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Disinfo: It was EU that suffered the most from anti-Russian sanctions

Summary

The EU, not Russia, suffered the most serious damage in 2014 and 2018 as a result of the exchange of sectoral sanctions and Russian counter-sanctions.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western sanctions on Russia claiming that they have backfired. Since March 2014, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. The measures were adopted in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine. According to research into the effect of sanctions, the cumulative export loss to Russia during 2014-2018 is estimated at EUR 30 billion (about -0.2% of EU’s GDP in 2018), incurred largely during 2014-2016, as EU exports to Russia recovered in 2017. While these sanctions do affect the EU's economy, the EU-wide impacts of the export losses are estimated at less than 0.2% of total value-added and employment. Research showed that already in 2016 most of the affected agricultural sectors had been able to find alternative markets, either within the EU or beyond.

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Sputnik Georgia - Russian (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 216
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16/10/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU, Russia
  • Keywords: Sanctions
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Kazakhstan is a testing ground for production of dangerous diseases

Kazakhstan is a testing ground for the production of especially dangerous diseases that will be used for military purposes. In fact, biological weapons are being modernised using the strains that were collected by Soviet scientists. Both the CRL and five biological objects (including the so-called research institutes, which are assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and the health system) are in fact not subordinate to either the president or the government. They are actually funded by the US. And they are under the full control and management of the Pentagon and the US Embassy. The curators of all these projects sit in the offices of the embassy, ​​under diplomatic cover. They keep their finger on the pulse, control the work of the employees of the research institutes, who clearly carry out the joint programs set by the Pentagon. Plus – the work of Western biologists, undercover specialists.

Oct 15, 2020
Disproof

This is a recurring conspiracy theory alleging that the United States develops biological weapons and has secret biological laboratories around the world. Consistent with the Pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign against biological laboratories in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and other countries. The conspiracy about US biolabs in countries bordering Russia aiming to encircle Moscow and spread infectious diseases is a part of a years-long disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin. In fact, biological laboratories are involved in preventing the risks of complex diseases and, together with other similar projects, counteracting bioterrorism. Due to the increasing cases of dissemination of false information regarding the activities of biological laboratories in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Foreign Ministry stated:

"We declare responsibly that no biological weapons development is underway in Kazakhstan, no research is conducted against any other states. The CRL significantly strengthened the scientific potential of Kazakhstan, increased the safety of research. The presence of such high-tech facilities reflects the level of development of the state and its ability to respond adequately to biological threats. The CRL is fully owned by the Republic of Kazakhstan and is currently funded solely from the republican budget. The entire staff consists of domestic specialists. Any work carried out by the CRL is controlled by the ministries of health, education and science, agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its activity is focused on ensuring biological safety and security in Kazakhstan, carrying out fundamental and applied research."

Read similar cases claiming that the people of Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are “biomaterial” for the Pentagon, and that the US tests biological weapons on Ukrainians to further attack Russia.

Ukraine and the US are preparing a new Chornobyl

The fat is in the fire. Ukraine decided to supply American nuclear fuel to the technologically incompatible old and worn-out Soviet VVER-440 power units of the Rivne nuclear power plant located near Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. This apocalypse is also not far from Belarus. With the help of the United States, Ukraine is preparing a new Chornobyl for itself, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. It is also close by to Belarus and Russia. This dire prospect stems from the fateful agreement between the Ukrainian Energoatom and the American company Westinghouse.

Oct 15, 2020
Disproof

This is another pro-Kremlin narrative about cooperation between the American company Westinghouse and the Ukrainian National Nuclear Energy Company Energoatom, which has been going on since the 2000s. Also, this is one of the Kremlin's disinformation narratives about a possible "new Chornobyl" in Ukraine, with Westinghouse and so-called experiments of the West being some of the culprits. The spread of disinformation against the Ukrainian-American nuclear cooperation renewed in 2014 when Ukraine signed a number of agreements, including expanding an agreement on the supply of fuel for nuclear reactors produced by the American concern Westinghouse. The contract should reduce dependence on Russia, which has been providing Ukrainian nuclear power plants with energy resources for many years. Westinghouse currently supplies fuel to six of Ukraine's fifteen nuclear reactors, and this will increase to seven from 2021. The use of American technologies in the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants in the past 20 years has shown that the technologies are completely safe. Read a similar case claiming that Ukraine will turn into a radioactive zone.

Protests in Belarus would not have happened without external pressure and influence

The reason for the current internal political events in the country is outside influence. The situation in Belarus is not without challenges, but the main reason for the situation is external. Had there been no external pressure and influence, it would never have happened in Belarus. The western partners of Belarus “have become too active, have gone too far” in relation to the country.

Oct 15, 2020
Disproof

This is part of an ongoing Russian disinformation campaign on Belarus based on recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives, such as accusing other countries of interference and portraying popular protests against electoral fraud in the country as a Western-led colour revolution. There is no evidence that the protests in Belarus are funded and organised externally and that any Western country was trying to destabilise the situation or create a coup in Belarus. The protests in Belarus erupted to contest the results of the presidential elections in Belarus that took place on the 9 August, which are considered fraudulent by a large part of Belarusian society. The European Union has also stated that the elections were neither free nor fair. The European Council imposed restrictive measures against 40 individuals identified as responsible for repression and intimidation against peaceful demonstrators, opposition members and journalists in the wake of the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, as well as for misconduct of the electoral process. Read similar disinformation cases: The Baltic States and Poland are blowing Belarus up from the inside, Ukrainian militants are staying in Belarus to carry out a coup d'etat, in Belarus, there are signs of a colour revolution, but hybrid one, and Poland and Lithuania directly sponsor open extremist actions against Belarus.