Author: disinfo5
The Chief of Staff of the German army, Carsten Breuer, warns that NATO should be prepared for a possible Russian attack within just four years. In an interview with the BBC, he asserts that “we must do whatever it takes to deter this,” but also cautions that in reality ” it’s about how much time Putin gives us to be prepared” for war. The German army, Bundeswehr, recently received the green light for a massive increase in investments, after the parliament in Berlin voted to exempt defense spending from the public debt limit. The country’s top general told the BBC…
The European Union has declared that it will use a wide range of options to retaliate against the United States if President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on the bloc this week, according to Bloomberg. “We don’t necessarily want to retaliate,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday. “If necessary, we have a strong plan of retaliation and we will use it.” The US intends to impose high tariffs on global partners starting as early as Wednesday. Trump has stated that these measures will rectify tariffs, as well as non-tariff…
Elon Musk’s days as an advisor at the White House may be coming to an end, along with his government efficiency department, according to Politico. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that his close ally Musk may be forced to return to running his companies full-time, and that the tumultuous mission of DOGE will be accomplished after the firing of tens of thousands of government employees. “I think it’s amazing, but I also think he has a big company to run, so at some point he will come back,” Trump said about the CEO of Tesla. “He wants to. I…
US President Donald Trump has declared that he trusts that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will uphold his commitments in a potential ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. “I want to make sure he sees things through. I believe he will do what he told me and I think he will now fulfill his part of the agreement,” said Trump on Monday, March 31, at a press conference in the White House, reported DW. At the same time, Trump warned that he is prepared to increase economic pressure on Russia if Putin does not fulfill his commitments. “I don’t want to impose secondary…
Anyone who studies disinformation could ask why the information space contains so many hyperboles. For example, when you read about the pandemic, you cannot avoid extravagant narratives of Satan pulling the strings, or wild scenarios in which Western leaders emerge as dictators. Probably, part of the explanation is that, from the viewpoint of the receiver, the drama is seductive; people click on hyperbolic and emotional content. A recent Oxford University study also sheds light on those that spread disinformation. It found that RT TV channel, a super spreader, uses disinformation to create (political) chaos. If chaos is the goal, the means is a massive number of disinformation narratives,…
Moscow’s propaganda campaign against Ukraine and its dislocation of troops near the Ukrainian border echo the propaganda it deployed against the Republic of Georgia and the troops it moved up to the Georgian border before invading that country in 2008, Vitaly Portnikov says. Because Moscow invaded Ukraine seven years ago in a hybrid fashion, the Ukrainian analyst says, most people are comparing what happened in advance of Moscow’s moves then with what it is doing now. But a far more instructive comparison is provided by what Moscow did in Georgia in 2008. Vladimir Putin and his representatives constantly accuse Ukraine of being aggressive and…
Over the past week, two minors died on the Russian militant occupied territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. On April 2, it was reported that a five-year-old boy died in Oleksandrivske in the Donetsk area. On April 6, in the self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples’ Republic (LPR) two teenage boys were reported to have been hit by a mine explosion in Slovianoserbsk. In both cases, the Russian side accused Ukraine of the deaths of the minors without any relevant evidence, claiming the boy allegedly died from a Ukrainian drone attack, while the teenagers were allegedly hit by an Ukrainian Armed Forces…
“Whataboutism” is a rhetorical device to deflect attention to an unpleasant issue. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as: The technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue. The method is very popular in the pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystem “Russian military shot down a passenger plane? Well, what about all the aircraft the US has shot down?” “Eastern Ukraine? Well, what about all the countries in whose affairs the US has interfered?” “Demonstrators detained in Russia? Well, what about the police violence in Europe and the gilets jaunes? What about…
Systematic disinformation accuses Chisinau of imposing an economic and humanitarian blockade. By Victoria Rosa, foreign policy and security expert in Eastern Europe. As the Covid-19 crisis challenges the world it has also amplified the long-running disputes dividing societies. Disinformation and propaganda surrounding the pandemic has fuelled such divisions, with fake news reinforcing damaging narratives and spreading mistrust. In Moldova, this informational crisis has further endangered attempts to resolve the Transnistrian conflict. The Transnistrian region’s media has long centred on depicting the Republic of Moldova as an aggressor and a “neighbouring country” which hinders the development of the so-called Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica…