Disinfo: Coronavirus is used against Russia and China

Summary

Everything that happens with the coronavirus is used for competitive purposes against both Russia and, in the first place, against the Chinese.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory. A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that the new coronavirus is a tool of warfare against China and Russia.

There is no evidence to suggest that the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV is used as a weapon against other states. Many countries have so far been affected by the new virus. As of February 7, there were 28 countries affected by the new disease with almost 40,000 cases confirmed. The biggest number of infected people were detected in China, Japan and Singapore.

The World Health Organisation is working with Chinese authorities and global experts to learn more about the virus. The virus comes from the same family that includes the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS.

Read previous disinformation narratives alleging that Emergence of coronavirus is not accidental and has economic goals, Coronavirus is a US provocation against China, The coronavirus is a biological weapon created by the UK, and A new Chinese coronavirus was likely elaborated in NATO biolabs.

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Pervyi Kanal (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 183
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 07/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: China, Russia
  • Keywords: coronavirus, Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: European Union is merely a market, aimed to destroy nation-states and abandon European values

Ever since the 1990s Europeans see the EU merely as a great market. The EU is based on neo-liberal theories that posit the primacy of economics over politics, and the domination of financial capital. As a result, we have built an EU which is only a market and that aims to destroy nation-states. The EU has thus abandoned genuine European values and has elevated the Euro to be its only value.

Feb 06, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that seeks to discredit the EU, claiming that the EU has abandoned genuine European values and traditions and is built on the worship of money and of free-markets. This narrative is consistent with the pro-Kremlin propaganda theme about decadent values and moral decay in contemporary Western societies.

The article also repeats the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that claims the EU seeks to rob European nations of their sovereignty and identity.

Disinfo: President Duda and President Zelensky promote propaganda

Polish President Andrzej Duda is involved in propaganda, whereby he uses history to undermines Russia’s current position. And he’s not the only one, president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has also joined him.

Feb 06, 2020
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism – it accuses Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states of “falsification and re-writing” of their history. According to this policy, the Russian official historiography is the only “true” way of interpretation of historical events for the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

The recent statements of President Duda and President Zelenskyy regarding WWII history are based on historical facts, shared by the majority of historians. First of all, it is a historical fact that both Nazi Germany and the Stalinist USSR were harsh totalitarian regimes, which directly caused the deaths of tens of millions of people. Secondly, these two regimes are mutually responsible for the outbreak of WWII. It is also a historical fact that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact contained the Secret Supplementary Protocol, which assumed the division of Poland and other Eastern European countries between the USSR and Germany. Thus, the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact enabled the German and Soviet military aggression against Poland in September 1939, which resulted in the occupation of this country by Germany and USSR, triggering the beginning of WWII.

Disinfo: Poland is largely responsible for WWII

The pre-war period is much more complex and ambiguous than presented by Russia’s opponents. The responsibility of Poland and many other European countries for the outbreak of WWII is large. Russia puts this responsibility on the pre-war political elite of Poland. It was the first to sign the non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1934, it tried to impose its friendship with Germany at all cost, it took part in the partition of Czechoslovakia and it enjoyed territorial gains thanks to the Munich Agreement.

Feb 06, 2020
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to erode the disastrous role of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact by the statements that the USSR was forced to sign this pact; that other European countries signed various international agreements with Adolf Hitler, the Munich Agreement triggered WWII and various historical conspiracies saying that Western democracies wanted to inspire a war between Nazism and Communism.

The Munich Agreement (September 30, 1938), indeed, permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in Western Czechoslovakia. The policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler was heavily criticised in Europe and proved to be a disastrous move. World War II began in Europe one year later, on 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.