"Does Russia see COVID-19 as a chance to weaken the West by spreading false information?" dorzeczy.pl cited a piece penned by Dirk Mueller-Thederan in the Bild tabloid as asking.
Russia is exploiting the virus crisis to "wage an information war" in order to divide Europe by using fake news, Bild said, as cited by dorzeczy.pl.
The Polish website reported that an example of the “Russian disinformation offensive” is a claim by Alessio D'Amato, an official from the Lazio region in central Italy, that Polish customs officers allegedly confiscated 23,000 protective masks that were supposed to be sent to Italy. The "news story" was picked up by various websites, dorzeczy.pl reported.
"Poland suddenly found itself pilloried, accused of a lack of empathy, of refusing to help Italy at the time of its greatest need and of dividing Europe. Only it was not true," Mueller-Thederan said, as cited by dorzeczy.pl.
Although Polish diplomats denied the fake news about the seizure of the masks, the story was widely circulated, dorzeczy.pl reported.
Stanisław Żaryn, spokesman for Poland’s security services chief, said last month that Russia was spreading fake news en masse and stepping up disinformation operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Żaryn said in an interview with the wpolityce.pl website that Russia was seeking to destabilise other countries while trying to boost its own international profile amid the virus crisis.
Poland’s foreign ministry last month summoned Russia's ambassador to protest at an “absurd” claim that Warsaw had refused to let Russian planes carrying aid to virus-struck Italy pass through Polish airspace.
The foreign ministry said that Russia’s ambassador to Warsaw, Sergey Andreyev, was told that Poland was indignant over the accusation, according to Polish state news agency PAP.
(pk/gs)
Source: dorzeczy.pl