"How Russia turned America’s helping hand to Ukraine into a vast lie"

March 30, 2023
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Information is the world’s lifeblood. It pulsates in torrents of facts and images. We are swamped with it.

But information can be poison, a dangerous weapon. Disinformation, or organized lying, can be used to wage political warfare. As the historian Thomas Rid wrote in “Active Measures,” his book on the subject, disinformation can weaken a political system that places its trust in truth. “Disinformation operations, in essence, erode the very foundations of open societies,” he wrote.

Russia, Ukraine, and the Chemical Conundrum: Exploring the Use of White Phosphorus in Bakhmut

Bakhmut, an eastern Ukrainian city, has been enduring the consequences of Russia's aggression since the outset of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Once known as Artemivsk, it retained this name until 2016, encompassing both the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. During the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers laid claim to Bakhmut as part of their territorial ambitions. However, the Ukrainian government managed to retake the city in mid-2014. Russia's interest in Bakhmut stems from its strategic geography, which enables them to disrupt Ukraine's supply lines.

AJEY LELE

EJIS: "Disinformation in international politics"

January 16, 2023
EJIS

Abstract: Concerns over disinformation have intensified in recent years. Policymakers, pundits, and observers worry that countries like Russia are spreading false narratives and disseminating rumours in order to shape international opinion and, by extension, government policies to their liking. Despite the importance of this topic, mainstream theories in International Relations offer contradictory guidance on how to think about disinformation.

Press Coverage: “BIOLOGICAL (DIS)INFORMATION: Russia – Georgia – USA"

January 09, 2023
Russia-Georgia Media logo collage

1-Information on the production of dangerous viruses and bacteria in a Georgian laboratory under the auspices of the United States needs international verification - Igor Giorgadze

https://www.interfax.ru/presscenter/628867/ (September 11, 2018)

2-Georgia rejected Russia's accusations about the biological laboratory named after Lugara

https://www.interfax.ru/world/629389/ (September 15, 2018)

SNAM: "How disinformation operations against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny influence the international audience on Twitter"

December 19, 2022
Social Network Analysis and Mining

Abstract: Previous research dedicated a lot of effort to investigation of the activities of the Internet Research Agency, a Russia-based troll factory, as well as other information operations. However, those studies are mostly focused on the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Brexit, and other major international political events. In this study, we have attempted to analyze how narratives about a domestic issue in Russia are used by malicious actors to promote harmful discourses globally and persuade an international audience on Twitter.

Newsweek:"China Peddles Russia's Claim That U.S. Has Bioweapons in Ukraine"

November 25, 2022
Zhao Lijian

China, ostensibly neutral on Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, took a significant step into Moscow's camp on Tuesday when a government official repeated a Russian conspiracy theory about the existence of U.S.-funded biological weapons in the country.

At a regular press briefing in Beijing, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, read out a Russian media report about the alleged discovery of a "military biological program" in Ukraine in the days after the large-scale offensive began.

Newsweek: "Russian Conspiracy Theory Says U.S. Training Birds to Spread Bio Weapons"

November 24, 2022
 Twitter/DRM Journal, March 11, 2022

After accusing the U.S. of producing bioweapons in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense has added another feather-ruffling theory to their accusation: That the U.S. is training birds in Ukraine to spread deadly diseases among Russian citizens.

The claim is just one of many false claims that Russia has offered to justify its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, including the baseless allegation that Ukrainian officials were committing genocide against ethnic Russians.

"Russia (again) peddles its debunked US-Ukrainian bioweapons claims at the United Nations": Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

November 16, 2022
Bulletin

Since invading Ukraine in February, the Russian government has tirelessly worked to convince others of the existence of an illicit US-Ukrainian bioweapons program. It’s brought the claims to the UN Security Council, the Biological Weapons Convention, and other international venues, sometimes more than once. Earlier this month, Moscow went to the Security Council for the fourth time this year. This time, Russian diplomats triggered a never-before invoked mechanism to vote on creating a commission to investigate its bioweapons allegations. Once again, few countries sided with Russia.