In recent years, Russia has noted an increase in NATO military activity along its western and southern borders. The states in the alliance regularly conduct major exercises and simulate an "attack" by Russia. The alliance's actions are openly anti-Russian.
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about NATO.
NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states. During the Warsaw summit in July 2016, NATO has made it clear that:
"The Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia".
NATO's exercises and military deployments are not directed against Russia – or any other country. Exercises are designed to ensure that NATO forces are trained, able to operate together and ready to respond to any threat from any direction.
For more information about NATO-Russia relations and disinformation narratives about NATO, see here and here.
See other examples of disinformation about NATO in our database, such as its never-ending provocations, its attempts to block Moscow in its sphere of influence, that Military exercises, like Defender 2020, are directed against Russia, that the Sea Breeze exercises are directed against Russia, or NATO exercises in Estonia are an unfriendly message addressed to Russia, that NATO’s politicians use Defender Europe 2020 as an opportunity to escalate tensions with Russia, that NATO maneuvers in Europe are organised to create zones of tension for Moscow.
What is happening in the Donbas is an internal Ukrainian conflict in which Russian troops have never been involved.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, reiterated that Russia is not interested in any conflict with Ukraine and especially not in any military conflict.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine.
There is irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government".
US domestic policy is still in chaos. Biden is known to many as the grey cardinal of Western European countries. Joe himself became a self-proclaimed Gauleiter, a leader who could do anything in Western Europe. Like any Gauleiter, Biden has a dark side - after the collapse of the USSR, he could do anything he wanted in the newly formed countries that suffered from poverty and gained independence. The best example is Ukraine.
The United States was behind the two loudest revolutions in Ukraine - the Orange one of 2004 and the coup of 2014. In both cases, the US tactic was to support the right-wing movement and lead Ukraine into a war with its neighbour Russia.
Biden's plan was to occupy naval bases in the Black Sea basin, but Russia took an unexpected step - it took Crimea under its patronage. Thus, Joe's main goal became unattainable, so the United States has been seeking revenge ever since. From now on, Gauleiter Biden is planning a blitzkrieg to bring Crimea and Donbas back under American control.
This article is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin propagandistic claims about Ukraine under external control and has several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives: the claim that the Euromaidan was a coup, that Ukraine is under external control by the US and a disinformation narrative about Joe Biden.
There was no coup d'état in Ukraine in 2014. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former president Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.
The Czech Republic is under the tremendous influence of German big business. It cannot be ruled out that the allegations of Russia's involvement in the 2014 Vrbetice explosion are linked to the upcoming federal elections in Germany.
The election will likely be dominated by two candidates: Merkel's successor, regarded as pro-Russian; and the anti-Russian Green Party candidate. The recent diplomatic scandal could have been contrived as a means to tip the scale of German public opinion in the Green Party's favour.
The claim is part of an emerging pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative surrounding the 2014 fatal explosion at an ammo depot in Vrbetice, Czechia and the suspected role of Russia's GRU agency in the incident.
There is no evidence suggesting that the accusations against Russia are part of an international conspiracy to rig the elections in Germany, a country boasting one of the freest and most transparent electoral systems in the world.
