Disinfo: Decaying Latvia and Lithuania envy Belarus its strategic relations with Russia

Summary

At present Belarus and Russia actively work on a joint strategy for closer integration. Belarus is the closest Russian ally and its strategic partner. Any European state can envy this, particularly decaying and begging Lithuania and Latvia. However, even if they wholeheartedly wanted to join the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the EU would not support this idea. Hence, the Baltic states have to keep dying.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about socio-economic degradation of the Baltic states in the EU. There is a public consensus in the Baltic States on the benefits of EU membership. 71% of Lithuanians and 54% of Latvians believe that EU membership is a good thing for their countries, whereas 5% and 3% of these countries' populations think the opposite, the European Parliament’s Spring 2019 Eurobarometer shows. Latest Worldbank data shows that GDP per capita, PPP in current international $ in Belarus and Russia stand at 20,000 and 27,100. The figures amount to 28,400 and 33,300 in Latvia and Lithuania, respectively. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Latvia is a US vassal state, Lithuania is a "typical dying young democracy", and that the Baltic states are dying because they chose not to be with Russia.

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Podneprovie (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 162
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 24/07/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Latvia
  • Keywords: Economic difficulties, Sovereignty, Baltic states
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Disinfo: Nationalists, dissatisfied with the election results, gather in Kyiv

Ukrainian nationalists did not agree with the voting results of the elections to the Verkhovna Rada. They refuse to accept the results in the 223rd election district in Kyiv and intend to defend their opinion to the end.

Jul 23, 2019
Disproof

Recurring Kremlin narrative about nationalists in Ukraine. The article in "Moskovskyy Komsomolets" is not referring to any specific source of information. The information concerning people gathering in Kiev was refuted by representatives of the nationalist political party "Svoboda". Deputy of "Svoboda", Yuri Levchenko, who was nominated in the 223rd district, said: “I officially announce that at the moment there are only 2 of my representatives at the district election commission (because I don’t need more, so far).” A video showed that police near the 223rd district noted that everything was calm there. There were also no gatherings near the Verkhovna Rada.

Disinfo: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact did not violate the rights of the Polish state

Polish authorities once again showed their Russophobic nature by not inviting Russia to the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. Polish side, as always, accuses Russia of signing the non-aggression pact [the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact] in August 1939, even though it was repeatedly proven that this document did not violate the rights of the Polish state.

Jul 23, 2019
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to portray Russia's role in the World War II as not aggressive - see another example referring to Ribbentrop-Molotov pact here. It is a proven 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 directly caused the German and Soviet military aggression against Poland in September 1939, which resulted in complete occupation of this country by Germany and USSR. See similar examples of the Russian historical revisionism concerning Poland here and here.

Disinfo: The Mueller investigation confirmed there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump administration

The Mueller report confirms that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump administration.

Jul 23, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The claim that the Mueller investigation did not find any evidence of collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government is false. Robert Mueller’s investigation sought to establish whether members of the Trump campaign – several of which entertained systematic contacts with individuals connected to the Russian government – conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its 2016 US election interference activities. The investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome – and that the Trump campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts. Specifically, the investigation concluded that 1) the Russian government interfered in the US election in sweeping and systematic fashion, and 2) there was insufficient evidence to make a prosecutorial decision to charge any member of the Trump campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. However, as Mueller explained during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, not making a charging decision does not mean the investigation failed to turn up evidence of conspiracy. During this testimony, Mueller confirmed that his investigation did indeed uncover some evidence of conspiracy between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, even though it was not seen as sufficient to bring conspiracy charges against any member of the Trump campaign. Ultimately, during the course of the investigation, more than 30 defendants were charged with committing federal crimes, including 12 officers of the Russian military. Seven defendants have been convicted or plead guilty. For a summary of the indictments, see here. Based on Justice Department policy and principles of fairness, the Special Counsel team decided it would not make a decision as to whether the president committed a crime. Read the full Mueller report here. For more disinfo cases about the Mueller investigation, see here.