Fake: Ukrainian Military Use Prohibited Weapons in Donbas

November 02, 2022
Donbas

Russian and separatist media claim that Ukrainian military have used white phosphorus munitions, weapons that are banned under the Geneva Convention. However, the mine fragments they have shown as evidence are of a different type of munition.

On February 19 the Donetsk television station Union reported in its newscast that near the city of Horlivka, some 56 kilometres north of the eastern Ukrainian city Donetsk, the center of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR,  the Ukrainian side had fired white phosphorus bombs on the Russian supported militants.

Health Security: "Disinformation and Epidemics: Anticipating the Next Phase of Biowarfare"

September 30, 2022
HS cover

ABSTRACT: While biological warfare has classically been considered a threat requiring the presence of a distinct biological agent, we argue that in light of the rise of state-sponsored online disinformation campaigns, we are approaching a fifth phase of biowarfare with a ‘‘cyber-bio’’ framing.

US State Department: "Soviet Influence Activities: A Report on Active Measures and Propaganda, 1986 - 87 August 1987"

September 19, 2022
Pravda (October 31, 1986:  Caption above cartoon: The AIDS virus, a terrible disease for which up to now no known cure has been found, was, in the opinion of some Western researchers, created in the laboratories of the Pentagon.􏰓 The words on the flag emanating from the beaker state: Virus 􏰒AIDS.􏰓 Caption below the cartoon:Pentagon (AIDS) specialists.

Preface: In response to legislation passed in 1985, the Department of State on July 30, 1986, submitted to Congress a document titled Active Measures: A Report on the Substance and Process of Anti-U.S. Disinformation and Propaganda Campaigns. This report updates that document, focusing on events and changes which occurred between June 1986 and June 1987. Both reports were prepared by the Active Measures Working Group.

WoR:"The Virus Of Disinformation: Echoes Of Past Bioweapons Accusations In Today’s Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories"

September 08, 2022
WoR

Despite its moniker, the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic almost certainly did not originate in Spain. The belligerents of World War I suppressed reporting on the outbreak in order to avoid harming morale, while Spain, as a neutral country, had a media free to report openly on the extent of the disease. Since most media coverage of the outbreak came from Spain, so too did its origin story. The 1918 outbreak — frequently compared to the current COVID-19 pandemic in terms of public fear and response — could have begun in China, or the United States, or northern France.

"As bioweapons negotiators prepare to meet amid a pandemic and torrents of disinformation, can they accomplish anything?" Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

September 03, 2022
Bulletin

One fall day in 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian defector who once worked in Moscow’s secret intelligence community and who became a prominent Kremlin critic in the United Kingdom, ate sushi for lunch before meeting with two former colleagues from his spy agency days at the Pine Bar in London’s Millennium Hotel. The anti-corruption crusader was reportedly set to travel to Spain to investigate the Russian mob there. But just a few short weeks later, Litvinenko was dead.

INSS-NDU: "Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment"

August 20, 2021
INSS-NDU

The series "Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment," produced by scholars from the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, encompasses a trio of papers that delve into the intricate relationship between disinformation and arms control. This scholarly work aims to foster a comprehensive dialogue on the potential influence of disinformation on the formulation and implementation of future arms control treaties and agreements.