The Center for Countering Disinformation published fakes promoted by the Russian mass media last week. «Trybun» journalists analyzed the main ones.
Retreating from Mariupol, the Armed Forces of Ukraine directly targeted residential buildings
When the Russian President allegedly visited the occupied Mariupol, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Husnullin said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, retreating from the city, had directly targeted residential buildings.
According to him, Russian attacks caused no destruction, but the city left in shambles after Ukrainian retreat. This statement is not true, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not retreat from Mariupol, they retreated to the Azovstal steel plant, which was later attacked by Russian aerial bombs.
″Propagandists have been trying to demonize Ukrainians and justify own invasion by lying about «Nazis» from the Armed Forces of Ukraine for more than a year. The Russians change the concept, say «liberation» instead of occupation,″ the Center for Countering Disinformation writes.
The Center for Countering Disinformation also reminds that the whole world has watched live how Russian troops were destroying the residential quarters in Mariupol, «Azovstal», the maternity hospital or the drama theater, near which the word «CHILDREN» was written in capital letters in Russian.
We publish some videos showing Russian tanks firing at residential buildings in Mariupol.
Regular units of the Polish army are present in the Zaporizhzhia direction
The former head of Roscosmos, Dmytro Rogozin, visiting the front line in Zaporizhzhia oblast, said that ″regular units of the Polish army are present here.″
″We identify them by clothes, they are dressed the same,″ he said, but this information is not true.
Russia has been spreading fakes about the Polish army in Ukraine since January. Firstly, the propagandists spread on the network that Poland was allegedly preparing to establish control over the western territories of Ukraine. The authors, referring to the Ministry of Defense of Poland, wrote that for this reason, the country began to recruit people for military training. Poland explained that these photos were taken by photographers of the «Train with the Army» course.
In February, new fake was spread on the network: a social advertisement with a call to protect «originally Polish lands in Ukraine» was allegedly posted in the Warsaw subway. The authors of the publication write that Poland is preparing to occupy Ukraine and add videos showing such announcements.
However, in fact, these posters were forged. In accordance with the Polish Law «On the Protection of the Fatherland», which entered into force in April 2022, the Military Command Office (WKU) was replaced by the Military Procurement Center (WCR).This unit recruits volunteers for military service and the reserve, and also organizes courses for reservists.
In addition, Grzegorz Popeliaz, director of the leasing and advertising office of the Warsaw metro, gave a comment to Ukrinform and said that there were no such advertisements in the Warsaw metro.
US and NATO military facilities were created in Ukraine under the guise of biolaboratories
The State Duma of Russia started discussing Western biolaboratories in Ukraine again. The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Iryna Yarova said that under the guise of these laboratories the US allegedly placed NATO military facilities.
Yarova referred to the investigation the Federal Assembly сommission that were dedicated to the creation of biolaboratories by American specialists in Ukraine. The materials ″fully confirmed″ the above-mentioned facts,″ Yarova emphasized.
According to the deputy, military bases are allowed to place in other countries under serious and controlled conditions. She is sure that the United States has managed to circumvent international agreements by creating ″military biological laboratories″.
″In the global plan for the military-biological development of the countries of the world, not only the Pentagon and the American special services are involved, but also the corporations under their control and affiliated with them. About 400 dual-purpose laboratories have been created in the United States,″ Yarova added.
According to the vice-speaker, the obtained results of biological research allow the United States to manage the spread of infections and shape them.
At the beginning of March, the head of Russian Federal Service for Supervision in the Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare Anna Popova also told about the biolaboratories, which are allegedly controlled by Washington.
″Taking into account new challenges, we must be ready to respond to epidemiological risks at any moment. We are actively implementing all plans to protect the health of Russian citizens within the framework of the federal project ″Sanitary shield — safety for health,″ she said.
The President of Russia Volodymyr Putin also agrees with the version about American biolaboratories in Ukraine. According to his information, their employees collected biological materials and studied the specifics of the spread of dangerous diseases.
Professor of the Donetsk National University named after Vasyl Stus Mykola Polevyi analyzed several such manipulative tools for the «TEKSTY» publication.
″There are maps with the ″infrastructure of US-funded biological laboratories on the territory of Ukraine on the slides in the video with the reports of the Russian military and in the texts published by the Russian mass media. These materials also contain huge funding figures – ″over $200 million″.
The Kyiv Research Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases named after L. V. Gromashevsky, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (Kyiv), Institute of Microbiology and Immunology named after I. I. Mechnikov (Kharkov), Ukrainian Antiplague Research Institute named after I. I. Mechnikova (Odesa), Lviv Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene, etc is mentioned on the slides and in the texts. Some of them were founded in the 1980s, and some, like the Odessa Institute, date back to 1886, when Odessa scientists Mechnikov and Gamalei became famous in the fight against epidemics of cholera, plague, typhus and smallpox.
These and other mentioned structures are a network of research institutes engaged in the study of various diseases. Propagandists obviously think that the ″study of diseases″ means the development of appropriate biological weapons. In Russia itself there are more such institutions with the same functions – in the structure of the Ministry of Health and Russian Federal Service for Supervision in the Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare
At least 31 objects are shown on the map. Even if the funds were ″distributed″ evenly, no more than 6.5 million dollars would be spent on each ″secret laboratory″. Taking into account the bureaucracy, the ″addressee″, i.e. scientists could receive a half maximum. The propagandists will disappoint: having such money, scientists can hardly develop a biological weapon or decorate an average laboratory in a more or less decent way.
At the same time, most of the named institutions are in a deplorable condition. For example, in April 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Odesa anti-plague institute was visited by the mayor of Odesa, who promised to help with funds from the city budget, at least for the ventilation system,» he noted.
Kyiv intends to carry out another provocation regarding the Zaporizhzhia NPP, namely, to try to completely de-energize it
Volodymyr Rogov, a collaborator from Zaporozhizhia, spread the misinformation:
″Kyiv intends to carry out another provocation regarding the Zaporizhzhia NPP, namely, to try to completely de-energize it. In order to implement the idea under the guise of alleged repair work, Ukraine plans to disconnect the last 750 kW reserve transmission line that supplies the nuclear power plant,″ he noted.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that from March 1, Russia might use provocations, creating threats around the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to deter a future counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On February 10, the IAEA announced that it delayed a planned rotation of personnel to the IAEA mission at the ZNPP due to security concerns. On February 20, IAEA General Director Rafael Grossi stated that «the situation remains unstable», and on February 28, 20 detonations occurred near the ZNPP, briefly disconnecting a backup powerline to the ZNPP.
On March 1, occupation official of Zaporizhzhia oblast Volodymyr Rogov claimed that Western intelligence agencies disrupted the routine rotation of the IAEA mission in order to accuse Russia of creating obstacles for the IAEA. ″Russian and occupation authorities likely intend to use either the possibly trapped IAEA personnel or a reduced IAEA presence at the plant to coerce international recognition of Russian ownership over the plant.
″Russian and occupation authorities may also try to deter a possible future Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine by escalating threats to the ZNPP, ″ the ISW experts summed up.
Russia could not allow Ukraine to join NATO and therefore launched a large-scale ″operation″ against it
Dmytro Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, has spread yet another misinformation about Ukraine and the NATO bloc.
″Russia could not allow Ukraine to join NATO and launch a large-scale operation against it under this umbrella,″ the Center for Countering Disinformation at the NSDC quotes him.
It is necessary to mention that Ukraine has not set itself the goal of joining NATO for decades. The «multi-vector» policy under the presidencies of Kravchuk and Kuchma was reinforced by the security guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, including from Russia. However, the conflicts in Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia increasingly proved that, in order not to be alone against Russia, Ukraine needs membership in a defense union.
In April 2008, Ukraine and Georgia got a chance for a Euro-Atlantic perspective at the NATO summit in Bucharest. Despite the favorable position of the administration of US President George W. Bush, the decision to grant the status of candidate countries for membership was blocked by Germany and France, in particular due to pressure from the Russian Federation. Russia launched an invasion of Georgia four months after the summit. Russia occupied the Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas six year later.
It is obvious that the Russian Federation is ready to attack only those who remain alone with it. This is the essence of Putin's «security guarantees», which he put forward to Ukraine, NATO and the USA: to leave Eastern Europe to its mercy of fate as a tribute to Russia.
Despite the promise of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation not to shoot at civilians and civilian objects, Russian weapons and strikes have already killed thousands of peaceful Ukrainians. Thousands were forced to leave their homes for safety and basic survival. However, the war could have been avoided if Russia threatened not only Ukraine, but all the member states of the alliance at once.
A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine might not have happened if the West had had the courage and consistency to bring Ukraine into NATO, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in his column in The Washington Post.
″For decades, we have used diplomatic doublespeak on the subject of NATO and Ukraine — and it has ended in total disaster. We spent years telling Ukrainians that we have an “open door” policy in NATO, and that they have the right to “choose their own destiny,” and that Russia should not be able to exercise a veto. And all this time, we clearly made it clear to Moscow that Ukraine will never join the alliance - because many NATO members themselves will use their right of veto ″ Johnson writes.
The ex-prime minister thinks that the result of such a policy is ″the worst war in Europe in the last 80 years.″
″Countless lives, homes, hopes and dreams were destroyed by Putin. He invaded Ukraine not because of Ukrainian desire to join NATO. The President of Russia always knew it was unlikely. He attacked Ukraine because he believed – and had numerous proofs of this – that we did not take the defense of Ukraine very seriously,″ Boris Johnson is convinced.
He insists that if the West had been brave and consistent enough to bring Ukraine into NATO, this complete disaster could have been avoided.
Johnson notes that now support for Ukraine's membership in NATO is very high, 83 percent of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine should become a member of the Alliance.
″Today, Ukrainians use a staggering amount of various equipment from NATO countries with extraordinary skill and bravery… NATO could not teach Ukrainians how to wage war – in fact, there is a lot that they could teach us,″ the former British Prime Minister wrote.
He also emphasized that ″Ukrainians should get everything they need to end this war as soon as possible.″
Manfred Weber, President of the European People's Party, stated that the decision made after the NATO Summit in Bucharest in 2008, where Ukraine was refused to receive NATO’s Membership Action Plan, was a mistake.
″If we invite Finland and Sweden to NATO, then it is fundamentally clear to me that Ukraine has the exact same right! Finland has about 1,400 kilometres of border with Russia, so, I am sorry, but no one will be able to say now that Ukraine’s accession ‘will make Russia closer to NATO,″ Weber said in an interview with European Pravda.
According to European People's Party President, ″we need peace to expand NATO″, that's why
Ukraine will become NATO member, but first it needs to survive the war.
″States that are taking part in the war cannot join NATO. However, I do not see any long-term security architecture in Europe where Ukraine is not a NATO member,″ he added
Moreover, Weber has highlighted that one of the criteria for joining NATO is that this state has to strengthen the security of the Alliance, and Ukraine is doing it now. Ukraine shows it literally every day by withholding a horrible Russian war machine. Weber is also sure that Kyiv corresponds to the values of the Alliance.
