Language:

See all Disinfo Cases - Detail

Disinfo: COVID-19 is a fake, it’s a political move to install hegemony

Summary

COVID-19 is a fake, it’s a common and not deadly virus. All those deaths in Italy cannot be because of the coronavirus. It’s a political move to destroy small businesses and install deep state hegemony. US is adopting fascist measures to limit people’s freedom.

Disproof

An unfounded conspiracy theory, sharing a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative about "secret elites" controlling world leaders. COVID-19 comes from a family of viruses originating in animals that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in central China and has been rapidly spreading across the world, with cases being reported in 190 countries, territories and areas. The number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 300,000 globally with over 14,000 deaths (with 5,476 only in Italy) by 23 March 2020. Many other claims have been pushed by pro-Kremlin media since the outbreak started in January, for example, that governments overestimate the threat, that it was born in a laboratory to infect Chinese, that it is an element of hybrid warfare and that the remedy has been developed in Ukraine.

Go to search

publication/media

News Front - YouTube, Russian (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 189
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/03/2020
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: US
  • Keywords: coronavirus, Conspiracy theory

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

see more

Coronavirus pushed the West into the Middle Ages

A combination of systemic crisis and the coronavirus epidemic dealt a blow to the West’s mythical unity. Western countries refuse to help each other by sending medical equipment or providing financial assistance. The US organised a military operation to export half a million of coronavirus tests from Italy, despite the deficit Italy is facing. The West is sinking in the Middle Ages, where everyone is for himself. The longer the epidemic stays, the further back in time the West will be submerged. The only positive aspect is that the combination of a global systemic crisis, low hydrocarbon prices, and the coronavirus pandemic may replace a new world war by moving away unsustainable political entities.

March 24, 2020
Disproof

This message is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin claims about the EU's helplessness in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak and a common narrative about the EU's imminent collapse. The European Union is supporting Member States in addressing the crisis and has adopted measure to mitigate the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. To cushion the blow to people’s livelihoods and the economy, the European Commission has adopted a comprehensive economic response to the outbreak, applied the full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, has revised its State Aid rules and proposed to set up a EUR 37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. To support scientific research into COVID-19, the European Commission earmarked 47.5 million EUR for shortlisted research projects that can improve epidemiology and public health, including preparedness and response to outbreaks. The EU has also created first ever stockpile of medical equipment. Read more about the EU's response here and here. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Italy, Spain, Portugal and possibly even France are in line to exit the EU, that a number of EU countries teeter on the brink of default, and that the coronavirus and economic crisis caught the EU by surprise because of its Russophobia.

The coronavirus pandemic is the ruling elites’ alternative to a world war

There was a need for a replacement of a World War, something that would level out the disbalances of the capitalist economy, revive it and still maintain the status-quo of the ruling elites. The alternative to a shooting war would be a cold war, or, as it is preferred to be called today, a hybrid war. A hybrid war engages elements of finance, trade, psychology, information technology, cyber attacks, special forces against the enemy, but it does not give the rulers the authority to use command methods on the economy. And this is necessary for overcoming the dis-balances of the economy. And here comes the coronavirus. The rulers started to blow up a threat, create an atmosphere of fear. Using the panic, the authorities are given unlimited powers and start actively to interfere in the economy.  

March 24, 2020
Disproof

An unfounded conspiracy theory, sharing a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative about "secret elites" controlling world leaders. See related pro-Kremlin disinformation cases about the coronavirus.

The EU is disintegrating due to coronavirus

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the EU is in a state of collapse, it has no leadership, the situation is hard in the US too. The coronavirus outbreak is used by the states as a rehearsal for an economic downturn. Combined with corrections to stock markets and provocative actions by Saudi Arabia which resulted in a drop in oil prices, a deep downturn can soon begin. Transnational bankers and liberal elites have realised that the situation is critical and started attempts to shake it even more. They wish to remove Trump and Putin at any cost, and the reason is simple: in a total crisis when a state takes on management, it is impossible to rule through the banking system and finance as it was the case for the past decades.

March 24, 2020
Disproof

This message is the big conspiracy concept alleging that global finance elites have been ruling the world as real world government, mixed with a more recent narrative about the EU's helplessness in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Read our past analysis Why Authoritarians Love the Concept of the Big Conspiracy explaining why the idea of a Shadow World Government has always been very popular among conspiracy theorists. Read earlier disinformation cases alleging that the coronavirus is a pretext for the Global Elites’ ambitions to reduce the world's population,and that coronavirus and economic crisis caught the EU by surprise because of its Russophobia.