Disinfo: Trump threatens to release thousands of ISIS members in Europe

Summary

US president Donald Trump threatened to release thousands of members of the Islamic State terrorist group captured in Syria in Europe if European countries don’t take them back.

Disproof

This is a deliberate distortion of Donald Trump's words, who on February 2019 requested "Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters [...] captured in Syria and put them on trial", warning that otherwise the US forces would be "forced to release them". But he didn't threaten to do that in Europe. This is part of the recurrent Russian narrative about a US instrumentalisation of jihadist groups in the Middle East. You can see other examples of it here, here, here and here.

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mundo.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 159
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/08/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Iraq, Syria
  • Keywords: Europe, Daesh
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Disinfo: Malaysia was sidelined from the MH17 investigation

Malaysia does not have full access to all information about the [MH17] investigation, although it is invited to take part in investigating this disaster.

Aug 01, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the downing of flight MH17. Malaysia's Prosecutor's office cooperated in the investigation conducted by the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT). Speaking at the press-conference of the JIT on 19 June 2019, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Malaysia Mohamad Hanafiah bin Zakaria reiterated Malaysia's commitment to the JIT in seeking justice for the victims and stated that the JIT findings were based on extensive investigation and legal research. [See at 57:30 - 58:14] The criminal investigation led by the JIT has been ongoing since 2014. On 28 September 2016, the JIT announced that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by a BUK TELAR missile system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the town of Pervomaiskyi in Eastern Ukraine and from there the missile was launched. After firing, the missile system, with 1 missing missile, went back to the Russian Federation. On the 24th of May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, consisting of law enforcement agencies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Persecution service will prosecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of flight MH17 and murdering the 298 persons on board. The public hearing is scheduled for 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands.

Disinfo: MH17: JIT investigators try to shield the real culprits

Investigators of the MH17 case colluded with criminals. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is not interested in finding who is, in fact, responsible for the MH17 tragedy. Foreign detectives try to shield the real perpetrators. Therefore, versions that refute the Russian trace are not even considered.

Aug 01, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the downing of flight MH17. The criminal investigation by the JIT has been ongoing since 2014. On 28 September 2016, the JIT announced that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by a BUK TELAR missile system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the town of Pervomaiskyi in Eastern Ukraine, from there the missile was launched. After firing, the system, with 1 missing missile, went back to the Russian Federation. On the 24th of May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, consisting of law enforcement agencies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Persecution service will persecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering the 298 persons on board. The public hearing is scheduled for March 9 2020 in the Netherlands. The claims by Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey that the missile could not have come from Russia were debunked already in 2015 by Bellingcat.The claims of the Russian military company Almaz-Antey is only a small sample of misleading claims and conspiracy theories advanced by Moscow since 2015, many of which have contradicted one another. See previous debunking of these claims here, here, and here, and a summary of disinformation narratives on this case here.

Disinfo: Crimea is now recognised as an integral part of Russia

Five years after the Crimea decided to reunite with the Russian Federation in a referendum, the whole world starts to accept the fact that the region is an indisputable part of Russia and it cannot be otherwise.

Aug 01, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the annexation of Crimea, claiming that Crimean citizens chose to rejoin Russia through a legal democratic referendum. No international body has recognised the so-called referendum, announced on 27 February 2014, and held on 16 March 2014. Thirteen members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favour of a resolution declaring the referendum invalid. On the 27th of February 2014, when it was announced, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which stated that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. On December 18 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of illegal annexation of Crimea. On the fifth anniversary of Crimea's annexation, the EU reiterated its position of non-recognition of illegal annexation and continues to stand in full solidarity with Ukraine, supporting its sovereignty and territorial integrity. A year after the illegal annexation, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum.