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Disinfo: Holodomor was large-scale sabotage against the Soviet Union

Summary

The biggest sabotage is the story of the Holodomor. The famine is called the Holodomor, and some people continue to replicate this name. The Holodomor means that the people were starved deliberately. Not a single document has been found to prove that people were starved deliberately. It was large-scale sabotage against Ukrainians in the Soviet Union invented in Canada, in the USA, and in Western Ukraine.

Disproof

This is a recurring Kremlin narrative about the Holodomor in Ukraine.

The Great Famine (Holodomor) of 1932–33 is a man-made demographic catastrophe unprecedented in peacetime. Of the estimated six to eight million people who died in the Soviet Union, about four to five million were Ukrainians. The exact number of victims is hard to establish as a lot of evidence was destroyed.

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica," the famine was a direct assault on the Ukrainian peasantry, which had stubbornly continued to resist collectivisation; indirectly, it was an attack on the Ukrainian village, which traditionally had been a key element of Ukrainian national culture. Its deliberate nature is underscored by the fact that no physical basis for famine existed in Ukraine. The Ukrainian grain harvest of 1932 had resulted in below-average yields (in part because of the chaos wreaked by the collectivisation campaign), but it was more than sufficient to sustain the population. Nevertheless, Soviet authorities set requisition quotas for Ukraine at an impossibly high level. Brigades of special agents were dispatched to Ukraine to assist in procurement, and homes were routinely searched and foodstuffs confiscated."

On 23 October 2008, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that recognised the Holodomor as a crime against humanity, caused by the deliberate policies of Stalin's USSR. On 28 April 2010, a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution declared the famine was caused by the "cruel and deliberate actions and policies of the Soviet regime" and was responsible for the deaths of "millions of innocent people" in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia.

See the similar disinfo statements alleging that the Holodomor of 1932-1933 was not a deliberate action by the Soviet government against Ukrainians.

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publication/media

Voskresnyi vecher s Vladimirom Solovyevym - YouTube [from 07:18 to 07:50] (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 172
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/11/2019
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Keywords: Ukraine, Holodomor, USSR

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.

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Poland’s Eastern policy is dictated by the USA aiming to weaken Russia

Warsaw does not carry out any type of policy towards its Eastern neighbours as all of the Polish foreign actions have turned into an instrument used to weaken the Russian positions in the post-Soviet region. For example, the Polish policy towards Ukraine has only one priority – to keep this country in the orbit of the anti-Russian states. Poland’s Eastern policy is formed by the actions dictated by the interests of the United States.

November 11, 2019
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that the United States fully controls the foreign policy of Poland. See other examples of this message claiming that Polish policy towards Ukraine is shaped by the Americans, the US keeps Poland on a short anti-Russian leash, and Poland is a Trojan Horse of the United States.

The statement that the United States controls the European and Polish elites is a conspiracy theory. Poland is a sovereign state, which shapes its own foreign and domestic policies.

Trump’s policy towards Poland is supposed to satisfy the American “deep state”

Donald Trump has to shape his policies taking into consideration the position of various domestic power groups, which disfavour him. If Trump was free of their influence, the current international situation would look completely different. Without his own strong political camp, in some situations, Trump is forced to “give a smile” to the so-called “deep state”, which forms the core of American politics. Trump’s policy towards Poland is one of the elements, which is supposed to satisfy the “deep state”.

November 11, 2019
Disproof

This message presents a classical conspiracy theory that the “deep state” and “shadow government” control the work of democratic institutions in the United States. Here are some other examples of this narrative: “Deep state” fighting with Trump; FBI appears under the influence of “Deep state”; “Deep state” shaping NATO policies. No reputable political scientists and researchers confirm the existence of a “deep state” in the United States.

The idea of a "deep state" has always been very popular among conspiracy theorists. Its manifestations might be different, but generally the concept conjures up the image of a small group deciding the fate of the world behind the scenes. However, there is no evidence of such a "permanent bureaucracy" or "permanent government" existing in the United States.

The US decided to change global security system by blaming collapse of the INF treaty on Russia

The United States decided to reformat the global security system in their favour. What is important here is the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (the INF Treaty). This decision was first mentioned by President Trump in October 2018. What is absolutely not surprising is that they had found “weighty” arguments to justify this decision. Allegedly, back in 2008, Russia developed a missile that can cover a distance of over 500 km. Moscow’s arguments that the “suspicious” missile 9M729 has a much smaller flight range have been simply ignored by Washington.

November 11, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the INF Treaty.

Russia bears primary responsibility for the end of the INF Treaty because it has produced, tested and deployed the 9M729 missile, which violates the agreement. In July 2014, the then-US President Obama officially accused Russia of testing a missile in violation of the INF Treaty, which prohibits the US or Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of between 500 and 5500 kilometres.