The Ukraine war is also a battle of disinformation. The circle around Vladimir Putin resorts to increasingly baseless conspiracy stories – with real dangers.
New York – In justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin* digs ever deeper into the box of conspiracy tales. While Moscow recently described the government in Kyiv as a Nazi regime that would carry out genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Donbass, chemical weapons are now being talked about in Ukraine*. Western countries have therefore accused Russia of “wild conspiracy stories”.
Even before the start of the Ukraine war*, Russia used disinformation as a tactic. In an essay in which Putin evoked the “historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” he also questioned the nationality of the neighboring country. Historians have often contradicted this view. The current debate also began in February, when US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned in the UN Security Council that Russia could use the chemical weapons argument to justify an invasion of Ukraine. That is exactly what has happened now.
Ukraine war: Russia accuses Ukraine of experimenting with chemical weapons
Russia specifically called a UN Security Council meeting in New York to voice its allegations. On Friday (03/11/2022) the Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebensia claimed before the most powerful body of the United Nations that the governments in Kyiv* and the USA* would jointly operate laboratories for the production of chemical weapons in Ukraine. These include the plague, cholera and anthrax. “Experiments were carried out to study the transmission of dangerous diseases by active parasites such as lice and fleas,” said the Russian ambassador. The rest of the Council vehemently disagreed.
Ukraine war: UN ambassador calls Russia’s allegations “complete nonsense”
“Let me put it diplomatically: they are complete nonsense,” British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward said of the allegations, for which Russia has produced no evidence. She also called the allegations “a series of wild, completely baseless and irresponsible conspiracy stories”. US Ambassador Linda Thomsa-Greenfield made a similar statement. Russia requested the meeting “for the sole purpose of lying and spreading misinformation,” she said. But even if the statements are not based on true knowledge, they could point to a real danger.
The representative of Ukraine did not hide his opinion either. Russia cut itself in the flesh with this meeting, said Sergei Kyslytsya, Putin and his henchmen are only spreading “insane” accusations “in a feverish frenzy”.
Ukraine war: UN fear use of chemical weapons
Russia’s allegations could be just the first step in a campaign that would result in the actual use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of apparently wanting to carry out such attacks “under false flags” itself. The spokeswoman for the White House, Jen Psaki, made similar allegations, referring to previous use of chemical weapons by Russia, such as the poisoning of Putin critic Alexei Navalny*. (vbu/afp) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
Rubriklistenbild: © Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP
