Disinfo: Poland and Lithuania are destabilising Belarus to turn it into a Russophobic limitrophe

Summary

Poland is coordinating Belarusian protests through the internet, whereas Lithuania creates organisational structures for Belarusian opposition. The goals of the Baltic states and Poland is to bring their pupils to power. Poland and Lithuania wish to take the whole or part of Belarus under their control. To get Belarus under complete control, they need a full-fledged colour revolution with the replacement of elites, change of economic model, ideology, historical memory and geopolitical alliances. In this case, Belarus will turn into a Russophobic limitrophe. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia will become Belarus’s curators with EU and US indulgence.

Disproof

This publication promotes recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Belarus protests as being organised and controlled from abroad, particularly from Poland and Lithuania, about West's attempt to organise a colour revolution, and about Russophobia in Poland and the Baltic states and their “puppet-state” status. There is no evidence that Poland, the Baltic states or any other Western governments are involved in any way in the protests in Belarus. Large-scale protests began in Minsk on August 9 against the results of the presidential election, and then in other cities. People revolted against election fraud and police violence towards thousands of rally participants. According to statistical data and independent observers, the official result of the presidential election was itself heavily doctored. A joint monitoring effort by three NGOs demonstrates the scale of falsification based on election protocols from 1,310 polling stations across Belarus and concludes that the announced result (80% of votes cast for Lukashenka) is mathematically "impossible" (p. 7). An analysis by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper shows that excluding "anomalous" voting districts from the official tally would see Lukashenka's percentage drop to 43%, and Tsikhanouskaya's surge to 45%, in which case a second round would have to be called. “We are extremely alarmed at the hundreds of allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in police custody,” UN human rights experts said, citing reports of 450 documented cases. The European Council condemned, on 19 August 2020, the violence against peaceful protesters and announced that it would soon adopt a list of sanctions for those responsible for violence in Belarus. "As the elections in Belarus were neither free nor fair, and did not meet international standards, the EU does not recognize the results presented by the Belarus authorities," is mentioned in a European Council press release. See earlier disinformation cases claiming that the West supports a bloody post-election Maidan scenario in Belarus, that the West's only interest in Belarus is to make it anti-Russian, and that Belarus moves towards complete colonization by the West.

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Rubaltic.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 211
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 25/08/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU, Poland, US, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia
  • Keywords: Imperialism/colonialism, US presence in Europe, Colour revolutions, Russophobia, Baltic states
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Disinfo: The Eastern Partnership's aim is to tear the ex-Soviet countries away from Russia

The programmes promoted by the European Union, called the Eastern Partnership, for the European countries of the former Soviet Union and Transcaucasia as well as individual activities carried out by the United States in the post-Soviet space, are all aimed at keeping these countries apart from the Russian Federation.

Aug 24, 2020
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that the Eastern Partnership and the West are separating Russia from its neighbours.

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint policy initiative which aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Disinfo: The West is arranging provocations towards Russia

An unpleasant tendency is observed: first a Russian diplomat is expelled by Norway, then Slovakia, now Austria, and all this over the past two weeks. Provocations and incitement to hostility towards Russia are played out according to an old scenario that has been rolled out by the West.

Aug 24, 2020
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the West's alleged anti-Russian activities. The Austrian authorities declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata and expelled him from the country, Deutsche Welle reported. The diplomat is suspected of industrial espionage. It is reported that the employee of the Russian embassy committed acts that violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

On 19 August, Norway expelled a Russian diplomat following revelations of a spy scandal and the week before, another NATO country, Slovakia expelled 3 Russian embassy staff over abuse of visas in a case which media linked to the murder in Berlin of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen, and Chechen critic.

Disinfo: Dangerous American labs close to the Russian border

The coronavirus pandemic should prompt many civilian institutions to take a fresh look at the Pentagon’s bio-labs. The first and only protest to date has taken place in Ukraine. There are 15 laboratories in this country, in which the United States sponsors biological research. Nobody builds biological facilities that run on dangerous toxins and pathogens in densely populated areas. But the Americans went even further, not only to transfer their laboratories from their densely populated areas, but to transfer them to other countries. Such laboratories close to the Russian border are simply pushing the Americans into dangerous experiments. And the existence of unfriendly countries like Ukraine and Georgia fuels this desire.

Aug 24, 2020
Disproof

This is a recurring conspiracy theory alleging that the United States develops biological weapons around the world, consistent with the Pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign against biological laboratories in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and other countries. The conspiracy about US biolabs in countries bordering Russia aiming to encircle Moscow and spread infectious diseases is a part of a years-long disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin. In fact, biological laboratories are involved in preventing the risks of complex diseases and, together with other similar projects, counteracting bioterrorism. In Ukraine, the claim often refers to the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), which is an intergovernmental organisation established in an international agreement in 1993. Its mission is to support civilian science, technology partnerships and collaboration through chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear risk mitigation. The projects of STCU partners include research on adjuvant for improvement of cancer vaccines, detecting trace impurities in biological tissues, human vision diagnostics, and therapy among many others. In Georgia, it is the Richard Lugar Centre for Public Health Research, which is a facility of the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC). It is a top-tiered institution in NCDC’s laboratory network and serves as a reference laboratory for Georgia’s public health system. Read more about the disinformation campaign surrounding the Lugar Laboratory on Myth Detector. Furthermore, the US Department of Defence’s Biological Threat Reduction Programme collaborates with partner countries to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental or natural) of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases. Read a similar case that the US tests biological weapons on Ukrainians to further attack Russia.