2023-05-12
These tricks are nothing new. Russia has used the same disinformation playbook for decades. In fact, Moscow also falsely accused Nato of endangering civilians with weapons containing depleted uranium during the alliance’s 1999 intervention in Yugoslavia. After the UK announced its plan to send the shells to Ukraine last March, Zakharova called it a repeat of the “Yugoslavia scenario.”
These baseless allegations resemble Russia’s global disinformation campaign accusing the United States of developing biological weapons. Moscow has alleged that Washington runs covert facilities in Ukraine and other former Soviet countries. Russia has likewise claimed that the U.S. intentionally spread Covid and engineered monkeypox.
Russia wields disinformation to weaken the UK and other Western democracies from within while damaging their reputations on the world stage. Moscow amplifies its disinformation through social media platforms and state-run Russian media outlets such as RT and Sputnik. These outlets operate not only in the West but also in the global south, especially Africa and Latin American, where they are often popular sources of news.
London, along with Washington and other Western capitals, has quickly refuted Moscow’s claims: last year, during a UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine and Biological Weapons, UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward emphasised that Russia “has repeatedly spread disinformation, including wild claims involving dirty bombs, chemical weapons, and offensive biological research.”
That’s a step in the right direction. But now the UK should put Moscow on the defensive.
For starters, London should reveal the truth about Russia’s own bioweapons programmes. Russian sources have provided plenty of material to work with. For example, in 1999, Kenneth Alibek, the first deputy director of the Soviet Union’s bioweapons initiative, told the Nonproliferation Review that Moscow developed “the most efficient, sophisticated, and powerful offensive [biological weapons] programme in the world.” This programme remains alive and well in Russia today, in violation of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. The UK should ensure everyone hears this truth, perhaps by inviting Mr. Alibek to talk about the Kremlin’s bioweapons program.
UK media, too, could pitch in. A documentary on the Soviet and Russian biological weapons programmes could raise mass awareness about this issue. Similar projects have proven their effectiveness in the past. For example, the 2019 HBO mini-series on the Soviet Union’s 1986 Chernobyl so annoyed the Kremlin that Moscow banned the series and state news channels attempted to discredit it.
Speaking of nuclear disasters, the UK should continue to remind the world that Russia is threatening to cause Chernobyl 2.0 through its reckless occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, or ZNPP. Ever since Russian troops seised ZNPP last year, concerns have mounted about a possible meltdown. This past weekend, Russian troops began to evacuate locals who worked at and lived near the plant. In a statement, International Atomic Energy Agency director Rafael Grossi warned of “the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant.”
As it combats the Kremlin’s lies, the UK should harness a powerful tool: humour. Dry statements by government officials will not appeal to ordinary people. But witty memes will. London should establish a program to devise creative content to debunk Russian disinformation and spread the word about Moscow’s malfeasance.
Russia is using information as a weapon against the United Kingdom and its allies. Now it’s time for London to use the truth to fight back