Disinfo: MH17: Russia was found guilty without an investigation into the crash

Summary

Many Western countries led by the United States immediately blamed the militia of the republics and Russia [for the crash of the MH17]. The West used the crash of the Malaysian Boeing as a reason for introducing a new round of anti-Russian sanctions and forcing tension in the international arena over in Ukraine. In addition, Russia was declared guilty without the results of the investigation being presented.

Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine, aiming to discredit the criminal trial and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). This claim also misrepresents the history and causes of the EU’s sanctions on Russia. The first EU sanctions against Russia were introduced on 17 March 2014, before MH17 was shot down. The first bans and asset freezes against persons involved in actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity followed Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Later, in view of Russia's actions destabilising the situation in eastern Ukraine, the EU imposed economic sanctions in July 2014 and reinforced them in September 2014. In March 2015, the European Council linked the duration of those economic restrictions to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements. The Dutch-led criminal investigation by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been ongoing since 2014. The results of the investigation of the Joint Investigation Team are clear: flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by the BUK TELAR system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the city of Pervomaiskiy in eastern Ukraine, from where the rocket was launched. After firing, the system with one missing missile, returned to the Russian Federation. On 24 May 2018, the JIT announced in its conclusion that the Buk belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces in Kursk, Russian Federation. The public hearing of the criminal trial over the downing of the flight MH17 started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, consisting of law enforcement agencies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Persecution service is prosecuting Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the MH17 crash and murdering all 298 persons on board. The Public Prosecution Service alleges that the four individuals cooperated to obtain and deploy the BUK TELAR at the firing location with the aim of shooting down an aircraft. For that reason, they can also be held jointly accountable for downing of flight MH17. You can see other examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation on the MH17 case in our database, such as claims that JIT tampered with the evidence; that the plane was not downed by a BUK missile, but rather by a Ukrainian fighter; that the plane crash was triggered by an explosion on board; that the trial in The Hague is not justice but information warfare; that Moscow-supplied radar data was rejected; or that the MH17 crash was planned by Ukrainian, American, and Dutch intelligence agencies.

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dnr-pravda.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 205
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/07/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Malaysia, The Netherlands, US, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Anti-Russian, Sanctions, MH17
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Disinfo: "Ukrainian infection" eradicated in Seattle

“Ukrainian infection” eradicated in Seattle. Yesterday, Seattle’s “Maidan” was finally dispersed by the police. (…) Police groups in full gear took to the captured streets of the American city. They pushed aside the protesters, while 30 law enforcement officers on bicycles blocked their escape routes. The dispersal of the protesters was without serious clashes, although some people tried to attack the policeman.

Jul 02, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to relate the 2013-14 Ukrainian revolution and the protests in the US. The protests in Kyiv in 2013-2014, known as the Maidan or Euromaidan, and the protests in the US in 2020 have nothing in common. The US protests are against racial injustice and police brutality, which broke out after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020. The protests followed several high-profile incidents involving African Americans and the police, invoking debates about racism in the US. The Maidan in Ukraine was against the actions of President Viktor Yanukovych after his government refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, which had taken seven years to negotiate, due to pressure from Russia. The protesters' demands included constitutional reform, a stronger role for parliament, formation of a government of national unity, an end to corruption, early presidential elections and an end to violence.

Disinfo: Russophobia is a characteristic of contemporary Poland

Russophobia is one of the characteristics of contemporary Poland’s policy. The Polish leadership is gambling with the fate of the Polish state and its people, and of course, all this military build-up in Poland and other NATO allies does not work, because Russian military capabilities outweigh what they (NATO) have of possibilities.

Jul 02, 2020
Disproof

This message is a part of the Kremlin’s widespread narrative about Russophobic Poland. The Kremlin-controlled media regularly accuses Poland of Russophobia and the implementation of anti-Russian policies. On the other hand, NATO and Poland's membership therein is not a threat to Russia. NATO is a defensive alliance. Its purpose is to protect the member states. NATO's exercises and military deployments are not directed against Russia – nor any other country. NATO does not seek confrontation, but it cannot ignore Russia breaking international rules, undermining stability and security, such as in Ukraine. See other examples of similar messages claiming that the Polish authorities created an insane hysteria of intimidation with Russia, used for the needs of domestic politics and the national security strategy of Poland is a manifestation of traditional Russophobia of the Polish authorities, or that NATO exploits non-existent “Russian threat” to increase its presence close to Russian borders and that the US creates and spreads a false image about an “aggressive” Russia constituting a security “threat”.

Disinfo: European observers noted the level of organisation of voting in Russia

European experts closely watched how the voting took place in Russia. They noted the high level of organisation of security measures and the electronic voting. The French are interested in the Russian system. They believe that it can be an example to the rest.

Jul 02, 2020
Disproof

One of the disinformation narratives about voting on amendments to the Russian Constitution. According to the independent observers, such large-scale fraud as during the voting on constitutional amendments, has not been seen since 2011. In just six days of voting on constitutional amendments, the movement for voter rights "Golos" received 682 messages with signs of violations. Activists identified several types of violations: abuse of authority and illegal activities of election commissions, coercion to vote, illegal campaigning by election commissions, state bodies and officials, multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and violation of voting secrecy. As for the European observers, BBC Russian analysed who was coming from abroad to monitor voting and stated that most of those invited "European experts" were actually already closely connected with Russia, with some known abroad for their far-right views. Moreover, on July 2, the European Union urged Moscow to investigate all allegations of election wrongdoing and issued a reminder about Russia’s international treaty responsibilities.