. The ships with the soldiers who violated the border of the Russian Federation were detained. The incident in the Black Sea was a provocation associated with the low rating of Petro Poroshenko, who was then President of Ukraine, on the eve of the elections.

On September 7, 2019, the military who violated the border were handed over to Ukraine within the framework of agreements on the simultaneous release of detainees and convicts. Russia on November 18, 2019 handed over three ships to the Ukrainian side. The Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Admiral Igor Voronchenko, complained about the condition of these ships, stating that "the Russians killed them," the equipment, even plafonds and sockets, were allegedly removed from them. The FSB had earlier assured that Ukraine had received its boats in "normal condition and with serviceable plumbing", and in support of it released video footage.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the Kerch incident. No evidence is given that the confrontation was a planned provocation by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

On 25 November 2018, border patrol boats belonging to Russia’s FSB security service seized two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and their crews after shooting at them, wounding several Ukrainian servicemen.

Disinfo: Bellingcat is a false investigative site backed by Western intelligence, aimed to whitewash terrorists in Syria

It is now confirmed that Bellingcat, the website of alleged investigative journalism based in the Netherlands, is an organisation funded by US and UK intelligence contractors that help terrorist groups in the Middle East, especially in Syria, as proven by a recent investigation by the site The Grayzone. Behind the mask of an “independent” organisation specialised in data verification and open source intelligence, Bellingcat hides sinister strategies. Despite its vehement insistence in that it is independent from any governmental influence, Bellingcat is funded both by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) of the US government and by the European Union, The Grayzone explains. According to those records, Bellingcat accepted huge sums from Western intelligence contractors, which themselves provided direct support to jihadist groups allied to Al Qaeda in Syria, the same elements that provide ‘evidences’ to Belllingcat to condemn Damascus for all kind of doubtful charges.

Disproof

The claim is false, aiming to discredit investigative site Bellingcat -a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation- by framing it as a cover of Western intelligence services that spreads false information to whitewash terrorists and attack the Syrian regime.

The alleged “investigation” by The Grayzone is based in a mere review of Bellingcat’s own website, which in transparency openly shows its funding sources. Although it is correct that the NED, the European Union and some US and British contractors contribute economically to the project, they are only a handful among many other financial sources, and not even the most important. Through this diversification, Bellingcat can ensure its editorial independence. Since detailed investigations are published for free, about two thirds of their budget comes from grants and donations and one third from trainings.

Disinfo: Germany is not a sovereign state, it is an occupied territory

Germany is completely dependent on US policy. It is not a sovereign state. In this respect, it is, so far, in a sense an occupied territory.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about German-American relations. Pro-Kremlin outlets often use the narrative about different countries being under the American thumb - see other examples here.

Germany is an independent and sovereign country and is not dependent on the United States of America. Germany and the US have close partner relations as the two sovereign and independent countries that they are.