Disinfo: Polish Catholics interfere in Belarus's affairs, Catholics should be converted to Orthodox Christianity

Summary

Poland interferes in the Belarusian presidential elections through Catholics. Polish Catholics try to initiate riots and mass protests in Belarus. They initiated a campaign against electoral fraud, likely thanks to the US State Department money. The Western security bodies have long time ago bought off all Catholic institutions. All Catholics are controlled by Uncle Sam. Earlier similar policies were conducted by the Orthodox Autocephalous Church. Half of Catholic priests in Belarus come from Poland. They are governed by the rules imposed from outside Belarus, but Belarusian Catholics are under their bad influence. They need to be saved, including through conversion into Orthodox Christianity, which has the truth, God, and God-elected president, not an agent of Western security bodies.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory aimed at discrediting the Belarusian Roman Catholic Church, the Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalous Church, Poland and the US. This is a radical modification of recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative about the West's aggressive plans to destabilise Belarus and organise a colour revolution. In the past pro-Kremlin media outlets accused Tadevush Kondrasevich, the Belarusian Roman Catholic Archbishop, of holding an anti-Soviet and Russophobic worldview, and claimed that Nazis and Vatican oppose the Union State between Belarus and Russia. They also alleged that the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is favoured by the West in order to disrupt Russia-Belarus ties and that it conspired with the Belarusian opposition to infect millions of people with coronavirus. The allegations that the US and Poland are behind the campaign for free and fair elections, organised by a group of Belarusian Catholics, are groundless. On 2 July 2020, the Belarusian Roman Catholic Archbishop Tadevuch Kondrasevich, speaking to Catholic believers, said the presidential elections "should be honest, free and fair." See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the West is destabilizing Belarus with the help of Nazis and LGBT, that pro-Western Belarusian opposition prefers commemorating WWII events with swastikas and LGBT symbols, that Warsaw is preparing Euromaidan scenario for Belarus, and that western Europe is abandoning Christian roots.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 206
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19/07/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Poland, US, Belarus
  • Keywords: Orthodox Church, Colour revolutions, Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: Polish parties and “political officers” from Institute of National Remembrance falsify history of WWII

81% of the Russians believe that in 1945, “the Red Army liberated Poland, saving the Poles from extermination by the cost of the lives of the Soviet soldiers”. The Poles had similar attitudes before the PiS, the PO, and, especially, the political officers from the Institute of National Remembrance, started to falsify history. // New survey commissioned by The Center for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding serves, like other centre’s publications, to scare Russia, and now also Russians.

Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism. It accuses Poland of the “falsification and re-writing” of its history. According to this policy, the Russian official historiography is the only “true” way of interpreting historical events for the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. According to mainstream Polish historians and views of the predominant part of Polish society, in 1944-1945, the USSR occupied Poland, establishing the undemocratic and repressive Communist Poland. De facto, Poland appeared under the Soviet military occupation until 1989, while the Russian troops were withdrawn from Poland only in 1993. The Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) is a Polish government institution in charge of the prosecution, archives, education and lustration, in relation to crimes against the Polish nation. The IPN investigates Nazi and Communist crimes committed between 1917 and 1990, documents its findings and disseminates them to the public. The Russian authorities often accuse the Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance of historical falsifications and anti-Russian activities. See similar cases on how Poland and Ukraine established institutions to lie about history, The Polish Institute of National Remembrance is a gang of spongers and The Polish Institute of National Remembrance is not a historical and scientific institution.

Disinfo: No evidence of Russian meddling in 2016 US presidential election

In 2016, the US pushed claims that Moscow had “meddled” in the nation’s presidential elections, alleging that “Russian hackers” broke into the Democratic National Committee’s servers. Additionally, US President Donald Trump was later accused of “collusion” with Russia – an allegation later probed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. However, the latter’s report said that insufficient evidence was found to support the claims. Russia, for its part, vehemently denied any interference in the US elections, calling the accusations part of the “domestic political struggle”.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying Moscow's interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The message appeared in an article covering the US 2020 elections. Like multiple earlier stories made by pro-Kremlin outlets regarding the 2016 US election, the present report muddles the crucial distinction between: a) interference, b) collusion, and c) conspiracy. Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election is a well-documented fact. By the time the Mueller report was published, Russian meddling in the 2016 poll had been established by the US intelligence community. The Mueller report itself concluded that Moscow had carried out this effort "in sweeping and systematic fashion" (p. 1). On the other hand, collusionis "not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in [US] federal criminal law," (p. 2) and therefore gathering evidence of it fell outside the scope of the Special Counsel investigation. The aim of the probe was not merely to ascertain contacts between the Trump Campaign and Russia-linked individuals during the election period, but to establish whether these interactions were deliberate enough on the part of Trump Campaign officials to sustain charges of conspiracy(ibid).

Disinfo: $14 - $18 trillion will be spent as reparations for slavery; Democratic Party is betting on the Latin American and Black population

The Democratic Party is betting on the Latin American and Black population. For the first time, there was a proposal to “compensate the black population in the United States for centuries of slavery” and centuries of “white supremacy”. This means $ 14-18 trillion will be spent on black American citizens.

Disproof

Russia Today article refers to Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets as its source. No such proposal has been suggested by the democratic party. Instead, this idea was proposed by Robert Johnson, an American businessman and founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET). Johnson told CNBC in early June that the U.S. government should provide $14 trillion of reparations for slavery to help reduce racial inequality. Johnson is indeed a Democrat, but made this proposal in his personal capacity. To date, neither this proposal nor a similar one has been officially suggested by the party.