Disinfo: Russophobia and baseless accusations are a daily occurrence because the West fears Russia

Summary

Accusations against Moscow have become a sort of competition in which one must only bet on who will be the next country to launch an offence against Moscow. It was done with Syria, it is being done with Ukraine, and will be done constantly by every and all of those countries, organisations and institutions that want to please the US. There are specific provocations every day, unilateral imposition of sanctions with the approval of the international community and nobody denouncing it, because it is the US and Europe who try to impose this policy. Russophobia is inoculated to public opinion through headlines, the use of certain words, the rhetoric of some Western leaders calling Putin “a killer”, and the targeting of Russia as if it was an ogre.

This is because Russia is an emerging country and has very big perspectives ahead, and the US has never tolerated the competition of other countries, stronger and more developed economically, and with a more balanced accounting. It is fear what leads the US to adopt measures so radical.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Russophobia in the West.

Western governments have reacted to the actions of the Kremlin undermining international stability and security, such as illegal annexation of Crimea, downing of flight MH17, interference in the US as well as in European electoral processes, poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK.

The Kremlin has also been criticised and sanctioned for specific domestic policies that violate human rights in Russia, such as the poisoning of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Read more about the EU-Russia relations here.

See related examples of disinformation claims falsely alleging anti-Russian bias of international institutions: the OPCW, the World Anti-Doping Agency, the United Nations;  also the EU.

This disinformation message appeared in the same TV programme as the claim that “Western double standards ignore coups in Belarus and Ukraine and the popular will in Crimea”.

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publication/media

actualidad.rt.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 242
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/05/2021
  • Article language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Russia, EU
  • Keywords: Russophobia, Anti-Russian, Sanctions, Destabilising Russia, Russian superiority
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Disinfo: People killed in Odesa on 2 May 2014 are victims of political terror

People killed in Odesa on 2 May 2014 are victims of political terror. Time passes, but Ukrainian authorities are indifferent to the grief of the victims’ relatives, and the perpetrators and their political sponsors remain unpunished.

May 02, 2021
Disproof

This is a pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about violent clashes that happened between pro-Russian activists (also known as anti-Maidan) and Ukrainian patriots in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on May 2, 2014, and the ensuing fire in the House of the Trade Unions. In reality, these tragic events have nothing to do with political terror. A total of 48 people died that day, most of them being pro-Russian activists. About 200 were wounded. Pro-Kremlin forces accuse Maidan leaders of instigating the clashes, claiming also that far-right nationalists burned dozens of people alive, while Ukrainian patriots say that Moscow and its agents of influence in Ukraine are to blame for these violent events.

On that day, about 300 well-organised pro-Russian supporters attacked a march of about 2,000 Ukrainian patriots, including local residents and a large number of football fans who had arrived from Kharkiv for a football game. Both groups used firearms in the clashes. 6 pro-Russian supporters and 2 Ukrainian patriots were shot and killed as a result. Pro-Russian activists began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at their opponents. The situation went out of control as the police failed to respond effectively to violence. The investigation is still underway. Several individuals prosecuted in relation to these events have managed to flee abroad. Some of them took refuge in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, now occupied by the Russian Federation, while others fled to the separatist-held territories in Donbas.

Disinfo: Odessa tragedy was a pre-planned massacre of people who disagreed with the coup in Kyiv

It was a pre-planned, prepared massacre of people who disagreed with the coup d'état that took place on February 21, 2014, in Kyiv.

May 02, 2021
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Odesa tragedy alleging that the Ukrainian government was planning the killings of people in the House of Unions. This narrative is combined with another recurrent claim about Euromaidan as a coup.

There is no evidence that the Ukrainian government was involved in the Odessa tragedy. No trial has yet established the responsibilities of the different actors before a court. A total of 5 cases on trials and 3 investigations are currently ongoing. Media reported about the tragedy in May 2014: the BBC, the Guardian, the DW. A chronology of the events has been established (1 and 2) and a non-partisan documentary film by Ukrainian Channel 7 has collected testimonies: May 2nd without Myth.

Disinfo: The West is pursuing an absolutely unfriendly and hostile policy towards Russia

Russia has imposed sanctions against the heads of the European Parliament and the prosecutor's office in Berlin. This is a response to those absolutely unfriendly and sometimes even hostile actions that we see from the collective West. The West is pursuing one seditious thought, accusing Russia of increasing escalation, saying that it was through Russia's actions that the deterioration and degradation of bilateral relations began. But this is not true. We have not done anything that could provoke such actions on the part of our Western partners. This is purposeful, as we now understand it, and, apparently, a long-planned policy towards the Russian Federation.

May 01, 2021
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the West's aggressive Russophobic policy and allegedly belligerent and hostile agenda against Russia.

The EU and Russia have committed to upholding and respecting the fundamental values and principles of democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the market economy. Russia remains a natural partner for the EU and a strategic player combating the regional and global challenges. The EU’s approach to Russia is guided by five principles agreed in 2016 and reaffirmed, most recently, by EU Foreign Ministers in October 2020. Read more about the EU-Russia relations here.