Disinfo: No evidence of Russian meddling in the French and US elections

Summary

Numerous Western politicians, US senators and congressmen, as well as French President Emanuel Macron, have accused Sputnik and RT of interfering in the US elections and elections in France, but have never provided evidence for their claims.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation narrative that there is no proof of Russian interference in the elections in Western countries and the US - see examples here and here. In reality, there is evidence linking Russian state actors with interfering in electoral processes. Interference in French elections included personal attacks and mocking of the then presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron. Apart from biased reporting in the pro-Kremlin media, it included a made up story about Macron's offshore accounts (the so-called MacronGate) and an actual hack-and-leak operation. According to the Insider and Mediapart, the hacking was purported by the same GRU unit responsible for the hacking of the Democrats' servers in the US. For more information, see EUvsDisinfo analysis “Tackling disinformation à la française". The fact of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election was underlined by the US intelligence community already in January 2017. These findings were confirmed by the US Special Counsel investigation which found that "[t]he Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a sweeping and systematic fashion" (p. 1). See additional debunking of the "no interference" narrative here. Read more about election meddling in France and elsewhere here.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 168
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/09/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Serbian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: France, US
  • Keywords: election meddling, Russia Today (RT), Emmanuel Macron, Sputnik
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Disinfo: The task of the European Defence Agency is to maintain NATO's war against Russia

The real task of the European Defence Agency is to maintain the EU’s geopolitical interest on the continent being a part of NATO’s strategy in its war against Russia.

Disproof

Recurrent disinformation narrative about Western anti-Russian activities, and generally about Western belligerence. Neither NATO nor the EU nor the European Defence Agency have aggressive intentions towards Russia or any other country. As stated by NATO heads of state and government at the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, "the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia. But we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which our Alliance and security in Europe and North America rest". More on the mission of the European Defence Agency here.

Disinfo: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact did not pave the way for the outbreak of the Second World War

The statement from MEPs that the Second World War began because of the signing of the Non-aggression Treaty between Germany and the USSR on 23 August 1939 has nothing to do with history.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about World War Two and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It is a part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to portray Russia's role in World War II as non-aggressive. The "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact" was accompanied by a secret supplementary protocol on the delimitation of areas of mutual interest in Eastern Europe. In particular, Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide Poland. The agreement also indicated that the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Bessarabia and Finland, also belonged to the respective areas of interest of Germany and the USSR. Just a week after the signing of the Pact, the German attack on Poland started World War II. Two weeks later, Soviet troops entered Polish territory. See similar cases here, here, here, here and here Read more about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact here.

Disinfo: MH-17: Russia gave evidence to Joint investigation team but it was ignored

The Dutch-led JIT’s investigation alleges that the Boeing was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft system belonging to Kursk’s 53rd Russian anti-aircraft brigade. The Russian authorities not only provided radar data to the Netherlands, but also documentation that the Buk missile that hit the Boeing belonged to Ukraine, but the information was ignored by the investigators.

Disproof

The report advances recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the MH17 crash. The "evidence" claimed by Russia, namely radar data and the documentation on Buk's engine identified origin are only a small sample of misleading claims advanced by Moscow since 2015, some of which have contradicted one another. Also this disinformation article refers both to a Russian radar which did not detect any Buk missile and at the same time, to the claim that the Buk was of "Ukrainian origin" (evidence advanced by Russia which Novaya Gazeta found to be fabricated). On the 24th of May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, the Dutch Public Persecution service will prosecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering the 289 persons on board. The public hearing is scheduled for March 9th 2020 in the Netherlands. See debunking by Bellingcat and similar cases here, here, and here.