Disinfo: The US tries to weaken Russia by spoiling Moscow-Kyiv ties

Summary

Realising the critical role which Ukraine plays in maintaining Russia’s great-power status, US officials have long tried to drive a wedge between Moscow and Kyiv as a means of weakening Russia globally.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation casting the US as a malign influence on European affairs, Ukraine as a quasi-state with little geopolitical autonomy, and Russia as a great power fending off Western efforts at destabilisation and encirclement. The relations between the US and Ukraine are bilateral relations between two independent countries. The USA recognised Ukraine as an independent state on the 25th December 1991. US policy is centred on realising and strengthening a stable, democratic, prosperous and free Ukraine, more closely integrated into Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures. See here and here for earlier claims that Ukrainian foreign policy is dictated by the West.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 173
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 18/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) English
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Russian superiority, Anti-Russian, Encircling Russia, Destabilising Russia, US presence in Europe, Ukrainian statehood, Russian world
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Disinfo: Pope Francis wants to destroy Christianity

Christianity is first and foremost an identity provider. An identity that Pope Francis, together with the Left, seems to want to destroy.

Disproof

This is a conspiracy theory, presented without evidence, and a recurrent pro-Kremlin attack on Pope Francis. It is in line with the established pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the degeneracy of Western liberal values. According to this narrative, Europe is presented as having abandoned traditional Christian values in favour of progressive "moral decay", while Russia is by contrast presented as the protector of these values and the "real European" culture and tradition. For further examples of this narrative, see here.

Disinfo: In feminised Western societies males refuse to live their true nature while women behave like men

Western societies are increasingly feminised. In these societies, males refuse to assume the responsibilities of adult life and to live according to their true nature, while women behave like men, but are unable to defend themselves when their own lives are in danger.

Disproof

Disinfo: Creation of NATO was not justified

Macron thinks that NATO was conceived as a response to the enemy, as a response to the Warsaw Pact. The situation is actually exactly the opposite. NATO’s birthday is 4 April 1949. This means that less than four years after the World War II ended, former Allies of the USSR in the fight against fascism have created against the USSR a military bloc, where apart from the US entered France, the UK, Canada, Benelux countries, Italy, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, and Portugal. And only six years later, in response to this, Warsaw Pact was formed on 14 May 1955, as a counterweight to NATO. Apart from the USSR, the Pact included Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, GDR, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. So, when Macron says that NATO was thought as a “response to the enemy”, it is actually exactly the opposite: it was thought as a threat to a friend, with whom they fought against fascism and with whom they were setting up post-war life in Europe. And if so, then the creation of NATO was not justified at all.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative involving historical revisionism. Right after the Second World War, Soviet troops occupied a number of countries in Central Europe. In accordance with the agreements between the Allies, these countries were given the freedom to choose their political orientation. Bulgaria and Romania were supposed to keep the monarchy. In the elections in Hungary, the non-communist party led by Zoltan Tildy received the absolute majority. The pre-war republic was restored in Czechoslovakia. However, by 1949, all the governments of Central and Eastern Europe, except Yugoslavia, turned into hard-line Stalinist regimes under the influence of the USSR. On top of that, in June 1948 the Soviet Union blocked supply routes to West Berlin causing the Berlin blockade which lasted for almost one year. Thus, the conflict between the Allies began almost as soon as the guns fell silent at the end of World War II. It led Western allies to seek ways to prevent further expansion of Communist influence on the European continent. And on 4 April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, serving three purposes: deterring Soviet expansionism, forbidding the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe, and encouraging European political integration. Read the full story on The Insider. Read similar cases claiming that the construction of the Berlin Wall was also desired by the Western Powers, Baltic States joined the USSR in accordance with International Law and the Soviet Union was liberating Poland from Nazi occupation in September 1939 as well as that Western media and the EU artificially distort and fiercely rewrite the history of the WWII.