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Disinfo: The West staged “The Navalny Poisoning” to interfere in Russia’s elections

Summary

With the sanctions against leading figures in Russian politics, the West has practically openly admitted to its plans to interfere in the upcoming elections in 2021 and 2024, attacking those, who are responsible for organising the elections. This attack is performed through Navalny, no one even attempts to hide this.

The West has shown its hand. It is finally apparent who ordered the set-up and why it was done. Without this, the West would not have had a chance to promote Navalny, neither on the international level, nor inside Russia.

Disproof

A conspiracy theory presented without evidence. It is consistent with the Kremlin propaganda narrative that the poisoning of the Russian opposition leader is designed to help the West attack Russia.

Previously we have seen other similar narratives such as the West has an interest in the death of Navalny to launch a new wave of sanctions against Russia and West will falsely accuse Russia of poisoning Navalny, as with Skripal and Litvinenko.

The prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny fell ill(opens in a new tab) during a flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Omsk. Doctors there said he was in a coma and they were trying to save his life. Since then he has been transferred(opens in a new tab) to Berlin and is receiving treatment at Berlin's Charité Hospital. The German Federal government said that toxicological tests provided  “unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group(opens in a new tab)” in the blood samples of Alexei Navalny.

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publication/media

kp.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 216
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19/10/2020
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Russia
  • Keywords: Conspiracy theory, Alexei Navalny, Elections, The West

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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Ukraine may buy the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 indirectly through EU

Ukraine may receive the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 through the EU under the guise of European products. Kyiv will receive the drug at greatly inflated prices, although in order to receive it directly from Moscow, “Ukraine’s only desire is enough,” since Russia is not opposed to providing the vaccine. However, the Ukrainian government refuses this option because of the desire to make money on purchases through Europe. And this is an affair, on which you can make billions.

October 20, 2020
Disproof

Ukraine is unlikely to have the opportunity to purchase the Russian vaccine from any of the EU countries since none of these countries announced their intention to buy it. According to the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, "The EU has confirmed that it will help Ukraine get a real vaccine when it appears and when it does no cast doubts of the scientists."

In general, there are widespread concerns that the approval of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus is premature. At the time of approval, the vaccine had not even started phase 3 trials, reminds the Lancet.

An assassination attempt ordered by the Kremlin is the most improbable scenario for what happened to Navalny

Alexei Navalny is well known in western Europe, far less in Russia. In Russia he is known in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg as a blogger and whistleblower who denounced corruption. But he is not a politician. If he was in any way an inconvenience for the Kremlin he couldn’t do what he does for a long time, it is obvious!

The corruption he denounces is true. But all the Russians knows that, it is not a secret for anyone.

But many people wonder if he was poisoned, why it didn’t work? and most of all why he would have been killed precisely now and not before?
Navalny is irritating for the Russian elites, but he is a threat to nobody. He is insignificant.

The death of Navalny is a catastrophic scenario for the Kremlin, it is the worse thing that could happen. Exactly like Boris Nemstov. The interests of the Kremlin was to keep Nemtsov alive, if he dies, people accuse the Kremlin.

Instead people should wonder who benefits from the crime? Cui bono?
Either Navalny’s sponsors are tired that he cannot achieve anything and wanted to get rid of him. Either it was organised to increase his popularity, and as a matter of fact he became more famous after this event.

There are a lot of scenarios. But the scenario, the Kremlin wanted to assassinate him but missed seems to me the most improbable. It doesn’t make sense. Moreover, this Novichok has no more effect on Navaly than on the Skripals.

And why did this happen precisely when the Nord Stream 2 project is about to be finalized? And why is there such a media frenzy to point to the Kremlin?

October 20, 2020
Disproof

This message is recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the poisoning of Alexey Navalny.

The TV program interviews an expert who is asked to comment on the EU sanctions published on October 15.

It was EU that suffered the most from anti-Russian sanctions

The EU, not Russia, suffered the most serious damage in 2014 and 2018 as a result of the exchange of sectoral sanctions and Russian counter-sanctions.

October 20, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western sanctions on Russia claiming that they have backfired. Since March 2014, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. The measures were adopted in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine.

According to research into the effect of sanctions, the cumulative export loss to Russia during 2014-2018 is estimated at EUR 30 billion (about -0.2% of EU’s GDP in 2018), incurred largely during 2014-2016, as EU exports to Russia recovered in 2017. While these sanctions do affect the EU's economy, the EU-wide impacts of the export losses are estimated at less than 0.2% of total value-added and employment.