Today at 20:03
Russian media are actively disseminating a video: Western weapons for Ukraine allegedly ended up in the hands of Palestinian militants who attacked Israel.
The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has already denied the fake and warned that in the future Moscow plans to accuse Kyiv of allegedly selling Western weapons to terrorists on a regular basis.
Experts point out that, unlike Kyiv, it is very profitable for the Kremlin to present the picture exactly like this.
Another “sensation” of Russian propaganda
Against the backdrop of an increase in the variety and quantity of equipment supplied to Ukraine, Russia is trying with all possible tools to stop these supplies. In particular, as experts note, they use various types of propaganda.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine knew about the information provocation of the Russian Federation in advance. According to the department, the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) has already handed over to Hamas militants weapons captured during the fighting in Ukraine, manufactured in the United States and European Union countries.
Now – fake accusations against the Ukrainian military of “illegal trade in Western weapons for terrorists on an ongoing basis,” which should form the basis for a number of “revelatory publications” and “investigations” in the Western media.
“As part of the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign, these fakes should form the basis for a number of “revelatory publications” and “investigations” in Western media. To be convincing, the Russian special services intend to use the corresponding comments of a traitor from the Ukrainian border service – senior lieutenant Ruslan Syrov, who recently fled to Moscow,” the MOU GUR said in a Facebook post.
There are fears in Ukrainian society that, against the backdrop of the war in Israel, Western countries may reduce assistance to Ukraine. This can happen for economic reasons or under the influence of Russian information attacks.
President of Ukraine Zelensky said on October 11 that the country will still receive assistance and no one will abandon Ukrainians in confronting Russian aggression. According to the president, all Ramstein ministers assured him of further support.
He added that Russian interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict is clear.
“Russia is interested in constant destabilization. They are very interested in this. And I think that what is happening in the world is no coincidence. Today they are interested in seeing assistance to Ukraine decrease. And they do different things, even tragic things, even on different continents, in other countries of the world. In order to reduce attention to Ukraine, help for Ukraine. Therefore, reducing it is a risk for everyone, not only for Ukraine,” explained the head of the Ukrainian state.
Expert comments
The main goal of the Russian fake about supposedly “Ukrainian weapons” in the hands of Hamas is the Kremlin’s attempt to interrupt the supply of weapons from its partners to Kyiv. This and other versions were expressed on the FREEDOM TV channel by:
Viktor Yagun, military and public figure, reserve major general of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), deputy chairman of the SBU (2014-2015);
Valery Ryabykh, military expert;
Andriy Yusov, representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine;
Oleksiy Getman, military expert, reserve major of the Ukrainian Armed Forces;
Igor Semyvolos, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
VICTOR YAGUN: The war in Israel for the Russian Federation is another “small cut” on the edge of peace
— You can find out where this or that weapon is that may “surface” in the Gaza Strip very clearly and calmly.
The other day, the Arab satellite studio Russia Today tried several times to provoke the press secretary of the Israeli Defense Forces with this very question: “What about the weapons, you found the weapons?” They needed this general of the Israeli army to say something sane and confirm their fake. And then they would use this as one of the sources to which all Russian propaganda would then refer.
But the general sent a representative of this channel openly in Arabic and said: “I don’t comment on lies and fakes.” That is, the provocation did not go through the Israeli military.
The more lies, the calmer it is for them. And an attempt, what if someone still starts to doubt? And if a person begins to doubt, this is precisely their client who can be lured to their side. Therefore, the tactics are very simple – for the domestic audience, simply say that the weapons used by Hamas are weapons that were transferred by Ukraine through some smugglers.
But in fact, the truth is very simple: a Hamas special unit was destroyed, which was armed with an export version of the AK-103 (a Russian assault rifle developed by Kalashnikov – ed.). That’s all.
First of all, this benefits Russia, not even Iran. It is Russia that is the beneficiary of all these events. Because now Peskov (press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation – ed.) came out with a prepared statement and said: “You see, some of the weapons will go to Israel, and they will finally stop flowing into Ukraine.” This is already a sign that Russia knew and was ready for these events.
Small “cuts” that may occur in the world, some kind of coups in Africa, events in Israel – all this is diverting the attention of Western civilizations from Ukraine.
Imagine if some kind of conflict breaks out in Asia now, and even if it affects Taiwan… It’s clear that this is much more profitable for Russia than for anyone. Therefore, I believe that the beneficiary of all these events is not even Iran, but Russia.
VALERY RYABYKH: Ukraine’s armament has been “hindering” Russia since the 1990s
— In 1996, Ukraine entered the international arms market, and since then the purposeful work of the special services of the aggressor state against Ukraine began.
They realized that Ukraine was a competitor of the Russian Federation in the international arms market, and from that moment on, a continuous series of information and psychological operations (IPSO) against our country began.
Now the same process is happening, only the goals are different – strategic, more important for the Russian Federation. Therefore, we note such an increase in the attempts of the aggressor state to denigrate Ukraine and present it as an unreliable partner in order to interrupt the assistance provided by partners to Ukraine in the interests of the Russian Federation.
This is precisely what the Main Intelligence Directorate [of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense] reports, that some of the weapons that are used on the battlefield in Ukraine could have fallen into the hands of the occupiers. This happens in any war. We saw how, in Israel, a sudden attack by militants provoked situations in which some of the Israeli weapons were captured by Hamas militants.
Anyone who is not following the situation does not know, for example, that there is a Hamas embassy on Russian territory. According to open sources, in 2023 alone more than 1 billion rubles. was given in support of Hamas by Russia. And, of course, since Soviet times there remains a great influence of the Russian intelligence services among various social strata of the Palestinians, including, of course, among such groups as Hamas. So this story is quite predictable.
Most of our Western partners already understand, by the way, and from their own mistakes, what they are dealing with: unprincipledness, very deep propaganda and substitution of concepts that the Russian Federation practices.
ANDRIY YUSOV: Ukraine is transparent about international assistance, but Russian propaganda is not interested in this
— The Russian military has captured weapons, mostly small arms—we are not talking about large quantities. These weapons were transferred to Hamas militants for the implementation of Russian IPSO against Ukraine. The Russian Federation is using tensions and events in the Middle East, and attacks on Israel, including as a continuation of its war against Ukraine.
Everyone understands perfectly well that Ukraine is always transparent about international assistance, and all assistance is under the full control of our allies and partners – the United States, NATO countries in Europe. Everyone who helps us has access and control to information about weapons.
And most importantly, what is the motive? What nonsense? What Hamas and weapons from Ukraine? But this never stopped Russian propaganda.
Russia today, as the No. 1 arms smuggler in the world, uses various channels and various schemes to implement both information and psychological operations and direct assistance. Yes, the information that militants from Russian so-called private military companies are involved in training Hamas militants is also confirmed. We also see the use of drones against armored vehicles, and many other techniques and tactics that are actively used in the latest Russian-Ukrainian war. Of course, there is a Russian trace here.
IGOR SEMYVOLOS: Russia has prepared in advance for anti-Ukrainian propaganda against the backdrop of the war in Israel
“It is quite possible that some of these weapons in the form of firearms fell into the hands of the Russians as a result of the war against Ukraine as a trophy, this is quite understandable. We know about the active exchange of weapons between Iran and Russia.
She prepared fakes with anti-Ukrainian propaganda in advance. It doesn’t happen suddenly. This is part of special Russian information operations, prepared in advance, taking into account that this conflict will occur.
Based on this information, we can continue to draw analogies that the Russians are preparing such information dumps in advance. They were fully aware of what would happen.
