Disinfo: Vrbetice explosion: Allegations against Russia are a pretext to target Rosatom and appropriate land belonging to Russian embassy

Summary

There is no evidence that the ammunition depot in Vrbetice was blown up by the GRU. The whole Czech history is just a stupid false excuse for exacerbation: the expulsion of diplomats, the imposition of sanctions and, attention, to squeeze a piece of land from the Russian embassy and remove Russian "Rosatom" from a lucrative contract for the construction of the Dukovany nuclear power plant.

Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the explosion in Vrbetice in 2014.

The investigation by Czech authorities established beyond doubt that GRU agents Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, the same individuals considered responsible for the attempted murder of Sergey Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, were behind an explosion in an ammunition storage depot in the Czech location of Vrbetice in 2014, which killed two people.

According to investigators, an email supposedly from the National Guard of Tajikistan had requested permission for two individuals -”Ruslan Tabarov” from Tajikistan and “Nicolaj Popa” from Moldova- to visit the storage site and included the scanned image of two false passports with the pictures of both men. The images of “Tabarov” and “Popa” matched those of Chepiga and Mishkin. Prague's findings were independently corroborated by a joint investigation conducted by Bellingcat, The Insider (Russia), Der Spiegel (Germany), and Respekt.cz (Czech Republic). Their investigation concluded that six officers of the GRU, led by the head of the military unit 29155, general Andrey Averyanov, were involved in this operation. Two of them worked undercover as diplomatic couriers.

See similar disinformation cases: the anti-Russian campaign is the real reason behind the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Czechia; the US forced Czechia into quarrel with Russia; allegations of the Russian role in Vrbetive explosion are part of informational preparation for the new Cold war; Czech-Russian diplomatic row was staged to target Rosatom and deflect attention from a coup attempt in Belarus.

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GTRK LNR - YouTube (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 243
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/05/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Czech Republic, Russia
  • Keywords: Vrbetice explosion, Anti-Russian
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The distortion and falsification of the Great Patriotic War is a specially planned work, which is sponsored and directed by the British-American state and special services.

May 09, 2021
Disproof

The claim of the falsification of the Great Patriotic War is part of the Kremlin’s campaign on historical revisionism of WWII and is also consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative about anti-Russian policies of the aggressive West. According to the Kremlin's policy, the official Russian historiography is the only “true” way of interpreting the historical events about WWII.

See more similar disinformation cases alleging that Western historical revisionism is aimed at weakening and destroying Russia, that European countries try to rewrite history of the WWII – Russia preserves the truth, and that The West systematically rewrites the history to destroy Russia.

Disinfo: There is a well financed and organised campaign against Sputnik V

There is a well-organised and well-financed campaign by big pharmaceutical companies and by political forces in Europe and the West against Sputnik V. The aim is to discredit the Russian vaccine and its efficiency against COVID-19. In this effort, they are using the press and the media.

May 09, 2021
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The article is part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign on the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, launched after its announcement was met with scepticism and criticism, even by Russian specialists in the country.

However, evidence exists that it was Russia which has at all times perceived the development of a coronavirus vaccine mainly in terms of geopolitical and economic gain.

Disinfo: NATO breaks promises that Estonia will be a passive member of the Alliance

The military exercise with US participation in Estonia is a real provocation. When we move troops on our territory, it is considered a threat to all countries, and the fact that they sent their contingent to Estonia is considered the norm. And once they promised that this country would be passive a NATO member, and now it is being turned into an active target for a possible retaliatory strike.

With such actions the United States is trying to provoke Russia "to take some action" in order to then accuse Moscow of aggression and introduce restrictive measures against it.

The Baltic states generally call on NATO countries to cooperate in the defense sphere and take part in joint exercises, guided by the fact that there is supposedly a constant "threat" from Russia.

At the same time, Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is not going to attack anyone and is interested in a calm situation at the borders. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already stated that in fact NATO understands perfectly well that Moscow is not going to attack, and is simply using a mythical threat to sell weapons and deploy as much equipment as possible along the Russian borders.

May 09, 2021
Disproof

The article uses a classic pro-Kremlin trick: take a kernel of truth (the exercise is indeed happening) and wrap it into disinformation narrative that suit their world view. The main narratives in the article are:

  • the NATO exercise is a provocation;

  • if Russia reacts, Moscow will be accused of aggression;

  • holding such exercises shows that the West has double-standards;

  • it has been promised that Estonia would be a passive NATO member;

  • the Baltics are active in NATO due to the constant "threat" from Russia;

  • Moscow has stated it will not attack anyone;

  • Estonia is a target of a possible retaliatory strike by Russia.

In the past, pro-Kremlin media has also used ridiculing (Estonia's missiles are a toy), Russophobia (Baltics sow panic) and threatening (Russia has 70 new army bases near the border). As for NATO, it has been portrayed as an aggressor, that is hated by locals, and that won't defend Estonia.

In reality, NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states. During the Warsaw summit in July 2016, NATO has made it clear that: