Disinfo: White helmets are not a humanitarian organisation, but marauders

Summary

The White helmets, behind the facade of the humanitarian brand, hides looting, robbery and direct complicity in terrorism.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative smearing the White Helmets while providing no evidence. TheWhite Helmets movement originated in Syria in 2012, when the first detachments of volunteer rescuers appeared in the territories outside of the control of Bashar al-Assad's troops. In 2014, volunteer teams merged into a national organisation, the Syrian Civil Defence, which is the official name of the White Helmets. Volunteers save people from the rubble after bombings, despite the danger of dying themselves as a result of repeated air strikes. Activists have documented the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the Assad government and allied forces. Because Russia is supporting Assad, the White Helmetshave become the target of an extensive Russiandisinformation campaign. The White Helmets are a staple topic of pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives on the Syrian civil war, having already been accused of numerous other provocations and war crimes including organ trafficking; aiding terrorist organisations; staging and/or perpetrating chemical attacks, sometimes with the help of Western intelligence agencies.

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tvzvezda.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 206
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 23/07/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Syria
  • Keywords: White Helmets, Syrian War
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Disinfo: A man, who took passengers hostage in Ukrainian city Lutsk had been kicked out of neo-Nazi battalion "Azov" for perversion

A man, who took passengers hostage in Ukrainian city of Lutsk had been kicked out of neo-Nazi battalion “Azov” for perversion.

Jul 22, 2020
Disproof

An armed man took passengers hostage along with the driver of a commuter bus in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk, on 21 July. He reportedly told journalists he would set the hostages free when his demands had been met. Later the man released all hostages and surrendered. According to police, the man has a history of mental disorders. The Azov Regiment denies that the man has served there. The press service of the Azov Regiment states that he has never been in the ranks of Azov unit.

Disinfo: Ukraine and NATO violate Russian maritime borders

Ukraine and NATO are constantly violating Russian maritime borders. NATO should have understood for a long time that this is a Russian economic zone, that Crimea is the territory of the Russian Federation. Someone is exceeding the permissible norms of behaviour, that is, violates our territorial waters, invades our economic zone.

Jul 22, 2020
Disproof

During the Sea Breeze military exercise, a Russian patrol ship of the Russian FSB Coast Guard went on the radio to the Bulgarian ship Bodra with a demand for it to leave ​​its location. This year, as in 2019, it was Russia that resorted to provocation against the Ukrainian-American exercises: on the eve of the start of the Sea Breeze, the Kremlin deliberately blocked the area in the Black Sea where, according to the plan, the exercises should take place. Moreover, the waters of the Black and Azov Seas around Crimea cannot be considered Russian, at least due to the fact that the peninsula is an occupied Ukrainian territory. In addition, according to all international standards, Ukraine has every right to use the Black and Azov Seas. Sea Breeze is an annually recurring multinational exercise, it does not aim, nor threaten, to invade any territory or to exert any pressure. Military exercises have been conducted since 1997, in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of Ukraine and the United States. Theinternational community, including theEuropean Union, recognises and condemns clear violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity byacts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014.

Disinfo: Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates to be arrested for vaccines and artificially creating the virus

Lawsuits have been filed against Anthony Fauch and Bill Gates, they will be charged for infecting and killing hundreds of thousands of children through vaccination, as well as artificially creating and spreading the virus. The investigation will also follow the Obama Foundation for transferring $3.7 million to Wuhan Laboratory.

Jul 22, 2020
Disproof

No proof given. Recurring disinformation narrative on vaccination and the coronavirus. There are no trial processes against Fauci and Bill Gates. This conspiracy is based on the story from The Next News Network Special Report, in which three doctors demanded Fauci's arrest on the ground that the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions caused severe damage to the US economy. This story is no longer available on the official YouTube channel of the network. As for the Obama Foundation, according to Snopes, a portion of $3.7 million in grants awarded between 2014 and 2019 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to EcoHealth Alliance, helped fund research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Not all of that $3.7 million went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and not all of the funding took place under the Obama administration. It should also be noted that this financing had nothing to do with the coronavirus. See earlier disinformation cases that Bill Gates pays compensation to people mutilated as a result of vaccines and that the coronavirus is man-made.