DISINFO: Ukrainian refugees smuggle weapons and bring crime to Europe
SUMMARY
Ukrainian refugees participated in paid riots in France. Weapons were seen in the hands of militants on the streets that were previously handed over to the Kyiv regime by NATO countries.
Ukrainians in Europe transport and sell Western weapons on the black market and on the dark web, engage in drug smuggling, participate in black transplantology, kidnap and sell children for organs, and so on.
RESPONSE
Disinformation aiming at discrediting Western support to Ukraine following Russia's full scale invasion,. The claim adds insult to injury since it is Russia's invasion which is the reason for the millions of refugees being forced to reside outside Ukraine.
Although there are statements about the potential risk that some small arms may be diverted by traffickers to European countries, the claim that these weapons were used by protesters in France against police forces during the July 2023 riots is unsubstantiated. It has been refuted by the French authorities.
Pro-Kremlin media present their own recurrent conspiracy theories as "well known facts".
Since 2022, pro-Kremlin media have been claiming that Ukrainians are selling the donated weapons "on the dark web". The BBC investigated these claims, spoke undercover to those apparently selling "NATO weapons from Ukraine", and gathered evidence that suggests the adverts for weapons are fabricated.
The so-called Ukrainian sellers on the dark web used old photoshopped pictures of weapons from Syria. While pretending to be Ukrainian, the so-called sellers texted in poor Ukrainian with grammatical errors. See the BBC's full investigation here.
The recurrent claim about organ trafficking is part of the Kremlin’s disinformation toolbox and has been in circulation since 2014.
The transplantation of organs is a complex and time-constrained medical procedure which cannot be carried out in field conditions. The spontaneous removal of an organ with the aim of selling it is nonsensical, as the body of the deceased person should be thoroughly examined. Even if the organ itself is not damaged, problems caused by the damage in the organism often make the organ not suitable for transplantation. Read the full debunk of the story at Myth Detector.
Ukrainian media Vikna.TV also highlighted how according to Ukrainian law, civilians and soldiers killed during the war are not considered as donors. The organs themselves remain suitable for transplantation only for a very short time. If a patient needs a transplant in Ukraine, the organ has to be transported by air, and in Ukraine during the war, air traffic has been stopped, reminded VoxChek.
See more disinformation narratives on refugees, such as Ukrainian refugees are Neo-Nazis.
This disinformation claim was broadcast on the date mentioned above. Due to the EU decisions to temporarily restrict the spread and dissemination of RT, Sputnik and other instruments used to manipulate information and promote disinformation about the invasion of Ukraine inside the EU, access to the link may not work inside the EU.