DISINFO: Syrian rebels and the White Helmets are preparing a chemical provocation in Syria

This claim involves unfounded speculation, based on no supporting evidence, to smear the White Helmets, a humanitarian organisation and frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation, and Syrian opposition forces. This case involves a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative portraying the White Helmets as a Western-backed terrorist proxy and, implicitly, denying the responsibility of the Assad regime for chemical attacks perpetrated during the Syrian civil war.

The UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism found Syria’s government responsible for the April 2017 attack in Khan Shaykhun. On April 2018, Russia vetoed a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution that would have created a new inquiry to ascertain responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In June 2018, the OPCW members granted it the power to assign responsibility for chemical attacks.

The UN Human Rights Council stated that Syrian government forces were responsible for the Khan Shaykhun attack. “Government forces continued to deliberately target civilians, including through the use of chemical weapons against civilians in opposition-held areas. As part of an aerial campaign in northern Hama and southern Idlib, on 4 April the Syrian air force used sarin in Khan Sheikhoun, killing over 80 people, most of whom were women and children,” says the report. Syrian government forces and their ally Russia continue to deny these facts.

See here for more information about the disinformation campaign against the White Helmets. Read similar cases claiming that the White Helmets used chemical weapons in Syria in order to accuse the Assad government and that the White Helmets have close links to Al-Qaeda and falsify chemical attacks evidence.