The occupation of Crimea by the Russian military without insignia, who invaded and took control of the peninsula &ndash; have shown how disinformation can support hostile military operations. For seven years now, pro-Kremlin media and politicians have been trying &nbsp;to create an illusion of legitimacy for this blatant land grab and violation of international law.

<a href="https://euvsdisinfo.eu/">EUvsDisinfo </a>is a project of the East StratCom Task Force of the European External Action Service, designed to respond effectively to the Russian Federation&#39;s ongoing disinformation campaigns concerning the European Union and neighboring countries. Every week, the portal provides an overview of the most blatant pro-Kremlin disinformation. In particular, the portal currently contains more than 600 examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation claims &nbsp;about &nbsp;Crimea. But despite the best efforts of the Kremlin&#39;s propagandists, &nbsp;Crimea will always be Ukrainian.

How the  Pro-Kremlin Media Try  to Legitimize the Illegal Occupation of Crimea, and Other Russian Disinformation Campaigns

“Among the many different examples of factually wrong claims that have come out of the Kremlin and media outlets loyal to its line since 2014, the case of Crimea’s annexation stands out as perhaps the most blatant and geopolitically most critical”. Now, on the seventh anniversary of the occupation of the Ukrainian Peninsula, this opinion of the European portal EUvsDISINFO is more relevant than ever.

According to Russian doctrine, the targets of psychological warfare include the political leadership, military personnel and their families, the civilian population, and certain specific target groups, such as ethnic and religious minorities, opposition groups and businesspeople &ndash; in friendly, neutral and hostile foreign countries alike. This means that&nbsp;<a href="https://valisluureamet.ee/pdf/raport/2021-ENG.pdf">the entire world population outside Russia is a potential target.</a>

Psy-ops units monitor foreign media on a daily basis to keep abreast of the coverage of issues relevant to the GRU, current events and Russia&rsquo;s role in them. Regular media monitoring reports identify, among other things, influential Western publications&rsquo; articles that are in line with Russian interests; these are boosted through fake social media accounts and GRU-controlled online portals. In online propaganda, GRU focuses on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and VK (VKontakte).

The GRU uses those portals to plant disinformation in the public sphere of foreign countries, in the hope that it will spread and the original source will go unnoticed. The choice of topics depends on the GRU&#39;s priorities, which may change over time.

In 2020, GRU-controlled English-language online portals (such as inforos.ru, infobrics.org and oneworld.press) disseminated false information about the COVID-19 pandemic, undermining the Western countries&rsquo; efforts to curb the spread of the virus and praising Russia&rsquo;s actions. For example, they spread the statement that the US is taking advantage of the pandemic to assert its worldview and the coronavirus is in fact an American bioweapon.

The Whole World Is the Target of Russia's Psychological Warfare - Estonian Intelligence

Russia sees psychological warfare as part of a comprehensive informational confrontation with the enemy – mainly Western countries. This was reported by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service in the traditional annual report “International Security and Estonia”.

In late 2020, the Ukrainian side won one of the tenders for the repair of two Mi-17V-5 helicopters for the Afghan Air Force. At this, the Afghani professionals carefully studied all the documentation provided to them for the repair of helicopters, the terms of the contract, and signed it without any objections.

Immediately, Russian Helicopters holding company stated that &ldquo;Ukrainian companies endanger the lives of the American and Afghan soldiers&rdquo;. The statement issued by the press service of Russian Helicopters company stated that Ukraine had no right to such repair without the participation and control of the developer and manufacturer of this type of helicopter &ndash; Russian Helicopters holding company.

Besides, the Russian holding explained that Motor Sich (Zaporizhzhya) and Aviacon (Konotop) could not perform the repair of the Mi-17V-5, as those Ukrainian enterprises had not been supplied with actualized repair and design documentation and spare parts for the helicopters. And also because representatives of the Russian developers and manufacturers were not involved in the repair.

The holding said that it disclaimed all responsibility for further safe operation of mentioned helicopters. Finally, the Russian side resorted to threats, saying that the holding &ldquo;will notify all interested Russian and foreign organizations and authorities about the inclusion of Ukrainian companies in the list of aircraft repair enterprises carrying out illegal overhaul of Russian-made helicopters&rdquo;.

What was the true reason for such a reaction from Russian Helicopters? And not only from it. The Russian propaganda machine inside Russia and abroad, including RIA Novosti, Russia Today and other media, jumped on this topic.

The history of purchasing helicopters for Afghanistan dates back to 2001. Then, as part of a pilot project to purchase weapons under the Foreign Military Sales program, the US government began purchasing Russian Mi-17V-5 multi-role helicopters for the Afghan Air Force. Russian helicopters were chosen, not American or any other, because the Afghan military already had experience in servicing and flying on them.

In total, more than 60 helicopters were purchased. At the same time, the question of maintenance of the helicopters arose. Why didn&#39;t they ask Russia? In 2014, the United States, after the beginning of Russia&#39;s aggression against Ukraine, stopped the implementation of this project. Due to Russia&#39;s violation of international norms. In addition, the US government began to impose a number of sanctions against Russia, primarily against defense industry enterprises. In such a situation, allowing the Russians to repair those helicopters was out of the question.

Nevertheless, the Russian side insisted that &ldquo;without the participation and control of the developer and the manufacturer of this type of helicopters&rdquo; no one could do anything, let alone Ukraine.

But international practice testified to the opposite. For example, in 2015, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) announced a similar tender for the maintenance of the Mi-8 of the Afghan Air Force. Under the terms of the tender, only companies registered in the member countries of the Alliance could apply for the contract. By no means Russia. At that time one of Slovak companies won the tender.

The Russian holding&#39;s next argument was that Ukraine did not have rights of some kind and legitimacy. The accusation ended in September 2019 with the official presentation by US Strategic Advisor Donald Winter to the then Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Zahorodniuk of the United States&#39; certificates that would allow Ukrainian defense industry enterprises to repair MI&nbsp;helicopters for foreign customers.

It was the Russian Federation&#39;s another attempt to denigrate Ukrainian aircraft builders. And there were many such attempts. For example, in September 2020, Russian Helicopters holding sent a letter to the Indian Air Force, claiming that it was the only representative for the overhaul and supply of spare parts for Mi-17V-5 helicopters and VK-2500-03 engines. This reaction was the result of the tender won by the Ukrainian company Motor Sich for the overhaul of VK-2500-03 engines on Indian Mi-17V-5s. The letter stated that the Russian Federation revoked the license for overhaul of VK-2500-03 engines at Motor Sich plant in 2018.

But after consultations and clarification of all the circumstances, the Indian side saw for itself that the Ukrainian company is the manufacturer of these engines, and it is able to make repairs of any complexity.

In general, the experience of Ukrainian manufacturers in the maintenance and repair of helicopters inside the country and abroad, accumulated over many years, is the main indicator of qualification and reliability for international partners.

If we return to the White Paper of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, in the section on the assessment of external threats to Ukraine&#39;s national security we can find the following theses: &ldquo;Russia will discredit Ukrainian enterprises on international markets&rdquo;; &ldquo;&hellip;enterprises of the defense-industrial complex will remain targets for attacks&rdquo;; &ldquo;There are already in progress allegations of inadequate quality control, etc.&rdquo;

That is, the methods honed over the years of discrediting Ukrainian manufacturers and disinformation of the world community are actively used, improved and strengthened by the propaganda component. One of the blocks of the White Paper, entitled &ldquo;The Mechanism of Russian Information Influence&rdquo; reads: &ldquo;The information component of the Kremlin&#39;s hybrid activity is based on the established system of disinformation and external propaganda. It is primarily about the activities of Russian international propaganda media, such as foreign units of such well-known &ldquo;fake factories&rdquo; as Sputnik or Russia Today.

The example of Russian Helicopters holding clearly confirms this.

How Russia Tried to Discredit Ukrainian Aircraft Builders

The publication of the White Paper of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine provides an opportunity to see in a new light some stories from the recent past and to find confirmation that threats from Russia are manifested in all spheres. We mean the lost by the Russian Federation contract for the repair of helicopters for the Republic of Afghanistan and, as a result, the Kremlin propagandists' unsuccessful attempts to discredit Ukrainian aircraft builders.

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine shares the author&#39;s thought about the danger of the instruments to which the Kremlin resorts to disseminate doubts in values of democratic institutions and weaken international confidence in the European Union, NATO, member-countries of the Alliance, international partners.

<a href="https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2020/12/21/disinformation-in-the-western-balkans/index.html">https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2020/12/21/disinformation-in-the-western-balkans/index.html</a>

&nbsp;

Disinformation in the Western Balkans

We wish to bring to your notice the analytical article by Daniel Sunter published on the internet resource NATO Review on the 21st of December 2020.

In November 2019, the Ministry of the Interior of Peru held a tender for the purchase of aircraft for the needs of the National Police of Peru. It was attended by Spanish, Italian aircrafts and Ukrainian An-178, which was recognized as the winner.

There are no Russian planes on this list. But the Russians, as a rule, did not miss the opportunity to set foot on Ukrainian producers, as they have repeatedly done for many years. The goal is to discredit Ukraine as a potential competitor, accuse it of failing to meet its contractual obligations, and offer Russia&#39;s services and products instead.

First, immediately after the announcement of the tender results, a critical article appeared in the Spanish-language online newspaper Defensa.com, which publishes information mainly about South America. It expressed doubts that Ukraine would be able to fulfill the contract. In particular, it was pointed out that without Russian components to do so would be unrealistic.

This article soon spread to other Spanish- and English-language segments of the Internet. Well, and of course, to Russian-language ones. This is a well-established mechanism of reposts and citations, when as the source of information is taken the already published content, not the official position of the state or responsible officials. At this, the goal is to sow distrust and cast a shadow on the other side.

The next attack on the An-178 took place on September 25, 2020, when a number of Russian media (Lenta.Ru, RIA Novosti, Vzglyad, Regnum, etc.) spread information about the alleged suspension of the Peruvian Interior Ministry&#39;s contract for the purchase of Ukrainian aircraft and the readiness of Russian manufacturers to offer their planes.

Interestingly, some Russian media referred to a sort of &ldquo;authoritative&rdquo; investigative blogger, Ricardo Zedano, who was called a &ldquo;journalist&rdquo; by Venezuela&#39;s TeleSUR. It was he who published information about the alleged suspension of the contract. According to him, the reason for this decision was the An-178&#39;s not having international certificate.

In addition to his arguments, he sewed with white threads the dismissal of the Ukrainian Ambassador to the Republic of Peru, Ihor&nbsp;Tumasov, and the Director of the State Concern &ldquo;Ukroboronprom&rdquo;, Aivaras Abromavicius, who had nothing to do with the contract. Plus a criminal investigation against General Alfredo Vildoso Rojas, who was the head of the Peruvian Police Aviation at the time of signing the contract. Like, here&nbsp;are the reasons and consequences why the contract is broken.

However, Ricardo Zedano did not specify that Alfredo Vildoso Rojas is&nbsp;accused of corrupt purchase of medical masks for half a million dollars, and has nothing to do with the conclusion of the contract for the construction of aircraft. However, he did not fail to mention that Russia is updating the version of the Il-76 heavy aircraft and the Il-112 medium aircraft, which are allegedly an alternative to the Ukrainian An-178. This is exactly the information that the Russian Federation needed.

At the time when Ricardo Zedano was quoted by Russian propagandists, Ukroboronprom immediately responded to Russian &ldquo;fakes&rdquo;. &ldquo;The foreign trade contract between SpecTechnoExport and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Peru for the supply of the An-178 aircraft for the needs of the National Police of the Republic of Peru is valid and corresponds to the mutual interest. Thus, the information that the Russian media began to spread in the media about the suspension of this contract doesn&rsquo;t correspond to the facts&rdquo;, the press service of SpetsTechnoExport emphasized.

In addition, the official position on this was expressed by the State Enterprise &ldquo;ANTONOV&rdquo;, which is part of the State Concern &ldquo;Ukroboronprom&rdquo;. &ldquo;At the end of August jig assembly of the AN-178 airframe was completed. All the works on the aircraft modernization and the new equipment mounting are performed according to the approved schedule&rdquo;, the company&#39;s press service said.

The Ukrainian military portal went further. It posted an article &ldquo;Russia is Trying to Break the An-178 Contract for Peru&rdquo; (November 12, 2020), in which, citing a journalistic investigation of the Ukrainian online aviation portal &ldquo;Krylya&rdquo; (&ldquo;Wings&rdquo;), it told about the &ldquo;well-known expert&rdquo; Ricardo Zedano, whom Russian media often cite.

&rdquo;Krylya&rdquo; found out that this &ldquo;journalist&rdquo; does not work for Venezuelan TeleSUR. Only two of his blogs are published in the section &ldquo;I am a reporter&rdquo; on the TeleSUR website. The section on that website is the subjective opinion of the authors, i.e. blogs that are not related to the editorial policy of TeleSUR. &ldquo;Krylya&rdquo; found one of the latest materials by Ricardo Zedano on the website of the &ldquo;Federacion de Periodistas del Peru&rdquo;.

At the same time, &ldquo;Defense&nbsp;Express&rdquo;, a Ukrainian information and consulting company specializing in the review of Ukraine&#39;s military equipment, armaments, and defense industry, has dug even deeper. On its web portal it posted an article &ldquo;Peru Has Confirmed the Contract for the Supply of An-178&rdquo; (November 12, 2020), which stated: &ldquo;While the Russian media are trying to sell the Ministry of Interior of Peru aircrafts that do not even fly, at the expense of &ldquo;local experts&rdquo;, Peruvians have confirmed the contract for the supply of An-178&rdquo;.

As for Ricardo Zedano, Defense Express points out that he &ldquo;actually works for the Russian state-owned Russia&nbsp;Today and RIA&nbsp;Novosti and lives in Moscow&rdquo;. After that, it becomes clear why this pseudo-expert is so persistent in his publications trying to prove that the An-178 is not the aircraft that the Peruvian Interior Ministry needs, and they need planes from the Russian Federation.

The case of Ricardo Zedano is not uncommon. On November 12, 2020, the Topcor.ru website published an article &ldquo;In Peru, They Got to the Core of the Matter with the Ukrainian An-178 and Are Considering Buying Il-112&rdquo; which testifies to Russia&#39;s rather persistent attempts to break the Ukrainian contract.

And the official position of the authorities of the Republic of Peru, which for obvious reasons is not interesting for Russian media, is unchanged: the contract for the manufacture of An-178 is valid. To put an end to all rumors, information attacks and &ldquo;fakes&rdquo;, the Ukrainian side resorted to organizing at the request of the Peruvian customer an online demonstration directly from the place of assembly of the aircraft.

&ldquo;Despite the quarantine lockdowns, limiting the possibility of business trips abroad, SFTE SpetsTechnoExport together with ANTONOV Company held a videoconference from the assembly plant, where the AN-178 aircraft is being built for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Peru&rdquo;, this is official message from the press service of &ldquo;SpetsTechnoExport&rdquo;.

On the Ukrainian side, the event was attended by the management of the ANTONOV Company and SpetsTechnoExport, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine in Peru.

The Peruvian customer was represented by the heads of the Administrative and Financial Affairs Office of the Ministry of Interior of Peru, the National Police of Peru, the Office of Strategic Procurement of the Aviation Department of the National Police of Peru.

The customer was informed about the degree of readiness of the aircraft and its components and was shown a detailed demonstration of the entire production process conducted directly from the assembly plant, which is building the aircraft intended for delivery to the Republic of Peru.

Such measures are an effective way to stop &ldquo;fakes&rdquo;. And for the response to be quick, effective and convincing, we must first of all know the nature of these &ldquo;fakes&rdquo;.

In the situation with the An-178, Russian propaganda used the so-called Woozle effect method to mislead the public &ndash; presentation of information based on &ldquo;weak citation&rdquo;. At this, the media selects some quotes and comments from foreign journalists, independent political scientists and experts and mixes them with distorted or simply inaccurate content to increase credibility of their arguments. Then materials from the foreign media are reprinted and the information space is filled with them as much as possible. As the Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich, Josef Goebbels, said, &ldquo;If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it&rdquo;.

Russia Does Not Stop Trying to Clip the Wings of the Ukrainian An-178

The contract concluded more than a year ago by the State Enterprise “SpetsTechnoExport” for the production of the An-178 transport aircraft for the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Peru, has been repeatedly attacked by the Russian side. At this, the Russians, without any reasoning, again and again used their favorite method of conducting information operations – “fakes”. Here's how it happened.

ATTENTION: RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA AND FAKES

How the Pro-Kremlin Media Try to Legitimize the Illegal Occupation of Crimea, and Other Russian Disinformation Campaigns

3/25/2021

The Whole World Is the Target of Russia's Psychological Warfare - Estonian Intelligence

Russia sees psychological warfare as part of a comprehensive informational confrontation with the enemy – mainly Western countries. This was reported by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service in the traditional annual report “International Security and Estonia”.

3/12/2021

How Russia Tried to Discredit Ukrainian Aircraft Builders

2/3/2021

Disinformation in the Western Balkans

We wish to bring to your notice the analytical article by Daniel Sunter published on the internet resource NATO Review on the 21st of December 2020.

1/4/2021

Russia Does Not Stop Trying to Clip the Wings of the Ukrainian An-178

12/24/2020