Disinfo: Sanctions policy against Russia is not achieving its goals

Summary

The Kremlin is confident that the policy of sanctions against Moscow is not achieving its goals.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about sanctions.

Since March 2014, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. The measures were adopted in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine.

The annexation of Crimea and the consequent imposing of sanctions by the West sparked a wave of net capital outflows. The Central Bank of Russia recorded in 2014 that net capital outflows from companies and banks reached $151.1 billion compared to $61 billion the year before.

According to research into the effect of sanctions, the cumulative export loss to Russia during 2014-2018 is estimated at EUR 30 billion (about -0.2% of EU’s GDP in 2018).

According to a Bloomberg report, sanctions have knocked off 6% of Russia’s GDP since 2014. The sanctions played a major role, although other factors were present as well. And the GDP of the Russian Federation is now 10 per cent smaller than might have been expected before the crisis with Crimea. Sanctions also play an important role in the relatively small wage increase in Russia in comparison to other countries in 2019.

Most research supports the view that sanctions have worked as planned, noting the drag they have imposed on Russia’s general economic development since 2014. Russia’s own counter-sanctions have also had a clear negative effect on the welfare of the average Russian household.

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sputnik-georgia.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 237
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 23/03/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, EU
  • Keywords: Sanctions, West
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Disinfo: Poland and Lithuania are directly supervising the coup in Belarus

Homeowner Svitlana Tsihanouskaya, who sees herself as the winner of last year's presidential election in Belarus, said it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry out a coup in the country.

As [...] reported, the pro-Western opposition in Belarus has been trying to run a revolutionary scenario in the country since last year. The coup plotters are supported by Western countries. Poland and Lithuania are directly supervising the coup.

The reason for this venturous plan was the presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko won it, but both the European Union and the USA refused to recognise the results of the vote.

Mar 22, 2021
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about Western attempts to organise a coup or colour revolution in Belarus.

The protests in Belarus erupted to contest the results of the presidential election on the 9th of August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts, and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a big part of the Belarusian society. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.

Disinfo: The West aims to intensify its campaign against the Sputnik V vaccine

The West has been waging for months a campaign against the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V. A Kremlin source revealed that, according to data of the Russian intelligence services, the US and its allies aim to launch a massive media campaign against the vaccine.

Mar 22, 2021
Disproof

Recurring disinformation narratives about an ongoing campaign of the West to discredit the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and the promotion of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The claim that the West has financed and promoted campaigns to discredit the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is not supported by factual evidence. Early remarks about Sputnik V was motivated by widespread concerns that the approval was premature, since, at the time, the vaccine had not even started phase III trials, nor had any results on the earlier stage trials been published. The WHO expressed concerns about the preternatural registration of vaccine. After the results of phase I and II trials were published in The Lancet in September 2020, a group of international experts analysed them and expressed concerns about statistical anomalies.

Disinfo: People who refuse the coronavirus vaccine may have to be isolated, Merkel said

The introduction of “Covid passports” which register the tests that you did is a way of making a selection among people. This may also turn vaccination from voluntary to mandatory, and we heard Angela Merkel saying that if some people refuse to get vaccinated maybe it will be necessary to adopt measures or to isolate them socially, which is something very serious.

Mar 22, 2021
Disproof

This is part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign about the Covid-19 and vaccination.

The claim is deliberately misleading. The actual words of Chancellor Angela Merkel were: