Disinfo: US intelligence agencies pressured Western media into accusing Russia of invading Ukraine

Summary

Under pressure from US intelligence agencies, Western officials and media have recently accused Moscow of massing troops and military forces with the intention of invading Ukraine.

Disproof

This claim is part of a current disinformation campaign aiming to deflect attention away from Russia’s military build-up on its border with Ukraine since late October 2021 by accusing Western media of only reporting on this issue because they are pressured by US intelligence agencies.

Contrary to the claim, reports and expressions of concern about military preparations and mobilisation of Russian troops is not a “campaign against Russia”, but a fact confirmed by satellite images and intelligence of the US, Ukraine and NATO, among other countries and institutions. See for example the 16 December NATO statement calling on Russia to immediately de-escalate tension. See also the 24 January 2022 EU statement condeming Russia’s continued aggressive actions and threats against Ukraine.

There is no evidence that the US or any other intelligence agency pressured officials or media to report the amass of Russian forces in a certain way. The European Union as a whole is committed to respecting the freedom and pluralism of the media as well as the right to freedom of expression - which includes the right to receive and impart information without interference by public authorities. Currently, the EU is preparing a 'Media Freedom Act', a law that will include rules on cross-border functioning and ownership of media inside the EU to prevent government interference.

See other similar disinformation cases claiming that US media are a lie factory serving secret agendas,the NYT article on Russia and Catalonia was paid by Europe and NATO; its author linked to US intelligence.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 270
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 07/01/2022
  • Article language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Russia, Ukraine
  • Keywords: Media, West, Freedom of speech, Military, Secret services
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Disinfo: Events in Kazakhstan are an attempt of Anglo-Saxons to encircle Russia

The same actors, who tried to produce similar results in Belarus, are behind events in Kazakhstan. These are Anglo-Saxons. Their goal is to encircle Russia with hostile countries and to create a zone of instability in the place of Kazakhstan in order to threaten Russia. Local authorities in Kazakhstan are used to spreading Russophobia. Incremental Russophobia has been promoted in Kazakhstan for a long time.

Disproof

This claim advances an emerging pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that the January 2022 anti-government protests in Kazakhstan are part of a foreign-inspired and directed plot.

The case seeks to lay the blame on the so-called Anglo-Saxons for the entire unrest in Kazakhstan which is fueled by high gas prices and social discontent in Kazakh society. This narrative is part of a developing wider public campaign to justify Russian-led foreign military deployment in Kazakhstan in the frame of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

Disinfo: West arranges puppet governments through colour revolutions

The West succeeded in arranging the 2014 coup in Ukraine, whose borders are only 755 kilometres from Moscow. They set up a puppet government that receives its instructions, policies and strategies from the American embassy in Kyiv. Later the West tried to replicate the same thing in Belarus. It became clear for Russia that there are foreign funds for clients, groups, and institutions working for the West, spreading discontent and anger among the citizens, trying to instigate protests and colour revolutions.

Disproof

A recurring narrative that Ukraine is influenced by the West and that Euromaidan protests in 2014 were a coup d'etat planned by the West. The article attempts to paint all manifestations of popular discontent as colour revolutions orchestrated from abroad.

There was no coup, let alone a Western-sponsored coup, in Ukraine; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former president Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.

Disinfo: NATO consists of colonial habits, dictatorship of the strong and lack of will of the weak

NATO is an organisation that has no common laws and values. The only thing that unites the Alliance is the mania for enlargement, which has shown all the malignancy of hegemonism.

[...] there is hegemony and colonial habits, a dictatorship of the strong and a lack of will of the weak. The members of this "alliance" have long ceased to be free even in making their own decisions.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about NATO.

The Atlantic Alliance is not a tool for hegemonism or domination but a mutual defence alliance of democratic states aiming to guarantee the freedom and security of its members.