DISINFO: Events in Belarus and unfounded claims of Navalny's poisoning aim at destabilizing Russia
SUMMARY
We are observing a very dangerous period of political pressure on Russia, such as the events in Belarus, and Navalny alleged poisoning that is unsupported by evidence. It can be said immediately that this complex set of measures at the political, military, strategic, cultural and humanitarian levels, are aimed at destabilising the situation, to make Russia respond to provocations in order to attack it and discredit in the information space. And they will continue in this manner until they destabilise, as they think, the situation inside Russia.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the poisoning of the prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny is supported by no evidence, coupled with another recurring disinformation narrative that the protests in Belarus are orchestrated by the West to target Russia. Navalny fell ill during a flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where doctors said he was in a coma and they were trying to save his life. Since then he has been transferred to Berlin and is receiving treatment at Berlin's Charite Hospital. The German federal government said that toxicological tests provided “unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group” in the blood samples of Alexei Navalny. The European Union condemned the poisoning of Alexei Navalny in the strongest possible terms. The poisoning was proven by a German military lab, which noted that the Russian opposition figure was poisoned with a variant of Novichok, a banned military-grade nerve agent. As for the protests in Belarus, they erupted to contest the results of the presidential elections, which took place on the 9 August and are considered fraudulent by a large part of Belarusian society. The European Union has also stated that the elections were neither free nor fair. Pro-Kremlin media frequently uses disinformation narratives about popular protests around the world and claim they are allegedly incited and funded by the US and other Western states. This narrative claims that protests, disorders and civil uprisings are never manifestations of popular discontent but are “colour revolutions” directed and funded by the West. See a similar story that there is no evidence Navalny was poisoned; Brussels and Washington just want sanctions. As for Belarus, read similar cases that the US, NATO and the EU want to dictate the rules of regime change in Belarus, and that the OSCE’s position regarding the election has been pre-determined.