Russia continues its relentless campaign to subvert and weaken European democracies by mounting a massive disinformation campaign seeking to instill panic among countries reeling under the terrific onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Europe is being particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Six of the top 10 most infected countries worldwide are in Europe: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Together, these countries have a total of 76,588 cases or 36% of the world total as of Thursday evening in New York City.
A nine-page European document reveals the Russia government, its spy agencies, and social media trolls have unleashed a "significant disinformation campaign" against European democracies to worsen the impact of COVID-19, create mass panic and sow distrust.
The EU document also said the Russian campaign is continuously publishing a stream of fake news online in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French. It was produced by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's foreign policy arm. An EU database has recorded almost 80 cases of disinformation about the COVID-19 coronavirus since January 22.
The fake news out of Russia is meant to confuse EU readers by publishing contradictory, confusing and malicious reports that make it harder for the EU and individual Member States to communicate their response to the raging pandemic. EEAS cited Russian fake news attacks on Lithuania to Ukraine as examples.
It also revealed a string of fake news created by Russia in Italy, the second hardest-hit COVID-19 country in the world declaring Italy's health systems will be unable to cope with the raging pandemic and that doctors are having to choose who lived or died because of a massive lack of hospital beds.
EEAS has also shared information with Slovakia over the spread of fake news saying the country's prime minister, Peter Pellegrini, is COVID-19 positive and saying he may have infected other European leaders at recent summits. EEAS said a fake letter purporting to be from the Ukrainian health ministry falsely stated there were five coronavirus cases in the country.
"Pro-Kremlin disinformation messages advance a narrative that coronavirus is a human creation, weaponized by the West," said the EEAS document dated March 16. "A significant disinformation campaign by Russian state media and pro-Kremlin outlets regarding COVID-19 is ongoing."
"The overarching aim of Kremlin disinformation is to aggravate the public health crisis in Western countries...in line with the Kremlin's the broader strategy of attempting to subvert European societies."
The EU and NATO consistently accuse Russia of subversive action, including disinformation, to try to destabilize the West by exploiting divisions in society.
