OSCE Finally Speaks Up: No Russian Military Presence in Donbas

Summary

In a recent interview, the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, denied the presence of Russian military in Donbas, Ukraine.

OSCE Finally Speaks Up: No Russian Military Presence in Donbas; Kiev Lied.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Russia's involvement in the war in Ukraine.

In fact, in his interview to "Foreign Policy", Mr Hug does not deny Russia's military presence in Ukraine. He actually seems to confirm it: "(...) We have seen convoys leaving and entering Ukraine on dirt roads in the middle of the night, in areas where there is no official crossing. In one border area, we’ve also made this public, including some footage we have put out. We have seen specific types of weapons that we have described in detail, including electronic warfare equipment. We have spoken to prisoners taken by the Ukrainian forces who claim to be members of the Russian armed forces fighting on rotation in Ukraine. We have seen men with the insignia of the Russian Federation, but you can buy this jacket anywhere. We have also seen the insignia of Germany, Spain, and others—but also of the Russians".

In comments that have since been amended by the Foreign Policy, Hug reportedly said that the OSCE had not seen direct evidence of Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine.

On October 27, Hug told the Ukraine Crisis Media Center in an interview that the text published by Foreign Policy of his interview “was misleading and did not reflect his opinion.”

“As you know, we do not conclude on the facts we establish and we do not provide evidence. Estimates, facts speak for themselves,” Hug said.

Further debunking by The insider and the Polygraph.

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Reported in: Issue 124
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26/10/2018
Language/target audience: Russian
Country: Russia, Ukraine
Keywords: Eastern Ukraine, Military, War in Ukraine, OSCE
Outlet: RIA Novosti

UK: There is no evidence of Russia’s interference in democratic processes

The UK government did not find any evidence of Russia’s interference in democratic processes of the Kingdom.

October 29, 2018

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about election meddling and Brexit.

In fact, the UK government stated that the disinformation campaign was just not successful:

The EU claims that it owns Black Sea

The European Union claims that it owns Black Sea.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini warned Russia and Ukraine against building up military power in the Black Sea region.

October 29, 2018

Disproof

According to the original statement, published on the EEAS website, Federica Mogherini correctly stated that the Black Sea is a European sea:

"Let me remind us all that the Black Sea is a European sea, and we do not want to witness yet another military build-up in our immediate region. We will continue to push for the respect of international law and conventions, and to support Ukraine in these challenging circumstances. I am sure that I can count on the support of this [European] Parliament in this work we are doing".

The West has always had a plan of exterminating Russia

The collective West, led by the United States, has a specific goal in relation to Russia: to overthrow the existing government. And they do not hide it. And the disintegration of the country: ultimately, the competitors need to be eliminated.

October 28, 2018

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the Western aggression toward Russia. euvsdisinfo.eu/disinformation-cases/?text=&disinfo_issue=&disinfo_keywords%5B%5D=77319&date=

There was in fact a clear record of strong cooperation between the EU and Russia, dating back to 1994, when the two sides negotiated a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Russia was identified as a strategic partner for the EU, and was the only country with which the EU held summits not once, but twice a year. A new EU-Russia agreement was being negotiated up until 2014, at which point talks were unfortunately suspended due to Russia's involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Negotiations were also in train on visa facilitation. There was also cooperation between the EU and Russia on a number of foreign policy issues, some of which continues to this day. The EU and its Member States have maintained a clear policy of reaching out to Russian society and youth, mainly through the Erasmus+ student exchange programme and other people to people contacts.
NATO has consistently worked hard to build a cooperative relationship with Russia since the early 1990s, through the Partnership for Peace and creation of a NATO-Russia Council, and specific cooperation in the Western Balkans on and issues like counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism. In fact, as NATO points out, no other NATO partner has been offered a comparable relationship, nor a similarly comprehensive institutional framework: http://bit.ly/2e0TZnG.
In 1997, Russia was invited to join the G7 group of major advanced economies in the world, thus forming the G8. (At the time, Russia ranked 14^th to 17^th in the list of countries according to GDP: http://bit.ly/2dWb51l; http://bit.ly/2ejhOpw; http://bit.ly/2dqu4jQ). In 2006, President Putin hosted the G8 summit in Saint Petersburg. Russia's membership of the G8 was suspended in 2014 because of its illegal annexation of Crimea.
Russia joined the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights organisation, in 1996.

For more on EU-Russia relations see eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/35939/european-union-and-russian-federation_en

For more on NATO-Russia relations see www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_50090.htm