Disinfo: Western revisionism targets Putin

Summary

The historical revisionism orchestrated by the West concerning World War II is aiming to damage the image of Russia and of Vladimir Putin personally. Western efforts to rewrite the history of the war – like the 2019 European Parliament resolution which holds the USSR responsible for the start of World War II – are “Russophobic” and aim to discredit Russia’s President.

Disproof

This is part of sustained Kremlin’s campaign on historical revisionism on World War II in order to boost its legitimacy and deny the USSR’s responsibility in the outbreak of the conflict. The European Parliament resolution on the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe stressed the fact that WWII was an immediate result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The resolution is aimed at the promotion of historical remembrance about WWII and condemnation of totalitarian ideologies. In the same context, see other examples of Russian disinformation narratives on World War II, such as claims that Western countries revise history to avoid responsibility for allowing Hitler to attack the USSR or that the Soviet Union tried to create an anti-Nazi alliance but the West didn’t respond or that the USSR had no role in the outbreak of the war.

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sputniknews.gr (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 202
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19/06/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Greek
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: World War 2, West, Historical revisionism, Red Army, Vladimir Putin, Russophobia
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Disinfo: Crimea returned to Russia after a referendum

Crimea returned to Russia after a referendum on the peninsula.

Jun 18, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the annexation of Crimea, claiming that Crimea voted to rejoin Russia through a legal referendum.

Crimea is a part of Ukraine and was illegally annexed by Russia. In 2014, Russian troops obliged the parliament of Crimea to organise a referendum, which was illegitimate under international law, and then formally annexed the peninsula and brought it under Russian territorial control. The annexation has been condemned by the UNGA (see the resolution A/RES/68/262 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine).

Disinfo: Ukraine is preparing a new provocation in the Black Sea

Under the leadership of US intelligence agencies, Ukraine is creating a “mosquito fleet” to continue provocations in the Black Sea, similar to the one that was carried out near the Crimean bridge. So we should expect that these American boats, being captured by Russian border guards along with Ukrainian crews, will again gather dust in Sevastopol as material evidence.

Jun 18, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the Kerch strait incident and US controlling Ukraine. No evidence is given. The U.S. State Department has cleared a potential sale to Ukraine of 16 Mark VI patrol boats and other gear worth $600 million. According to a State Department official, the sale will improve the capability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to “sustain river and littoral water patrols throughout Ukraine’s [maritime] exclusive economic zone.” The article tries to link this potential sale to the Kerch strait incident, itself the source of multiple disinformation instances. On 25 November 2018, border patrol boats belonging to Russia’s FSB security service seized two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tugboat and their crews after shooting at them, wounding several Ukrainian servicemen and arresting 24 members. Russia argued that they were in Russian waters. However, a bilateral treaty between Russia and Ukraine, signed in 2003 and ratified by Russia in 2004, governs the use of the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov, which in the treaty is considered to be the “internal waters” of both Russia and Ukraine. On 25 May 2019, the United Nations Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered Russia to immediately release Ukrainian sailors and allow them to return to Ukraine. The EU also urged Russia to release the captured crew. Twenty-four military sailors returned to Ukraine on 7 September 2019 as part of a mutual release of detainees by Ukraine and Russia. On 21 November 2019, Russia returned the ships to Ukraine.

Disinfo: No evidence of the involvement of Russian state structures in the killing of Georgian citizen in Berlin

Almost ten months after the murder of a Georgian in Berlin, the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe filed charges against a Russian. On 18 June 2020, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against the Russian citizen Vadim K. alias Vadim S. before the State Protection Senate of the Berlin Court of Appeal. There was, and is, no evidence of the involvement of Russian state structures in this incident. Also it was stated that this murder case is not connected with the Russian state and state authorities.

Jun 18, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that there is no proof and evidence behind accusations against Russia. Consistent with the narrative on Russophobia. A 40-year-old man, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot dead in a Berlin park just before midday on 23 August 2019. The victim was a Chechen exile who had survived two previous attempts on his life. The Dossier Center, a London-based research group founded by Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, and other investigation groups, such as Bellingcat, identified the suspect as Vadim N. Krasikov, a 49-year-old Russian citizen from Siberia who, according to Bellingcat, used fake identity documents to enter Germany a few days before. The German Foreign Office says Russian officials have not responded sufficiently to repeated requests for information, despite repeated high-level and urgent demands. In addition, the German Federal Foreign Office insisted in a statement that "the Federal Public Prosecutor General has taken over the investigations into this case as there are sufficient grounds to believe that the killing was carried out either on behalf of state authorities of the Russian Federation or of those of the autonomous Chechen Republic as part of the Russian Federation". On December 4th, Germany expelled two Russian diplomats in response to this incident. Germany's federal prosecutor took over the investigation in December 2019. On Thursday, 18 June 2020, almost ten months after the murder, they said they had gathered sufficient evidence and brought charges against the suspect. See similar cases on the Khangoshvili murder here, and similar narratives on Skripal and MH17 cases.