Disinfo: Moldova is helped only by China and Russia in the fight with COVID-19

Summary

Death came from the West, and help – from Russia and China: the coronavirus showed who are the friends of the Republic of Moldova. Assistance to the Republic of Moldova was not offered by those, who are considered in the past three decades “development partners” and where Moldova holds the “integration path”, not by the EU and the US. But by Russia and China – those, who were collectively cursed all these years by various “eurointegrators”.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory with no evidence given. Since the first case of COVID-19 was registered, the Republic of Moldova has started receiving aid in the form of money and medical equipment from several European states, but also from the USA. So far, Russia has donated 10 thousand tests for the detection of coronavirus. And China has provided Moldova with 2,500 tests and 3 tons of medicines, materials and medical equipment needed to stop the spread of COVID-19 virus, including 100 thousand protective respirators. In contrast, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that it will provide Moldova $ 1.2 million in healthcare. Also, on March 30, 2020, the European Commission decided to reallocate 140 million euros to the urgent needs of the six countries in the Eastern Partnership, including Moldova, in the context of combating the COVID-19 epidemic. This message is part of the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign around the Coronavirus pandemic. It promotes a narrative of the EU's failing efforts in its fight with the epidemic as opposed to the successful Russian ones. The EU has also created the first-ever stockpile of medical equipment. See other disinformation messages connected to the Coronavirus epidemics such as Coronavirus will cause the dissolution of the EU and NATO, The EU is at its end, Russia and China will rise. More on the targeted EU response to support partner countries' efforts in tackling the coronavirus pandemic here

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 191
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26/03/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU, China, Moldova, US, Russia
  • Keywords: coronavirus, EU/NATO enlargement, Europe
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Disinfo: The COVID-19 outbreak is a pretext to gain control of the world’s population

Those who control the money scheme to control the world. To do that, they need to assume control over the population of the planet. 7 billions 785 million people live at the planet right now. Those need to be controlled, excluding the “golden million” – the owners of the money and their families. If we conclude that the coronavirus pandemic is a Specials forces operation, launched by those who control the money, than one of its goals is to achieve a hundred percent control of the planet’s population. [—-] Big Pharma has already started to use a new type of vaccines, using nano technology. Using this technology it has become possible to inject nano-microchips, the site of a dust particle.

Disproof

An unfounded conspiracy theory, sharing a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative about "secret elites" controlling world leaders. COVID-19 comes from a family of viruses originating in animals that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in central China and has been rapidly spreading across the world, with cases being reported in 190 countries, territories and areas. The number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 300,000 globally with over 14,000 deaths (with 5,476 only in Italy) by 23 March 2020. See more examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation about the coronavirus here.

Disinfo: UN expert: COVID-19 is an American "witches' brew"

Former UN expert said that the COVID-19 virus was created by the US in 2015. Virus-related research is going on in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which is allegedly similar to the Japanese WWII unit labelled 731, used to experiment with biological weapons. The Chinese state-run Global Times notes that the US is working on similar experiments in the Walter Reed Center, where the COVID-19 was born. Chinese authorities officially announced that the virus is of American origin, which is proven by the fact that the US launched an information war on China to emphasize that “anything bad originates from China.” The expert said that the Chinese do not have definitive proof, but “indirect facts indicate that the US has something to do with the creation of bacterial weapon.” One proof is that CDC head told the House of Representatives that in some autopsies in the US, they believed the patient died of the flu, but it was later found that they died of the coronavirus. Allegedly, this signals that the “zero patient” was from the US. The Chinese think that the US delegation sent to partake in the International Army Games in Wuhan was responsible for carrying the virus to China.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory about the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, based on recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about biological weapons. The narratives also resemble a recurring conspiracy theory about the Lugar Lab in Georgia. Reference to a commentator who is usually presented as a former inspector of the UN Commission on Chemical, Bacteriological and Biological Weapons. In this case, he is presented as a UN expert. According to Russian website “the Insider”, he has no connection with the UN. The virus "2019-nCoV” comes from a family of viruses that include the common cold and viruses such as SARS and MERS. There is no evidence to suggest it was developed artificially in a laboratory as a weapon of mass destruction. A group of public health scientists have condemned rumours and conspiracy theories about the origin of the coronavirus outbreak: "We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin." The authors of The Lancetstatement note that scientists from several countries who have studied SARS-CoV-2 “overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife", just like many other viruses that have recently emerged in humans. There are numerous similar disinformation cases about coronavirus claiming that coronavirus was created in a laboratory, or that it is an Anglo-Saxon biological warning, a US provocation against China, a tool to weaken the Chinese economy, and an attempt by the Anglo-Saxons to control China. Additionally, there is no evidence that the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was conducting experiments on biological weapons, and especially not ones similar to the abuses committed by Unit 731. On a hearing on COVID-19 in the House, Robert Redfield did admit that some influenza deaths were the results of a COVID-19 infection, but he did not say when these misdiagnoses occurred; thus, there is no proof that the so-called "zero patient" was in the United States.

Disinfo: Ukrainian police desperate to catch hundreds of people possibly infected with coronavirus

In Kyiv, police tried catching hundreds of people who might be infected with coronavirus. On March 24, a train from Riga arrived in the Ukrainian capital. There were around 700 passengers in the train and many of them had a fever. The police cordoned off the platform and the doctors were prepared to take people to the hospital, but passengers rushed around the corner to the exit

Disproof

Disinformation surrounding the coronavirus. The Security Service of Ukraine said that all passengers from the Riga-Kyiv train underwent a temperature screening. The health conditions of 5 passengers raised additional questions from the doctors, so they did rapid tests for coronavirus infection. However, the results of the express tests were negative," the SSU noted. In addition, the Security Service of Ukraine noted that all evacuated passengers signed an agreement to self-isolate and their health will be monitored.