Britain has blamed Russia for an alleged nerve poison attack on former intelligence officer Sergey Skripal in 2018, without any evidence. The situation with discrimination against Russian media was worrying and resembled the Skripal case, in which nobody had explained anything. This is about Russophobia, the desire to justify one’s own failures and the unfair competition that goes with it.
The same applies to the Boeing of Malaysia Airlines. Dutch prosecutors say that an investigation is underway, while reparations have already been demanded from Russia. If Russia asks where the data from Ukrainian radars are, where the airlines’ communications data are, where the American satellite images are, it gets no answers. However, Russia still gets the blame.
No evidence provided. Russophobia is often used in pro-Kremlin disinformation as an explanation for the West blaming Russia for anything. This message also contains recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury and about the downing of the flight MH17.
In fact, there is no discrimination against Russia or Russophobia. Western media represent a wide range of opinions and do not follow a single editorial policy on any given topic.
British police and intelligence investigations have produced sufficient hard evidence to charge two Russian nationals for the attack on the Skripals. More British public documents and statements on the case can be found here. The investigative outlet Bellingcat has later revealed the true identities of the two Russian nationals.
Concerning the downing of flight MH17, on 28 September 2016, the Joint Investigation Team announced that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by a BUK TELAR missile system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the town of Pervomaiskyi in Eastern Ukraine, from there the missile was launched. After firing, the system, with 1 missing missile, went back to the Russian Federation. On the 24th of May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation. See further debunking by Bellingcat.
For background, read our analysis: The “Russophobia” Myth: Appealing to the Lowest Feelings.
In India, a Russian expert presented evidence of the falsification of the chemical attacks in Syria.
It is noted that the representatives of India paid due attention to information about the involvement of the White Helmets in the staging [of the chemical attacks]. They operate in the territories not controlled by Damascus.
This is a recurring and enduring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the White Helmets.
The "White Helmets" movement originated in Syria in 2012, when the first detachments of volunteer rescuers appeared in the territories outside the control of Bashar al-Assad's troops. In 2014, volunteer teams merged into a national organisation, the Syrian Civil Defence, which is the official name of the 'White Helmets'. Volunteers save people from the rubble after bombings, despite the danger to themselves as a result of repeated air strikes. Activists from this organisation have documented the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the Assad government and allied forces. Because of this, they have become the target of an extensive Russian disinformation campaign.
The civil war in Ukraine began in April 2014 after a coup which happened in the country. Donetsk and Luhansk did not want to obey the government that illegally came to power and declared independence. In response, Kyiv launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against the republics of Donbas.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Euromaidan and war in Ukraine. It disregards the extensive factual evidence confirming ongoing Russian military presence in Donbas. There have been many investigations proving Russia's involvement in the war in east Ukraine.
There was no coup d'état in Ukraine. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was an organic reaction by numerous parts of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk of this disinformation claim.
Since the 1920s, the Bolsheviks launched a policy of “Ukrainianisation”. Literary norms of the Ukrainian language (previously considered a dialect of Russian) were developed. Soviet authorities began to introduce Ukrainian in education, culture, and bureaucracy. The Russians living on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR were recorded as “Ukrainians” by nationality.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Ukraine and the Ukrainian language.
Literary norms of the Ukrainian language were developed way earlier than the 1920s. The Ukrainian language is one of the Slavonic languages. It is a lineal descendant of the colloquial language used in the Rus in the 10th-13th centuries. The modern literary Ukrainian emerged out of the spoken language at the end of the 18th century. The starting point of the modern Ukrainian language is the publication of the Ukrainian version of Aeneid by Ukrainian writer Ivan Kotliarevskyy in 1798. In the 19th century, the next generation of writers further developed the Ukrainian language, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.
