BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Russian media have deployed a “significant disinformation campaign” versus the West to get worse the effect of the coronavirus, generate panic and sow wonder about, according to a European Union file seen by Reuters.
FILE PHOTO: Fake blood is seen in test tubes identified with the coronavirus (COVID-19) in this illustration taken March 17,2020 REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Pressing fake news online in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French, the Russian campaign utilizes inconsistent, confusing and destructive reports to make it harder for the EU to communicate its response to the pandemic, the report said.
The Kremlin denied the allegations on Wednesday, stating they were unproven and lacked common sense.
” A significant disinformation project by Russian state media and pro-Kremlin outlets regarding COVID-19 is ongoing,” stated the nine-page internal document, dated March 16, utilizing the name of the disease that can be triggered by the coronavirus.
” The overarching objective of Kremlin disinformation is to intensify the public health crisis in Western countries … in
line with the Kremlin’s wider method of trying to subvert European societies,” the document produced by the EU’s diplomacy arm, the Eu