Disinfo: The West attempted to organise a revolution in Belarus using Ukrainian weapons

Summary

After 2014, in its attempts to organize a colour revolution in Belarus, the West started using Ukraine more actively than before. In March 2017 Belarusian radical nationals attempted to organise mass disorders in Minsk thanks to Ukraine-originated arms and Ukrainian supporters. A group of fighters tried to break through the border from Ukraine. Grenades and explosives were found in their car.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory. The disinformation message is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the Western attempts to instigate colour revolutions in EU neighbourhood.

Repeating disinformation spread in 2017 in Belarus during the street protests in the spring. In 2017 Belarus' state-owned mass media (BelTA) published an article “Militants staging a provocation detained in Belarus”, with other publications reporting about weapons allegedly confiscated from the accused. Investigators found no evidence to confirm accusations and the criminal prosecution of all those arrested in relation to the case was closed in late November 2017.

Furthermore, the message reported by Belarusian state-owned media about an alleged attempt by people with weapons in an SUV to break through the Ukrainian-Belarusian border on March 20, 2017 was also seriously questioned. The Ukrainian border control did not confirm this information and Belarusian officials never revealed any further details, including the names of the detainees or any other details pertinent to the case.

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Rubaltic.ru
  • Reported in: Issue 143
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28/03/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Belarus, Ukraine
  • Keywords: West, Colour revolutions, Conspiracy theory
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Mar 27, 2019
Disproof

Recurrent unfounded narrative about fascism in Europe. Find similar cases about Nazis in Latvia here and here. Latvia is a parliamentary republic, has a multiparty system; parties have the ability to form coalition governments. The last parliamentary elections in Latvia took place on October 4, 2014. Following the elections, 6 parties were represented in the parliament. Only one party among them is following national-conservative ideology - The National Alliance "All for Latvia", and it has only 13 places out of 100 in current parliament.

Disinfo: Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko was the US appointee

The Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, was appointed by the US administration at the time of President Obama, just as if Poroshenko were a US Ambassador to Ukraine. Hence, there is a bit of a clash over Ukraine between the Trump supporters and the State Department ones. The latter favour Poroshenko, while Trump doesn’t seem to care.

Mar 27, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin conspiracy about Ukraine - US Relations. Petro Poroshenko was elected in a national election with several candidates. The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission’s Final Report “Ukraine early presidential election 25 May 2014” concluded that the election “was characterised by high voter turnout and the clear resolve of the authorities to hold what was a genuine election largely in line with international commitments and with a respect for fundamental freedoms in the vast majority of the country”. A similar conclusion was made by The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). It said in its report that the election was “largely in line with international commitments and which respected fundamental freedoms in the vast majority of the country, despite the hostile security environment in two eastern regions of the country”.

Disinfo: US bans travel to Crimea to prevent its recognition

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Mar 27, 2019
Disproof

No evidence given for the Crimea travel ban. According to the US Bureau of Consular Affairs, US citizens are free to travel to Crimea, albeit they are strongly advised not to. Only US Government employees are subject to travel restrictions, which have been imposed due to extensive Russian military presence in the peninsula, arbitrary imprisonment of foreigners, and abuse of individuals critical toward the occupation regime. Similar restrictions apply to other high-risk areas of the world, such as Gaza and parts of Mexico. At any rate, the legitimacy of territorial jurisdiction is determined by international law and diplomatic consensus, not US visitor numbers. The analogy between Crimea and the Golan Heights is spurious and unclear. An overwhelming majority of states regard both Crimea and the Golan as occupied. References to the Crimea landgrab as a "democratic referendum" are part of a long-running pro-Kremlin narrative about the occupied peninsula. See our recent debunk of this claim here.