Disinfo: Ukrainian secret service manipulated a sound recording in the MH17 investigation

Summary

The Ukrainian secret service manipulated a sound recording in the MH17 investigation. As an indication of the manipulation, the Malaysian expert mentions the noise level in the sound recording: “That is manipulated. The noise level differs from this audio track. See this soundtrack, the noise level differs in this part. It is lower here and higher here”. Audio parts had been cut together. There are also many sections that have been cut out. “That is clear, you can see that, the lack of parts of the audio recording,” the analyst added.

Disproof

No evidence presented. A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on Flight MH17. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskyi. At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. In 2018, Bellingcat confirmed that the BUK missile launcher which hit the airline near Donetsk was brought from Russia. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, 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 the MH17 and murdering the 289 persons on board. The public hearing is scheduled for March 9, 2020 in the Netherlands. Since July 2014, Russian authorities have been conducting a disinformation campaign, in which, together with the media they directly and indirectly control with the aim of covering up the truth about who shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Eastern Ukraine. See similar disinformation that Ukraine conceals recordings of the Malaysian Boeing flight controllers’ conversation debunked by StopFake here. See more on the investigation of the MH17 catastrophe by Bellingcat here.

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Sputnik Germany (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 159
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 24/07/2019
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Malaysia, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Eastern Ukraine, Donbas, War in Ukraine, MH17
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Disinfo: Nationalists, dissatisfied with the election results, gather in Kyiv

Ukrainian nationalists did not agree with the voting results of the elections to the Verkhovna Rada. They refuse to accept the results in the 223rd election district in Kyiv and intend to defend their opinion to the end.

Jul 23, 2019
Disproof

Recurring Kremlin narrative about nationalists in Ukraine. The article in "Moskovskyy Komsomolets" is not referring to any specific source of information. The information concerning people gathering in Kiev was refuted by representatives of the nationalist political party "Svoboda". Deputy of "Svoboda", Yuri Levchenko, who was nominated in the 223rd district, said: “I officially announce that at the moment there are only 2 of my representatives at the district election commission (because I don’t need more, so far).” A video showed that police near the 223rd district noted that everything was calm there. There were also no gatherings near the Verkhovna Rada.

Disinfo: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact did not violate the rights of the Polish state

Polish authorities once again showed their Russophobic nature by not inviting Russia to the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. Polish side, as always, accuses Russia of signing the non-aggression pact [the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact] in August 1939, even though it was repeatedly proven that this document did not violate the rights of the Polish state.

Jul 23, 2019
Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to portray Russia's role in the World War II as not aggressive - see another example referring to Ribbentrop-Molotov pact here. It is a proven historical fact that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact contained the Secret Supplementary Protocol, which assumed the division of Poland and other Eastern European countries between the USSR and Germany. Thus, the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact directly caused the German and Soviet military aggression against Poland in September 1939, which resulted in complete occupation of this country by Germany and USSR. See similar examples of the Russian historical revisionism concerning Poland here and here.

Disinfo: The Mueller investigation confirmed there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump administration

The Mueller report confirms that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump administration.

Jul 23, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The claim that the Mueller investigation did not find any evidence of collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government is false. Robert Mueller’s investigation sought to establish whether members of the Trump campaign – several of which entertained systematic contacts with individuals connected to the Russian government – conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its 2016 US election interference activities. The investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome – and that the Trump campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts. Specifically, the investigation concluded that 1) the Russian government interfered in the US election in sweeping and systematic fashion, and 2) there was insufficient evidence to make a prosecutorial decision to charge any member of the Trump campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. However, as Mueller explained during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, not making a charging decision does not mean the investigation failed to turn up evidence of conspiracy. During this testimony, Mueller confirmed that his investigation did indeed uncover some evidence of conspiracy between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, even though it was not seen as sufficient to bring conspiracy charges against any member of the Trump campaign. Ultimately, during the course of the investigation, more than 30 defendants were charged with committing federal crimes, including 12 officers of the Russian military. Seven defendants have been convicted or plead guilty. For a summary of the indictments, see here. Based on Justice Department policy and principles of fairness, the Special Counsel team decided it would not make a decision as to whether the president committed a crime. Read the full Mueller report here. For more disinfo cases about the Mueller investigation, see here.