Disinfo: Protests and revolutions in former Soviet countries are part of a plan against Russia

Summary

A very similar strategy has been adopted by our sworn “partners”. Russia is openly hounded, driven behind the red lines into the periphery […]

And now our country’s opponents are transferring the protracted “Cold War” into a smouldering hybrid phase of severe suffocation. At the same time, betting on border chaos, terrorism, local wars, global sanctions, and outrageous lies. This anaconda ring has almost compressed Belarus, Ukraine, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia. [Protests in] Moldova are approaching.

Disproof

This is a pro-Kremlin conspiracy which presents many social and political events in various countries as a consequence of Western-instigated provocations against Russia. It is consistent with a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative accusing the West of encircling Russia.

The recent political protests in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia were caused mainly by unfair elections or political pressure on opponents, like in the case of Belarus or Kyrgyzstan. There is no evidence that these political protests are directed against Russia; the protesters demanded new elections, rule of law, and respect for democratic values. There is also no evidence that the 2020 military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan was aimed against Russia.

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives frequently claim that popular protests around the world are allegedly incited, and funded, by the US and other Western states, including colour revolutions in post-Soviet states, the “Arab Spring” revolts, the Euromaidan in Ukraine, protests in Catalonia and others. This narrative claims that protests, disorders, and civil uprisings are never manifestations of popular discontent but are “colour revolutions” directed and funded by the West.

See earlier disinformation cases alleging that clashes in Nagorno Karabakh are part of an anaconda ring plan against Russia, that the US aims to take Russia out of the post-Soviet space following a RAND corporation plan, that the West turns Ukraine into a staging ground for an attack on Russia, that the US is stirring up conflicts around Russia aiming to achieve destabilisation in the post-Soviet space, that the goal of the US global “Anaconda” strategy is to limit the living space of geopolitical opponents, and that the West's objective is to encircle Russia entirely thanks to the "Anaconda ring" and "Great Turan" doctrines.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 218
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/11/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: West, Anti-Russian, Encircling Russia, Conspiracy theory, Russophobia
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Disinfo: The ex-Minister of Health of Ukraine Uliana Suprun has destroyed Soviet medicine

On 29 October, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Novhorod-Severskyi, Oleg Bondarenko, died of complications associated with coronavirus. The day before this event, on 28 October, the mayor of Boryspil, Anatoly Fedorchuk, had died of Covid. […] the current situation is the result of reforms and plundering of Ukrainian medicine.

There was Uliana Suprun, who consistently destroyed all Soviet medicine. She was the Minister of Health and suggested to treat smallpox by applying a red scarf to the head, and cancer with laughter. Therefore, the result is predictable.

Disproof

Unfounded claims, presented without any evidence. An example of a conspiracy theory; recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about Ukraine and health sector reform in the country.

Mrs Suprun is a highly qualified scientist and medic, educated in the USA and becoming a highly respected professional in her field.

Disinfo: Ukraine is a colony that does not have its own opinion on the international arena

The Anglo-Saxons are turning Ukraine into a 19th-century India. Ukraine is a pawn and a colony that does not have its own opinion on the international arena, and the people are cannon fodder, no one cares about their welfare.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine and Ukrainian statehood, which is often claimed to be under external control from the US, NATO, the EU, or IMF. The pro-Kremlin media often use the term "Anglo-Saxons" to collectively portray the West as "the other" and to reinforce the idea that Russia belongs to a different civilisation.

Ukraine is a sovereign state, one of the founding members of the United Nations. Neither US nor the EU countries control Ukraine. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by most of the free world but were violated by Russia in 2014.

Disinfo: Ukrainian anti-corruption legislation is used by the US to control the Ukrainian political elite

National Agency on Corruption Prevention is one of the elements of the anti-corruption system created by the Americans in Ukraine […] with the help of these [anti-corruption] norms the Ukrainian elite became more easily controlled by the West; it became more obedient.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on Ukraine mixed with a narrative that Ukraine is under external control from the US, NATO, the EU, or IMF.

The US does not control the Ukrainian political elite. The system of preventing corruption in Ukraine is a set of norms passed by the Parliament of Ukraine in order to organise anti-corruption policies and punish corrupt activities. The main goal of the reform is to create an effective system for preventing corruption, based on the principles of law and order, proper management of state affairs and property, honesty and integrity, and active public control.