Disinfo: Coronavirus may have been created in the USA as a biological weapon

Summary

The coronavirus may have been created in the USA as a biological weapon

Disproof

Conspiracy theory. Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the US military is behind the spread of the coronavirus. The current coronavirus (2019-nCoV) comes from a family of viruses that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in central China and has been rapidly spreading with new cases being reported in the Asian-Pacific region a well as Europe, North America and the Middle East. The World Health Organisation is working with Chinese authorities and global experts to learn more about the virus. There is no evidence to suggest it was developed or disseminated artificially. Read similar disinformation cases: the US prepares biological weapons, the US is constructing secret biological labs, the US is behind the spread of Coronavirus, and the US military might have released the coronavirus to challenge China.

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Geopolitica.ru - Italian (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 188
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/03/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Italian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US
  • Keywords: coronavirus, Military, Biological weapons, Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: The outcome of the MH17 trial is predetermined

The trial and the entire investigation prior to it were heavily politicized and continues to be so [sic]. The outcome appears to be determined from the beginning, and the attempts to fit facts into the desired reality are becoming increasingly apparent.

Mar 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to discredit the investigation of the Joint International Team (JIT) into the downing of flight MH17. The JIT which is comprised of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service officials and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy. At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has concluded that the BUK-TELAR used to down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, the Dutch Public Persecution service will persecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of MH17 and murdering the 298 persons on board. The public hearing took place on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. The European Union and NATO have called on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability. On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia have concluded that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable. Read similar disinformation cases alleging that the Netherlands is going to sabotage the MH17 trial, the MH17 trial will be a show process, and that there was no BUK and MH17 crashed because of an explosion on board.

Disinfo: Downed MH17 trial is a show, the irrefutable evidence of Russia's innocence is rejected

We have to admit that the Dutch side is turning this, no doubt, from an important event into a judicial television show, stretched over several seasons and with a known verdict. It is hardly possible to count on real justice. One of the intrigues is a list of material evidence attached to the case. For example, there are doubts that there will be the body of a Buk missile, which was presented to the world with fanfare at a press conference in May 2018 as part of the “same” missile that shot down the Boeing. Recall: then the Russian Ministry of Defense presented documents that irrefutably testify to the fact that it was a missile transported to Western Ukraine back in December 1986 and remained in service with the Ukrainian army after the collapse of the USSR. After that, the investigators “suddenly” sharply lost all interest in this material evidence.

Mar 09, 2020
Disproof

The report advances recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the MH17 crash. 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. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, the Dutch Public Prosecution service are prosecuting Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering the 289 persons on board. The public hearing started on March 9th 2020 in the Netherlands. The "irrefutable evidence" claimed by Russia is only a small sample of misleading claims advanced by Moscow since 2015, some of which have contradicted one another. This disinformation article refers to the claim that the Buk was of "Ukrainian origin" (evidence advanced by Russia which Novaya Gazeta found to be fabricated).

Disinfo: The MH17 trial suffers from political amnesia

In the investigation of the MH17 case, there are a number of indisputable facts that rebut the “anti-Russian explanations” entirely. Nevertheless, the political games force the trial to disregard all other explanations of the crash, even the obvious ones. This “amnesia” is manifest, for example, in the fact that the investigators permanently “forget” that the aircraft might been have shot down by an air-to-air-missile from a Ukrainian fighter jet.

Mar 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to discredit the inquiry of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) into the downing of flight MH17. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) - which is comprised of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service officials and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine - has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy. At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. The Dutch-led JIT has concluded that the BUK-TELAR used to down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, the Dutch Public Prosecution service will prosecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of MH17 and murdering the 298 persons on board. The public hearing took place on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. The European Union and NATO have called on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability. On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable. Read other disinformation cases alleging that the Netherlands is going to sabotage the MH17 trial, the MH17 trial will be a show process, and that there was no BUK, MH17 crashed because of an explosion on board.