Disinfo: The report highlighting Russian interference in Ukrainian election is preparation for further aggravation of relations with Moscow

Summary

Russian experts suggest that the joint report of the US Atlantic Council and Ukrainian NGOs on alleged Russian interference in the Presidential election in Ukraine could be part of preparation for a new aggravation of relations between Moscow and Kyiv.

Disproof

No evidence given.

The Atlantic Council, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity established the Ukrainian Election Task Force. Working with other Ukrainian institutions—StopFake and the Razumkov Centre—the three partners created a rapid-response team with the ability to monitor, evaluate, and disclose the full range of foreign subversive activities in Ukraine, and to propose suitable responses. There is no goal to aggravate relations with Moscow with this report.

Here are more disinformation cases about Russian interference in different elections.

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russian.rt.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 150
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/05/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Ukraine, election meddling
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Disinfo: Groundless accusation of ties to Russia became a classic trap aimed to discredit conservative candidates for EU elections

The big scandal involving the Austrian Vice-Chancellor over his “Russian connections” starts to have repercussions in Austria as well as in the rest of Europe. As the European elections approach, the chances of success for the Vice Chancellor’s party diminish. But it is already proven that the “niece of a Russian oligarch” in origin of the scandal was Latvian. What competent organization has set up this classic trap? No one seriously associates Russia with the rise of the European nationalists and traditional conservatives from their marginal ghetto, nor their new popularity. This is the good old method of pointing to “Russian trace” by discrediting the “populists” by sending them so-called “Russians”. The search for the “Russian trace” is a tradition of European public policy even older than cathedrals.

May 20, 2019
Disproof

Austrian political crisis called also "Strachegate" occurred because of the video showing vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache meeting a person pretending to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. Media outlets admit that the woman claims to also have Latvian citizenship. No other similar traps occurred so far, hence it is not "classic". The video as a whole exposed the far right Freedom Party’s eagerness to do business with allies of Mr. Putin, to bring Austrian media outlets under their control and find compromising material on their competitors in Austria. Despite reports on certain ideological support, financial proposals and a conspiracy meeting of European far right parties representatives with a Russian influencers, hacker attacks and suspicious social media accounts activity investigated under suspicion of being orchestrated by GRU and Russian "trolls factory", the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative purports that all the allegations of Russian interference in electoral processes in the EU and in the West are groundless and spread by European elites themselves. Their aim would be only to divert attention from the real problems of EU countries. At that, disinformation produced and/or spread by Russian sources has been reported in the context of several elections and referenda in the EU and elsewhere (see here for an overview), as noted in the EU's action plan against disinformation.

Ahead of the elections, Microsoft faced cyberattacks targeting think tanks and non-profit organizations working on topics related to democracy, electoral integrity, and public policy and that are often in contact with government officials. Microsoft continues to investigate the sources of these attacks, but is confident that many of them originated from a group called Strontium, also known as APT 28 or Fancy Bear – which is believed to be associated with Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Read more here.

Disinfo: Western funding behind protests in Yekaterinburg, Russia

Events In framework of “Russia’s dissolution” are developing, backed by Western funds. The city of Yekaterinburg, in Sverdlovsk Oblast, has became a first target of this new campaign. On May 13, local activists blocked the start of construction of an Orthodox church (“Khram Svyatoy Yekateriny”) in one of the city’s parks. People rallying against the project clashed with its supporters. Some activists were detained. After this, local authorities intervened in the situation attempting to settle the conflict between the sides. However, after the more detailed look, it appears that there are multiple signals that the ongoing conflict over the church is created artificially, managed by some outside force and has little with the formally declared reason of protests. The goal of these efforts is to undermine the political system and create an instability factor in one of the key Russian regions.

May 20, 2019
Disproof

Unfounded pro-Kremlin conspiracy theory, in line with a trope, claiming "The West" to be behind any kind of protests anywhere.

Disinfo: Mueller report refutes "Trump-Russia collusion" claim

Mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times continue to peddle the “Trump-Russia collusion” conspiracy theory, despite the fact that the Mueller report refutes any such allegations.

May 20, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The story deliberately conflates "collusion" (not a legal concept) and the actual scope of the Special Counsel investigation which, according to the Mueller report, was to establish "whether any Americans […] joined the Russian conspiracies to influence the election" (p.2). The report explicitly identifies "numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign" (p. 9). See our recent debunking of the "no-collusion" claim here.