The Russian government alleged today that its forces have discovered evidence of a US bioweapons program in Ukraine. The charge came from Foreign Ministry spokesperson, aka Sergei Lavrov’s infamous propagandist, Maria Zakharova.
It’s a theme that has been played before. It’s one of Russia’s favorites. In her statement, Zakharova recited all of the familiar elements of the WMD tale that Snopes dissected and debunked two weeks ago. www.snopes.com/…
While the charge isn’t new, this is the first time that Russia’s government officially claimed that it found supporting evidence in Ukraine. However, none of it was shown during the tirade that Zakharova delivered.
Her speech was carried in the UK by Sky News, a media outlet originally founded by Rupert Murdoch, now owned by Comcast. Here’s a sample:
As a disinfo piece, there are quite a few gaps in its logic. For example, Zakharova said that Russia has known about the alleged covert US bioweapons program in Ukraine since 2018, and that they raised the issue in the past, but she didn’t say with whom. The US President, and members of his administration, at the time, never said a word about it and Russia never presented the matter to the UN, either.
The truth is the charge doesn’t even rise to the level of disinfo. It’s more like a wild Qanon conspiracy theory and Qanon members already have their own version of it involving Dr. Anthony Fauci, of course.
So what do Putin, Lavrov and Zakharova hope to achieve with the propaganda they conjured up? Are they hoping to convince a domestic audience in Russia or are they targeting a wider global audience, too?
Certainly, the allegation is an attempt to justify Russia’s actions in Ukraine for Russians who may have doubts about the war. And Russia’s propagandists also know that the charge of WMD was used by the US to justify its own invasion of Iraq. Russia’s claim of US WMD in Ukraine deliberately echoes the earlier claim of WMD in Iraq. And it furthers the whataboutist logic fallacy that Russia has already employed to blunt criticism of its attack. The US did it, too. It’s a hook that they hope people around the world, and even some in the US, will swallow. However, Russia’s actions today are not justified by earlier wrongs. If they were, there would be no end to aggression in the world.
For more information about the whataboutist logic fallacy, see the EU vs Disinfo website at the link. euvsdisinfo.eu/...