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Disinfo: It is not plausible that the COVID-19 developed naturally

Summary

COVID-19, a disease that many experts weren’t expecting for a hundred thousand years, is a highly modified version of the Wuhan Horseshoe Bat Virus. It is not plausible that COVID-19 developed without a gene-splicing laboratory. The odds against such a disease developing naturally are astronomical yet we are continually informed of the opposite.

Disproof

Conspiracy theories about the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, there is no evidence to suggest that the virus is being used as a weapon against other states or that is was fabricated inside laboratories.

This Coronavirus comes from a family of viruses that include the common cold and viruses such as SARS and MERS. The medical Journal “Emerging Microbes & Infections” specifically said there is “No credible evidence supporting claims of the laboratory engineering”.

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publication/media

Journal of New Eastern Outlook (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 193
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/04/2020
  • Language/target audience: English
  • Country: China, 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.

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OPCW Ltamenah report was written under Western political pressure

Moscow criticised the report of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on the use of toxic substances in the town of Ltamenah in 2017, and considered that it was formulated with political pressure from Western countries.

April 22, 2020
Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative aiming to discredit the OPCW. The OPCW is an independent inter-governmental international organisation with 193 member states - including Russia.

Pro-Kremlin outlets began portraying the OPCW as a pawn in Western geopolitical designs around mid-2018, when the organisation was being granted new powers to assign blame for chemical attacks, especially in the Syrian Douma.

The White Helmets are a British intelligence organisation

[Local sources in the Idlib countryside confirmed, quoting elements from] the British Intelligence “White Helmets” Organisation, [that seven victims of the “Jabhat al-Nusra” organization, the arm of al-Qaeda in the Levant, had been transferred to the “Jisr al-Shughour” hospital.]

 

April 22, 2020
Disproof

See disinformation message in bold above. An example of the ongoing disinformation campaign targeting the White Helmets humanitarian organisation. Pro-Kremlin media routinely seek to delegitimise the White Helmets as being the creation of  Western intelligence services. No evidence is given to support this unfounded conspiracy theory.

The White Helmets movement originated in Syria in 2012. The organisation, which is made up of 3,400 volunteers including teachers, engineers, tailors and firefighters, states that it has no affiliation to any political or military actor and is committed to rendering services to anyone in need. Volunteers save people from the rubble after bombings, despite the danger of dying themselves as a result of repeated air strikes.

Skripal and MH17 are anti-Russian provocations that the West has forgotten about

The West’s is ready to reconcile with Russia on the backdrop of the epidemic in exchange for being drawn into a war with China.

As an unexpected result of the 2020 [coronavirus] pandemic, the West has forgotten the issue of the Skripals, Boeing [MH17],  and other anti-Russian provocations of recent years.

Beijing is the new enemy of the West, and it is accused of “hiding the truth about the first stage of the epidemic” (which led to America not taking the necessary measures in due course).

April 21, 2020
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative attempting to delegitimise any criticism of Russian actions by presenting it as a manifestation of the West's "anti-Russian" provocations. In fact, the Skripal case, and the downing of MH17 are well-documented cases of acts of Kremlin-enabled violence outside Russia.

Also, the claims that the West is trying to drag Russia into a war with China and that the West had forgotten about Skripal and the downing of MH17 are given without any proof.