Disinfo: The fate of Donbas is decided by nationalists not Zelenskyy

Summary

The fate of Donbas is not decided by Zelenskyy. The hegemony of nationalists has developed in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy cannot break them.

Disproof

The recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the alleged power of Nationalists in Ukraine and their influence on the state processes. All right-wing groups have suffered spectacular defeats in every national election since 2014. In 2019 the far-right "Svoboda" (often described as "ultra-nationalist" or "Nazis" by pro-Kremlin outlets) gained only 2.15% of the vote, far short of the threshold needed to enter Parliament. This demonstrates the public's lack of support for far-right nationalist parties in Ukraine. The current president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy got 73.22% of the vote in the 2019 presidential elections. His party "Sluga narodu" got the largest number of votes - 43.16% in subsequent parliamentary elections.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 193
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20/04/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine
  • Keywords: Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian disintegration, Ukrainian statehood, Nazi/Fascist
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Disinfo: WHO may be involved in a plot to reduce global population

Within the framework of “Operation COVID-19”, WHO is involved with vaccines (or rather, chemical weapons), which should reduce the population. […] The Republic of Armenia is not a country where the population can be reduced. Armenia should immediately suspend its WHO membership and abandon any “WHO-Bill Gates” programmes. Armenia must reject any vaccination programmes against COVID-19.

Disproof

An unfounded conspiracy theory, about WHO, Bill Gates and coronavirus, sharing a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative about "secret elites" controlling world leaders and part of the anti-vax movement. Vaccine hesitancy is identified by WHO as one of the top ten global health threats of 2019. There is an overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. See similar cases claming that Bill Gates and Co aspire to a reduction in population, that survivors will be poisoned with vaccines, or Covid-19 will allow total control of the population through forced vaccination and chips.

Disinfo: Sooner or later, Americans will have to choose between freedom or a vaccine with a microchip

In order to return to normality, a possible requirement, besides social distancing, will be mandatory participation in a global vaccination programme, underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Big Pharma and many other supposed “philanthropists”. Efforts to introduce a vaccine containing nanotechnology to “mark” and keep those injected under surveillance received a big boost, with Bill Gates at its head.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory, with no evidence provided to support the claim. This is a mix of a long-established conspiracy theory about a Shadow Government of all-powerful groups ruling the world (a formulation that aims to question the legitimacy of democracy and Western institutions) with bogus narratives against billionaire Bill Gates and attacking vaccination programmes. They also fit into an ongoing disinformation campaign on coronavirus, well documented by both media and governments. Some elements of this campaign were widely reported by Russian and international publications and by the European External Action Service. EUvsDisinfo database has a long set of Kremlin-linked disinformation cases on the Shadow Government and coronavirus, such as claims that Covid-19 vaccines will lead to Full Spectrum Dominance by the Deep Dark State; that vaccine production is part of the agenda for a New World Order; that the coronavirus pandemic is being exaggerated in order to turn countries into fascist hygiene dictatorships; that the Covid-19 outbreak is not about a virus but about power; or that those who survive the pandemic will be poisoned this way for population reduction purposes.

Disinfo: The West hates Russia because of its strong state and traditional value system

Recent years have brought the United Kingdom and the West, in general, a new reason for the hatred of Russia. After Russia had managed to rise from its struggling condition after the 1990s, it started, like the Soviet Union did before it, to offer an alternative to the world built by the Anglo-Saxons. Britain demands of Putin, day and night, to cease to undermine the world order.

One wonders here: What is the nature of this “undermining”, and what is the secret behind the exaggerated reaction to it? Ultimately, Russia cannot challenge the West economically; it even depends on it. Militarily, Russia is several times weaker than NATO and cannot, by definition and common sense, initiate any aggression against the West. Russia cannot impose its will on the West in any way.

But it is simply because the Anglo-Saxon Empire, like any large empire, is on the way to collapse from within, under the weight of accumulated economic distortions, pervert and unsustainable social relations. This cannot be described as a struggle of political ideologies, especially since Russia, unlike the Soviet Union, no longer has an ideology. So the conversation here is about something much deeper than that; it is about the collapse of the value system.

Russia adopts a strong state model that is based on conservative and traditional values. It refuses to accept same-sex marriage, maintains the family value as one of the undisputed values, and proposes and defends that vision as an alternative.

Disproof

This message is in line with a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the West's moral decay aimed at portraying Russia as superior to the West in terms of values and morals. This narrative often claims that President Vladimir Putin saved Russia’s values and identity from the threat of Western decadence and that he is the only world leader that protects traditional European and Christian values. “Threatened values” is one of the most common narratives used by pro-Kremlin outlets.

According to these narratives, the liberal societies of the West are depraved, they seek to destroy traditional values and to promote deviant sexual behaviour.