Disinfo: Russophobic Poland, controlled by Anglo-Saxons, plans to occupy Belarus

Summary

Poland has always had territorial claims over not just the western part of Belarus, but Belarus as a whole. Warsaw does not see it as an independent country and considers Belarusians who practice Orthodox Christianity as “spoiled Poles” who need re-education. Not long ago, a semi-official concept of a Polish preventive attack on Belarus was published, which contains the plans of the Polish army to occupy a half of Belarus. Polish president Andrzej Duda also stated that: “if needed, we are ready to take the regions which were part of Rzeczpospolita under our wing.”

Whereas ordinary Poles treat Russians well, the Polish political establishment, supported by Anglo-Saxons, cultivates Russophobia. Without the artificially promoted hatred towards Russians, Poland and Russian could be very friendly countries.

The Belarusian white-red-white flag received official status in 1941 in Hitler’s Germany. It was one of the official symbols of the Third Reich. It waved over the Trostenets death camp, where Nazis and collaborators killed a half a million of people. The flag is a symbol of Holocaust. The perpetrators of the Khatyn massacre used white-red-white armbands. It is no coincidence that the white-red-white flag, which symbolises Nazi collaboration and a conflict with Russia, became the symbol of the Belarusian protests. Their Western curators pursue anti-Russian plans.

Disproof

This article contains disinformation about Poland's territorial claims towards Belarus and promotes recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the Nazi-like Belarusian opposition and historical symbols, Poland as a puppet state, Western Russophobia and anti-Russian activities, and about Belarus' protests as being organised and controlled from abroad.

Poland respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbouring countries, including Belarus. The Polish authorities do not consider Orthodox Belarusians as "spoiled Poles", neither did they plan or implement a concept for a preventive attack against Belarus as alleged. The Polish President's statement about Poland's readiness to "to take the regions which were part of Rzeczpospolita under our wing" is a fiction. It was attributed to Andrzej Duda in a 30 July 2020 publication by the well-known Russian humour website Panorama.pub. Later on this, and other fictitious statements attributed to Duda, published by Panorama.pub, were presented by a number of pro-Kremlin websites (e.g., Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Zvezda Weekly) as authentic.

The portrayal of the white-red-white flag as an official symbol of the Third Reich or the symbol of Holocaust is a radical modification of recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda about the Nazi- and fascist-like Belarusian opposition and historical symbols. The white-red-white flag was created in 1917 by the Belarusian civil engineer and diplomat Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski, who was put in a Nazi concentration camp for saving Jews in 1943 and later spent years in the Soviet concentration camps. The white-red-white flag was not used either in the Trostenets death camp or in the Khatyn massacre - this is a fiction which is not supported by evidence.

The white and red flag was the national flag of Belarus since 1991 until 1995 when it was replaced with the present-time flag as the result of a dubious referendum announced by Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The white-red-white flag became the symbol of the Belarusian protests in 2020-2021 because of its associations with freedom - given that the Belarusian Popular Republic in 1918 and the Republic of Belarus in 1991 were proclaimed under this flag - and because the present-time official flag became largely associated with increasingly unpopular Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Finally, Poland is not controlled by "Anglo-Saxons" as alleged, it is an independent state, which shapes its own foreign and domestic policies. The advanced political, economic and military relations between Poland, the United States and the United Kingdom have a mutually beneficial character. In the pro-Kremlin media, the term “Anglo-Saxons” means “evil”, “belligerent” and “morally corrupt” Westerners, as explained in our earlier analysis.

See earlier disinformation messages alleging that Poland has plans to turn Belarus into a vassal, anti-Russian state with Belarus’ western part being an eastern part of a new Polish state, that the Polish doctrine of IV Rzeczpospolita is part of the US doctrine of global dominance, that imperialistic Poland and Lithuania are the springboard for Belarusian Maidan, and that Poland and the Baltics are United States’ "Trojan horses" in the EU.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 232
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/02/2021
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: UK, Poland, US, Belarus, Russia
  • Keywords: fake news, Orthodox Church, Anti-Russian, Protest, Anglo-Saxon, Puppets, Colour revolutions, Andrzej Duda, Russian world, Conspiracy theory, Russophobia, Nazi/Fascist
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Disinfo: Russians bring truth to PACE: Navalny was rescued and not poisoned, Georgia attacked South Ossetia

We really convince people every month more and more that in Russia, it turns out, what is written in the Western European mass media is not happening. We prove that Navalny was saved and not poisoned. We show that on August 8, 2008, it was Saakashvili’s regime that invaded Tskhinvali and that the Russian peacekeepers also suffered, but Russia did not invade. We prove that there must be the truth here in PACE.

Disproof

The statements are not true. On January 25, 2021 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) published a provisional Resolution 2357 (2021), containing the following paragraph 9.11:

"Russian Federation: a number of outstanding concerns, including, inter alia, lack of pluralism, independence of the judiciary, restrictive environment for activities of political extra-parliamentary opposition, civil society, human rights activists and journalists, restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, association and religion as well as a number of problematic laws including the Foreign Agents Law, the Law on Undesirable Organisations or anti-extremist legislation, ratification of amendments to the Constitution that introduce major restrictions on application of international law and implementation of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; the lack of progress with regard to implementing the demands of the international community with regard to Eastern Ukraine, Crimea, the occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia and the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova;"

See also the previous PACE resolution on the consequences of the war between Georgia in Russia. Thus, the Assembly considers that:

"from the point of view of international law, the notion of “protecting citizens abroad” is not acceptable and is concerned by the political implications of such a policy by the Russian authorities for other member states", addressing Russian official claim of protecting its own citizens in South Ossetia. While emphasizing that "the initiation of shelling of Tskhinvali without warning by the Georgian military, on 7 August 2008, marked a new level of escalation", PACE stated that "earlier calls to discuss a change in the format of the peacekeeping and conflict resolution process were rejected by South Ossetia and Russia" and addressed the disproportionate Russia's response fire.

As for Alexey Navalny, the PACE's debates (without adopting a resolution yet) took place on January 27, 2021. As is clear from the transcript, the Russian delegation failed to convince other PACE's members that Navalny was not poisoned with the nerve agent and that his prosecution in Russia is not political.

Alexei Navalny was arrested following his return to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for poisoning with Novichok-type chemical nerve agent. The European Union has condemned the arrest of Alexei Navalny and has demanded his immediate release.

Disinfo: Foreign diplomats meddle in Russia's sovereign affairs

Meddling in sovereign affairs. Foreign diplomats gather at Russian court to support Western puppet Navalny.

According to local sources, diplomatic staff of at least 18 foreign states, including those from the United States, the UK, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden, are present.

Disproof

Court hearings are, as a rule, open to the public. Diplomats have the right, just as any other member of the public, to attend a court hearing. International diplomats are present to observe whether the Russian judiciary fulfils its functions according to Russian law and Russia's international obligations on human rights.

The unfounded and recurrent claim on Navalny being a "Western Puppet" is presented without any evidence. Similar cases here and here.

Disinfo: Navalny's poisoning was a set up against Russia

Moscow has reasons to believe that the alleged poisoning of Alexei Navalny was a set up. Germany has not presented any credible evidence that Russia poisoned Navalny with Novichok despite Moscow’s repeated calls.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the Navalny poisoning and also a pro-Kremlin approach portraying every measure taken against Russia's actions as Russophobia.

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny fell ill during a flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where doctors said he was in a coma and they were trying to save his life. From Omsk, he had been transferred to Berlin and has received treatment at Berlin's Charité Hospital. The German federal government said that toxicological tests provided “unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group” in the blood samples of Navalny.