DISINFO: Opposition Yabloko party's observers were caught orchestrating provocations
SUMMARY
In Moscow, an observer from Yabloko was detained while trying to stuff ballots. Another observer from Yabloko from polling station No. 2771 announced that he was attacked: he posted his own photo with alleged blood on his face on Instagram. However, his story with the beating turned out to be fake: there is a video in which a guy draws a "bloody" trail under his nose. Thus, this is nothing more than a provocation and deception on the part of an observer from Yabloko.
In St. Petersburg, an observer recorded a commission member from Yabloko faking an electoral fraud. The name of the criminal is known.
RESPONSE
Disinformation claim which appeared in the context of Russia's State Duma election 2021.
Several videos which appeared on an anonymous telegram channel (and not on any official Russian law enforcement bodies' website), featuring unidentified people, are falsely attributed to the opposition party "Yabloko" by the pro-Kremlin outlets, including mainstream State media.
Three videos appeared in a row on a Telegram channel during the same day. After the release of the third one, alleging that "an observer from Yabloko was detained while trying to stuff ballots", Yabloko commented: "Regarding this video, the headquarters of the Yabloko party has a request to novice filmmakers - to save us from the need to watch their hot home videos. We hope that the jury of this film competition will include law enforcement officers who will deliver their objective verdict".
There was no news from Russian law enforcement bodies regarding the so-called "observer from Yabloko who was detained while trying to stuff ballots" nor on two other people featured in the disinformation reports.
See other examples of anonymous videos, falsely attributed to Navalny or ODIHR and Golos association by the disinformation reports.
The European Union regrets that Russia’s decision to severely restrict the size and format of an international OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission prevented its deployment. The EU takes note of independent and reliable sources reporting serious violations.
For more disinformation cases on the Duma elections see here.