Disinfo: US politician tries to explain racial justice protests only by Russian meddling

Summary

It was necessary to create a sense of a certain involvement of Russia in the events of the United States. The impression was made, without citing any facts (but this is “normal”) that Russia is 100% somehow involved in these events because it is always involved in quarreling people in the United States of America with each other. There is no doubt that it was precisely such a goal that was set: to link somehow the current situation with the Russian footprint and to blame Russia again. Somebody pulled the curtain up. And the whole picture that the United States carefully concealed from the public, appeared. They were intentionally hiding. They knew what was going on in the country, what contradictions they had, what problems had risen to their full height over recent years and recent decades. And they did everything possible to modify this picture.

Disproof

The disinformation narrative distorts the message by former US security advisor to President Obama Susan Rice, which sounds as following: “I’m not reading the intelligence today, or these days — but based on my experience, this is right out of the Russian playbook. But we cannot allow the extremists, the foreign actors, to distract from the real problems we have in this country that are longstanding, centuries-old, and need to be addressed responsibly.” In other words, Susan Rice urges the US to solve their own "centuries-old" problems, which may be amplified by foreign interference. She also admits that she has no exact knowledge on it since she does not read intelligence reports. The anchor Wolf Blitzer then asked Rice if she thought the Russians were attempting to “embarrass” the US by “promoting the racial divide in our country.” “Well we see it all the time, we’ve seen it for years, including on social media where they take any divisive, painful issue . . . and they play on both sides,” Rice said. “I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides on social media . . . [or] that they’re funding it in some way, shape, or form.” The last claim refers to the proven Russian interference in the 2016 US election. The US charged Russian intelligence GRU officers with international hacking and related influence and disinformation operations. Recent CNN reporting points out that similar attempts continue, suggesting that "the Russian trolls are back -- and once again trying to poison the political atmosphere in the United States ahead of this year's elections". The freedom of speech in the US is on 45th rank among 180, according to reporters without borders (RSF). RSF does not highlight any racial tensions' hiding by the press. The US doesn't hide its internal problems. Before current protests, also called George Floyd protests under the name of the black man killed by a policeman during the arrest, US media widely covered Ferguson's unrest in Missouri state, which occurred for a similar reason back in 2014.

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vesti.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 203
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/06/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Russia
  • Keywords: US racial justice protests
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Jun 01, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about war in Ukraine claiming that Ukraine refuses to implement the Minsk agreements. Ukraine has never claimed that it does not want to implement the Minsk agreements. The implementation of the agreements remains one of the key priorities of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Ukrainian side proposed to hold the negotiations conducted by the Trilateral Contact Group in a video format. Since 2014, negotiations with Russia to resolve the conflict in the Donbas have been held within the framework of the Normandy Format and the Minsk process. A special Trilateral contact group is working on a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas. Three parties are involved in this process: representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE. Unofficially, representatives of the "LDNR" factions are also present. The second set of measures to implement the Minsk agreements was signed on 12 February 2015. The first paragraph of the document relates to an immediate ceasefire. Next, it is necessary to withdraw heavy weapons, ensure OSCE monitoring, release prisoners, grant Donbas special status and hold local elections, provide amnesty to the parties involved in the conflict and restore control over the Ukrainian-Russian border in the conflict zone. There are no conditions that the Ukrainian authorities should conduct direct negotiations with the leaders of the "LDNR" factions in the Minsk agreements. Read similar cases alleging that Ukraine does not advance in the implementation of the Minsk agreements under Zelenskyy, that Kyiv does not want to implement the current Minsk agreements, that Ukraine does not want to implement the Minsk agreements because it is controlled by the West, or that Kyiv has not implemented the conditions of "Minsk-2" for five years.

Disinfo: A veteran of Ukrainian army drove a truck into protesters in Minneapolis

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Jun 01, 2020
Disproof

Disinformation. The truck driver who drove through the protesters in Minnesota, US, was identified as Bogdan Vechirko, an American of the Ukrainian descent. However he is not veteran of the Ukrainian army and in fact has never served in the Ukrainian armed forces. Bogdan Vechirko living in the US shares the the same name as a Ukrainian soldier Bogdan Vechirko, however they are not the same person. The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces has denied that Bogdan Vechirko who is currently in the US police custody has ever served in the Ukrainian military. The investigation by the Ukrainian media also reveals that they are two different persons. Later media reports in the US state that the Minnesota tuck incident was likely an accident. The Euromaidan in Ukraine in 2014 was not a coup attempt but a nationwide popular protest against the government's sudden announcement that it would not sign the EU Association Agreement. See the full debunk here.

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The Americans are preparing, if not to return the Crimea to Ukraine, then to at least turn it into a nuclear desert.

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Disproof

Conspiracy theory with no evidence given. Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative of Ukraine being a puppet of the US mixed with the narrative about Ukraine and Crimea. The pro-Kremlin disinformation alleges that the flight over the Ukrainian territory of two US strategic bombers is a pretext to the seizure of Crimea by force. In fact, Air Force Command of Ukrainian Air Force informed that on May 29, four Ukrainian fighter jets accompanied the strategic bombers of the US Air Force during their flight over the territory of Ukraine. This was a planned event to achieve interoperability between NATO and its key partners. Before entering Ukrainian air space, the US bombers were accompanied by the Polish jets. Ukraine is a sovereign state. The US does not control Ukraine. 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. Crimea was illegally annexed by Moscow based on an illegitimate referendum. On 27 March 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it 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 9 December 2019, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.