DISINFO: The West hates Russia and Belarus

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: The West hates Russia and Belarus

SUMMARY

Recently, there have been two main topics in the Western agenda: unexpected landing of Ryanair flight in Belarus and the anniversary of the killing of negroe criminal and drug-addict George Floyd by the police in the US. [...]

Focus on the plane enables to raise the degree of hatred towards Belarus and even Russia. The anniversary [of George Floyd's death] gives a reason to deepen new racism targetting first of all white men. [...]

The hatred towards Russia and Belarus, and we are in the same boat here, can be explained by the fact that we don't give in to the Western madness, America and Europe who have abandoned the way of their traditional culture - from gay parades and sex-change operations to destroying the monuments of founding fathers and admiring Nazism in Ukraine. We are different. And in this sense, we are aliens to the West.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the alleged demise of Western values, combined with disinformation messages about the forced diversion and landing of Ryanair flight 4978 in Belarus, racial justice protests in the US in 2020 and George Floyd.

There is no substance to the claims that the West "hates" Russia or Belarus. The European Union and the US have reacted to the specific actions of the Russian and Belarusian authorities.

Since October 2020, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Belarus. The measures were adopted in response to the fraudulent nature of the August 2020 presidential elections in Belarus, and the intimidation and violent repression of peaceful protesters, opposition members and journalists.

On 24 May 2021, the European Council strongly condemned the forced landing of a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk, Belarus. This endangered aviation safety, as well as the detention by Belarusian authorities of journalist Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega and decided additional sanctions.

Disinformation about the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests for racial justice in the US in 2020 has been used by the pro-Kremlin media to advance a narrative about "threatened values" - one of the central themes of pro-Kremlin disinformation.

See also a debunk by the Insider.

See previous related examples of disinformation claims, alleging that supporters of Western liberalism seek to undermine Russia’s cultural code; that George Floyd was killed by drugs, not the police; that gay fascism has long been present in Europe and the US.

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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