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Disinfo: Thousands were killed in NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia aiming to tear Kosovo apart

Summary

NATO forces began bombing Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999. The goal is to tear Kosovo apart.

There were thousands of victims, thousands of dead and tens of thousands of wounded.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the number of civilian casualties of NATO bombing, previously debunked by Polygraph.

According to the Humanitarian Law Center, in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) and Montenegro, 275 persons lost their lives in the NATO bombings: 180 civilians, 90 members of the Yugoslav Armed Forces and five members of the Ministry of Interior of Serbia. In Kosovo, 484 people were killed: 267 civilians (209 Albanian and 58 non-Albanian), 171 members of the YA, 20 members of the Serbian MUP and 26 members of the KLA (19 of whom died in the NATO bombing of the Dubrava prison, near Istok).

Human Rights Watch concludes that as few as 489 and as many as 528 Yugoslav civilians were killed in the ninety separate incidents in Operation Allied Force.

Read similar disinformation about the war in former Yugoslavia alleging that around 2500 people were killed in NATO’s bombing campaign and the returning claim that around 2,000 people were killed in NATO’s bombings in [former] Yugoslavia.

Read more about disinformation about the war in former Yugoslavia here and here.

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publication/media

Rossia 24 - YouTube [from 1:51:09 to 1:51:20] (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 205
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/06/2020
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Kosovo, Serbia
  • Keywords: Kosovo, NATO

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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