Disinfo: The West has approved a new ‘Barbarossa’ plan to attack Russia, Russia needs ‘funeral teams to bury NATO soldiers’

Summary

1:10 [Context: NATO’s “Trident Juncture 2018” in Norway. The same commentator for all the messages below] The war has come to our [Russia’s] doors. It is on our doorstep, since, in fact, the entire NATO’s military bloc has been mobilized already. There are more and more large-scale military exercises: both ground troops and naval ones. And if the first scenario was to start it [the war] in Ukraine, where Germany intervenes, then it seemed to them not enough. Therefore, they postponed it for the year of eighteenth [2018]. The biggest aggravation will take place in summer of the nineteenth [2019]. They want [to start the war] in summer. However, Hitler has already demonstrated it: the day of June 22 has the shortest night. [22/06/1941: that day, the Nazi Germany attacked the USSR]. But the biggest danger for the world will come in the year of twenty-first [2021], when a change of technologies will be carried out. If we are late with it, their weapons will be stronger than ours. So, we must … it could sound blasphemous but the war is more profitable for us, well, in these coming years. […] 6:35 Did you forget the speech of the President of our country made a year ago? I want to remind all of you only one phrase: our economy must be ready to work in the military conditions. I translate it into Russian: there will be war tomorrow. […] 13:19 [ Addressing an analyst representing the US in the studio] We [Russia] will bury you. We need to create funeral teams now. As many as we can. We have to bury all the NATO’s soldiers, generals and such volunteers. […] 43:05 The “Barbarossa-2” plan about the attack on our country [Russia] has been approved. [In 1940-1941, the Nazi Germany developed and then implemented The Directive No. 21 or the “Barbarossa” plan to attack the USSR]

Disproof

No evidence given, recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the West preparing a war against Russia. Trident Juncture 2018 was a large NATO exercise held in Norway with around 50,000 participants from 30 NATO and partner countries. forsvaret.no/en/exercise-and-operations/exercises/nato-exercise-2018, For background on NATO-Russia relations: NATO began reaching out, offering dialogue in place of confrontation, at the London NATO Summit of July 1990. In the following years, the Alliance promoted dialogue and cooperation by creating the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), open to the whole of Europe, including Russia. In 1997, NATO and Russia signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, creating the NATO Russia Permanent Joint Council. In 2002, this was upgraded, creating the NATO-Russia Council (NRC). NATO and Russia worked together on issues ranging from counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism to submarine rescue and civil emergency planning. However, in March 2014, in response to Russia's aggressive actions against Ukraine, NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia. At the same time, NATO has kept channels for communication with Russia open. The NATO-Russia Council has met seven times since April 2016. The Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General also engage regularly with their Russian counterparts. www.nato.int/cps/ra/natohq/115204.htm,

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 124
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 25/10/2018
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Germany, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: War preparation, Destabilising Russia, WWIII, Europe, NATO
see more

Disinfo: NATO is planning to invade Belarus

NATO military exercise Anakonda is an attempt to provoke Belarus and create a buffer zone on its territory.

Disproof

Disinformation that appeared when the Lithuanian news portal kaunas.kasvyksta.lt/ was hacked and an article accusing NATO of planning to occupy Belarus was planted. The article first appeared in an English language blog with imagery linking to a user-generated entertainment website. The news portal kaunas.kasvyksta.lt was hacked using the credentials of a former employee via foreign servers. The article has been removed as soon as the media outlet became aware of it. The outlet kaunas.kasvyksta.lt was also the first one to report its own hacking. At least 7 copies of the article were disseminated across other news outlets and social networks using both fake online personas and cyber activity. The content of the planted article revolves around a common pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that NATO is a threat to Russia's security and is preparing to attack. Further debunking and information about the hacking: DFRlab and kaunas.kasvyksta.lt

Disinfo: The EU claims that it owns Black Sea

The European Union claims that it owns Black Sea. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini warned Russia and Ukraine against building up military power in the Black Sea region.

Disproof

According to the original statement, published on the EEAS website, Federica Mogherini correctly stated that the Black Sea is a European sea: "Let me remind us all that the Black Sea is a European sea, and we do not want to witness yet another military build-up in our immediate region. We will continue to push for the respect of international law and conventions, and to support Ukraine in these challenging circumstances. I am sure that I can count on the support of this [European] Parliament in this work we are doing". See also article on our website. Further debunking by the Insider and StopFake.

Disinfo: UK: There is no evidence of Russia's interference in democratic processes

The UK government did not find any evidence of Russia’s interference in democratic processes of the Kingdom.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about election meddling and Brexit. In fact, the UK government stated that the disinformation campaign was just not successful:

"In November 2017, the Prime Minister accused the Russian state of ‘a sustained campaign of cyber espionage and disruption’ which has included meddling in elections and hacking the Danish Ministry of Defence and the [German] Bundestag. As noted by the Committee, the Prime Minister stated that Russia is seeking to weaponise information, ‘deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photo-shopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the West and undermine our institutions’. Following the nerve agent attack in Salisbury in March this year, we judged the Russian state promulgated at least 38 false disinformation narratives around this criminal act.