DISINFO: 220,000 Russian citizens may end up in concentration camps in Transnistria

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

  • Outlet: russtrat.ru ( archive, original )
  • Date of publication: September 21, 2024
  • Countries / regions discussed: Moldova, Ukraine

DISINFO: 220,000 Russian citizens may end up in concentration camps in Transnistria

SUMMARY

NATO's Operation "Kursk" is part of a multi-move plan. Earlier, through the shelling of the Belgorod region and attempts by reconnaissance and sabotage groups to enter, they try to switch [Russian] attention from storming Kharkiv.

Russia's ability to help Transnistria is limited without physical control of the Odesa region. In addition to the Russian peacekeeping contingent, about 220,000 Russian citizens live there, whose protection and patronage are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

In case of aggression, they may all end up in concentration camps created like the camps for the population of Kursk that ended up in the occupation zone of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/NATO.

RESPONSE

Several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives accusing NATO of being involved in the war in Ukraine, accusing Ukraine and Moldova of planning to attack Transnistria and opening a second front against Russia, as well as a relatively new narrative about the existence of concentration camps in Kursk.

These claims are groundless. NATO troops are not fighting in Ukraine. The Alliance has repeatedly stated that it is not a warring party and that it does not have troops on the ground in Ukraine. NATO officials have frequent contacts with their Ukrainian counterparts and the Alliance provides training and intelligence to Ukraine, but its troops have not been officially deployed on the frontline either in Ukraine or in Russia’s Kursk Region.

Transnistria, a territory on the border with Ukraine that separated itself, with the support of Russia, from the Republic of Moldova in 1992, is still, officially, part of the Republic of Moldova. The Moldovan authorities are still looking for a peaceful solution to the Transnistrian conflict. They exclude any military intervention. Similarly, the leaders of Ukraine, especially after the start of the full scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine, have repeatedly declared that they respect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and have no intention of attacking Transnistria.

There is nothing to prove the existence of concentration camps or similar facilities for the civilian population or prisoners of war (PoW) after Ukraine’s advance into a wide area in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. This claim has been denounced as a fake by Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council.

On the contrary, correct treatment of Russian prisoners by Ukrainian authorities, has been reported by international media. These allegations are part of a strategy to demonise Ukraine and deflect attention from Russia's military aggression and human rights violations committed by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has set up filtration camps with brutal treatment in many instances.

See similar cases: Ukrainian armed forces keep Russian civilians in concentration camps; Ukraine builds concentration camps in Kursk; Operation Kursk is being transferred to Moldova - Transnistria; the West can create another hot spot in Transnistria to divert Russian forces; the US and NATO arming Moldova in the hope of a new Transnistria conflict; Anglo-Saxons behind Moldova's siege of Transnistria region; Moldova is preparing for a military provocation against Russia with French encouragement.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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