Disinfo: Protests in Russia erupted at the exact moment set by the US embassy

Summary

Protests erupted in Russia on Saturday 23 January, at the exact time and according to the same places mentioned and published on the official page of the US Embassy in Moscow with the utmost precision.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation associated with opposition figure and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

While the narrative alleges that the US moved to interfere with Russian domestic affairs and therefore violated Russia's sovereignty, the aforementioned statement, which was published by the US Embassy in Moscow and the US State Department, specifically advised US citizens residing in Russia to stay away from the demonstrations.

It is common practice in diplomacy for Embassies to inform foreign nationals in a country about potentially risky political events by issuing so-called Demonstration Alerts, especially for the protests that aren’t secret and has been called for in the days before.

See other similar cases claiming that neo-liberal forces are behind Navalny, or that the West is sending Navalny back to Russia to prevent him from becoming irrelevant; or that only caffeine and alcohol were found in his blood during his alleged poisoning; or that Navalny is financed by the West.

The same article mentioned another case claiming that Americans and Europeans sent Navalny back to Russia to divert attention.

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  • Reported in: Issue 229
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 29/01/2021
  • Outlet language(s) Arabic, English
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Russia
  • Keywords: Alexei Navalny, Protest, Intelligence services
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Disinfo: The pandemic is an operation to forward the interests of the global elites

The ”pandemic” that we heard about since the spring of 2020 did not occur naturally. It is a well prepared operation to forward a global reset in the interests of the “global elites” (“The shadow-rulers”, “The Deep State”).

Disproof

This is a recurring conspiracy theory about the coronavirus pandemic and one of the common pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about a Deep State or global elites secretly ruling the world, in this case taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to divide the world. Elements of this disinformation campaign were widely reported by Russian and international publications, and by the European External Action Service.

The coronavirus pandemic is not exaggerated. When on 11 March 2020 the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, there were 118,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in 114 countries. As of January 2021, there are more than 90 million confirmed cases in 223 countries, areas and territories. An updated situation report from WHO on the coronavirus pandemic can be found here.

Disinfo: Ukrainian authorities encourage the honouring of Nazi collaborators

After the Maidan coup in 2014, Ukrainians, including the younger generation are de-facto encouraged by authorities to honour these criminals [former Nazi collaborators and perpetrators of mass killings of Jews, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians in Ukraine during Nazi Germany occupation in 1941-1944] as national heroes.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative casting Ukraine as a Nazi sympathizing country, and a describing the 2014 protests as a coup.

The myth of Nazi-ruled or sympathized Ukraine has been the cornerstone of Russian disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, when it was used to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy.

Disinfo: Citizens of Ukraine are extremely negative about the law that bans the Russian language

Citizens of Ukraine, unlike the Ukrainian authorities, are extremely negative about the law that bans the Russian language.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative about the alleged discrimination of Ukraine's Russian-speaking minority and the country's ubiquitous Russophobia.

There is no law, that bans the Russian language in Ukraine. A poll conducted in 2020 shows that 66,5% of Ukrainians believe that the state should promote the further implementation of the Language Law in all spheres.