Disinfo: German tank desecrated Jewish cemetery in Kaunas

Summary

A German NATO tank desecrated Jewish cemetery in Kaunas.

Disproof

Disinformation attack against NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battle group in Lithuania.

Such incident did not take place. The disinformation message appeared in an online blog and contained doctored images, supposedly portraying a German NATO tank in the cemetery. The disinformation message was promptly debunked by the Lithuanian media and the representatives of Lithuanian Jewish community. Read more about the informational attack here (in Lithuanian). See previous instances of disinformation attacks on NATO troops in Lithuania: German soldier serving as part of a NATO mission to Lithuania raped a teenage girl and a child died during NATO military exercise in Lithuania

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lzbltkauno.wordpress.com (Archived)
news2.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 166
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 25/09/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Lithuanian, Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Germany, Lithuania
  • Keywords: EFP, NATO
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Disinfo: Foreign aid hinders the return of Syrian refugees from Jordan

Almost 20% of the total number of Syrian refugees in Jordan have returned, but foreign aid hinders their return. Foreign aid reaches refugees in Jordan and makes them settle inside the country to continue receiving aid.

Sep 24, 2019
Disproof

This is a Russian recurring narrative presenting Syria as safe and ready for the return of refugees.

UNHCR states that the conditions for a safe, voluntary and dignified return – as per international law - are not currently met. Eight years after the outbreak of the conflict, the situation in Syria is still critical, with millions of Syrians displaced and in need of protection and humanitarian assistance. The potential for violence remains high. The recent creation of the Constitutional Committee is a positive step but much remains to be done towards a sustainable resolution of the conflict.

Disinfo: Obama was close to succeeding where Hitler failed: tearing Ukraine apart from Russia

The Ukrainian coup d’etat cost the US nothing or nearly nothing. After the coup, Ukraine came under the direct governance of US vice-president Joe Biden. When the previous US presidential administration was tearing Ukraine from the Russian sphere of interest, it must have felt a surge of adrenaline and endorphin. Obama thought he nearly tore Ukraine from Russia and interrupted brotherly ties between Ukrainians and Russia, something that no one did in the past, neither Charles XII of Sweden, nor German Emperor Wilhelm II, nor Adolf Hitler. Good relations between Ukraine and Russia were the obstacle for the US to get fertile Ukrainian soil under control.

Sep 24, 2019
Disproof

This is a conspiracy which is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about US-controlled Ukraine and US-organized 2014 coup d'état, Western anti-Russian activities and attempts to disrupt Ukraine-Russia relations. By drawing groundless parallels between Barack Obama and Hitler this publication also brings up West / Nazi narrative. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically-elected president and parliament. There was no US-organized coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population against former President Yanukovych's sudden decision to withdraw from the Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk here. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Ukraine is an anti-Russian state under Western control, that the coup in Ukraine was part of West's war against the Eurasian Economic Union, and that rebellion in Crimea and Donbas against Nazis ruined NATO plans for a military base in Crimea.

Disinfo: European Parliament falsifies history about Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact being the cause of WWII

The European Parliament falsifies history by declaring the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to be the cause of WWII. Parliamentarians accuse Russia of falsifying history. In doing so, the EU ignores its own guilt. By concealing the unpleasant aspects of history and interpreting a retouched version of events at its own discretion, the European Parliament is finally losing all sense of reality. However, the reality is that Nazi criminals are being rehabilitated in some European countries, that Waffen-SS veterans and their supporters are moving en masse and that neo-Nazi organisations are feeling at home. This is now the real danger to the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. Russia also strongly rejects the falsification of history. History must be written by responsible experts – not by politicians who misuse it for their own ends.

Sep 24, 2019
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to erode the disastrous historical role of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact by stating that other European countries signed various international agreements with Germany after 1934. See other examples referring to the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact here, here and here. On 18 September, the European Parliament adopted a resolution, describing the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 23 August 1939 as a key element, causing World War II: The Second World War, the most devastating war in Europe’s history, was started as an immediate result of the notorious Nazi-Soviet Treaty on Non-Aggression of 23 August 1939, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and its secret protocols, whereby two totalitarian regimes that shared the goal of world conquest divided Europe into two zones of influence. In a statement, the Press Office of the European Parliament elaborates on the resolution:

MEPs voice concern at the efforts of the current Russian leadership to whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime and see them as a “dangerous component of the information war waged against democratic Europe”. They also condemn extremist and xenophobic political forces and organisations in Europe for distorting historical facts, and employing the symbolism and rhetoric of totalitarian propaganda, including racism, anti-Semitism and hatred towards sexual and other minorities.

The text of the resolution can be found here. Read more about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: A 'honeymoon' for two dictators (Deutche Welle); The Night Stalin and Hitler Redrew the Map of Europe (RFERL).