Disinfo: Ukrainian militants are staying in Belarus to carry out a coup d'etat

Summary

About 200 extremists trained in Ukraine are currently in Belarus. Ukrainian militants are staying in Belarus to carry out a coup d’etat. At the same time, they are actively cooperating with the Polish special services. The coup d’etat in Belarus is carried out under their leadership. They involve their partners from Ukraine to do the dirty work.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Belarus protests and about protests in post-communist countries in general, presenting them as being organised and controlled from abroad. Neither in the text nor elsewhere is there any evidence that foreign forces are involved in the protests in Belarus. Large-scale protests began in Minsk on August 9 against the results of the presidential election, and then in other cities. People revolted against what they call election fraud but also against the aggressiveness of the police, who arrested and ill-treated hundreds of protestors. Ukraine's foreign minister Dmitro Kuleba reacted to Sergey Lavrov's claims about the 200 Ukrainian extremists in Belarus:

“I don't even want to comment on this nonsense. The 200 Ukrainian extremists that Ukraine allegedly sent to Belarus to destabilise the situation, and the training camps for extremists in Ukraine are the fruit of the painful imagination of those who provided such information to my Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov."

On the other hand, Russia has openly claimed it is willing to intervene in Belarus if the situation escalates. Read a similar case claiming that the West is preparing a colour revolution in Belarus.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 210
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/09/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Sergei Lavrov, Military, Protest, Coup
see more

Disinfo: Poland intends to annex half of Belarus

Poland wants to cut off and annex half of Belarus.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aboutBelarus. Reports that Poland is allegedly "preparing a coup d'etat" in Belarus appeared after the presidents of Lithuania and Poland, in an appeal to the Belarusian authorities, called for respecting democratic standards and stopping violence and repression against participants in mass protests. Poland refutes accusations about alleged military provocations towards Belarus and attempts to destabilise the neighbouring country. An aide to Poland's president, Krzysztof Szczerski stated that such accusations were unacceptable and that no one in Poland would take advantage of the political turmoil in Belarus. As for "Poland's attempts to annex half of the Belarusian territory", this is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative to portray Poland as the instigators of the protest in Belarus in order to "destabilise post-Soviet space". Szczerski said that "no one has such intentions in Poland and this is propaganda." The countries of the European Union have nothing to do with the mass protests in Belarus: rallies of thousands broke out after Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has ruled for 26 years, declared that he had “won a convincing victory” in the elections. The current protests in Belarus began on the evening of August 9; to disperse the protesters, thesecurity forces are using rubber bullets, flash grenades, tear gas, shockers and water cannons. On the day of voting, the centre of Minsk was blocked by security forces, whilst communications and the Internet were jammed in the city. Read similar cases: "Lublin Triangle" - the organiser of the coup in Belarus and Poland is openly leading a coup in Belarus.

Disinfo: Ukraine was created by Vladimir Lenin

(In Ukraine) everyone forgets that (the founder of the Bolshevik Party, Vladimir) Lenin created Ukraine.

Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative designed to denigrate the history of Ukraine, Ukrainian statehood and its independence. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically-elected president and parliament. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by most of the free world, confirmed by the resolutions of the United Nations, but violated by Russia. The history of Ukraine dates back to the era of the Kyivan Rus’ in the 9th-13th centuries. A fully independent Ukraine only emerged in the 20th century, after long periods of successive domination by Poland-Lithuania, Russia, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Under Lenin's leadership at the beginning of the 20th century, Ukraine was occupied by the Bolsheviks and for decades was under communist control. When the Soviet Union began to unravel in 1990–91, the legislature of the Ukrainian S.S.R. declared sovereignty (July 16, 1990) and then outright independence (August 24, 1991). With the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in December 1991, Ukraine gained full independence. The communist regime of 1917-1991, like the Nazi regime, in Ukraine was recognised as criminal and pursued a policy of state terror. This is recorded in the law on decommunisation, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted in 2015. Read similar the case claiming that Ukrainian statehood is an inheritance from soviet Ukraine.

Disinfo: Europe is to blame for the outbreak of World War II

Responsibility for the outbreak of World War II lies with all European countries. The governments of these (European) countries tried in every way to push Nazi Germany to aggression against the Soviet Union, in every way they freed the road. In fact, (European countries) sacrificed Poland.

Disproof

This is a pro-Kremlin narrative and a clear case of historical revisionism about WWII. The beginning of WWII was laid by cooperation between Hitler's Germany and the USSR. The Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, also known as the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact" (Hitler-Stalin Pact) was signed on August 23, 1939. After its conclusion, Nazi Germany and the USSR became allies for 22 months. The agreement was accompanied by a secret supplementary protocol on the delimitation of areas of mutual interest in Eastern Europe. In particular, Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide Poland. The agreement also indicated that the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Bessarabia and Finland, also belong to the respective areas of interest of Germany and the USSR. On 1 September 1939, Hitler attacked Poland, Soviet troops entered the territory on September 17 of the same year. From 3 September 1939, Great Britain and France were at war with Germany, creating an anti-Hitler coalition together with the expelled Polish government and other countries. Read more disinformation cases on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact here.