Likely false
Tuesday 17 July 2018
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Alexander Karpushin
Russian Ambassador to Albania
“[T]he main objectives of Russia here are the building of economic cooperation with mutual benefits and the maintenance of sustainable cultural and humanitarian ties with the Balkan peoples. All this certainly applies to Albania. Any other speculation about Russia's ‘aggressive plans’ or ‘expansionist appetites’ is nothing more than part of a major Western strategy to portray Russia as an imaginary enemy of NATO and the EU.”
Read more...Russia has annexed foreign territory, is involved in several regional conflicts, and has reportedly been meddling in sovereign countries’ domestic politics, including in the Balkans. Moscow has repeatedly said it sees NATO as an enemy and a threat to Russia’s national interests. -
Unknown
Editor of USA Really Website
“This exciting new project will encourage our colleagues and fellow citizens to think critically, and to provide a large platform where this can still happen, free of censorship. We need to be creative, to start our own watchdog organizations, and restore our basic constitutional freedoms.The key to being able to do that, starts with the fight for freedom of speech.”
Read more...While the site appears to be a platform for aspiring American “citizen journalists,” it is in fact a Russian project possibly tied to the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, better known as the “troll factory.” -
Yuri Shvytkin
State Duma Defense Committee
“How could they establish the fingerprints? They do not have a database that could identify biometric data (of Russian servicemen)… but how can they identify the real fingerprints of a serviceman who is serving?”RIA: The comment is “nullified.”
Read more...RIA Novosti admitted the Joint Investigation Team’s reference marks on the Buk surface-to-air missile system that could be used to identify it, comparing them to “fingerprints.” They were not talking about actual human fingerprints. -
Russian State Duma
A counter sanctions law: “Cessation or suspension of international collaboration between the United States and (or) other foreign nations in the rocket-propelled industry.”
Read more...While the Russian Duma threatens to cut off rocket engine sales to the U.S., it is clear the move would harm the Russian company producing the engine, and the Russian government signals it expects sales to continue into the next decade. -
Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoy
Chief of staff of Russian defense ministry
“Syria's air defense system, based on the Soviet-manufactured air defense systems, has successfully repulsed the strikes from aviation and naval means of destruction. 71 cruise missiles have been intercepted, using Syrian air defense systems S-125, S-200, Buk, Kvadrat and Osa.”
Read more...Gen.Sergei Rudskoy's full statement contains multiple claims aimed at minimizing the impact of air strikes on Syrian chemical weapon facilities. The fact check reveals they are either inaccurate of false. -
Dmitry Peskov
Russian Presidential Press Secretary
“We don’t have information about other Russians who might be in Syria.”
Read more...Russian officials have been extremely reluctant to speak about the deaths of Russian “private contractors” in Syria, denying any connection or even knowledge of their outfit, the Wagner Group. In reality, there is plenty of evidence that the Russian state is not only aware of Wagner and its activities, but that it has helped organize the mercenary outfit and provides it with material support. -
Maria Zakharova
Press secretary, Russian Foreign Ministry
“Material about the deaths of dozens and hundreds of Russian citizens – it is classic disinformation. It was not 400, not 200, not 100 and not 10. Preliminary figures indicate that as a result of the armed clash that took place, the causes of which are now being investigated, we can talk about the deaths of five people, presumably citizens of Russia. There are also wounded, but all this needs to be verified – in particular, and first and foremost, [their] citizenship; whether they are citizens of Russia or other countries.”
Read more...Eight Russians killed in the incident have already been identified in press reports, and multiple sources suggest the number of Russian deaths is much higher. -
Oleg Deripaska’s legal representative
“Aleksei Navalny is not the defendant in the suit, despite the fact that he illegally used information about the private life of Oleg Deripaska, savoring in his video the details of private life and making unfounded accusations.”
Read more...As a result of Deripaska’s suit, Navalny’s video investigation was added to Russia’s official list of “prohibited material” and both YouTube and Instagram ordered all related photo/video material be removed from their sites by the evening of February 14 to avoid being blocked in Russia. -
Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin
Commander-in-Chief of Russian forces in Syria
"On February 3, while flying over the Idlib de-escalation zone for controlling ceasefire regime observance, [a] Russian Su-25 pair lead-aircraft was hit by a missile launched from a MANPAD.”
Read more...Experts have challenged the Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that the Su-25 shot down in Syria’s Idlib province was on a “ceasefire observance” mission, pointing to video footage showing that the Russian fighter jet launched an airstrike approximately 15 seconds before it was hit by a shoulder-fired missile. -
Igor Morgulov
Russian deputy foreign minister
“These accusations [that Russia does not comply with international sanctions on North Korea] made by the United States are absolutely unfounded. Russia is fulfilling its obligations under the corresponding U.N. Security Council resolutions in full.”
Read more...Open source reports show Russian ships have helped North Korea evade sanctions by means of suspected illicit ship-to-ship fuel transfers. While no available open-source evidence points to the Russian government involvement, it is responsible for enforcing a prohibition on its nationals and entities. -
Andrei Klimov
Deputy Chairman, Federation Council foreign affairs committee
“Russia does not interfere in the domestic affairs of foreign states. Iran is a sovereign state, they have their own legitimate government, and we in such instances act the same way practically everywhere. As I told you, Russia does not interfere in the domestic affairs of sovereign states.”
Read more...A senior Russian legislator claimed not only that Russia is not interfering in the current situation in Iran, but also has not ever interfered in any foreign state’s domestic affairs. Based on evidence, the second claim is completely false, while the first claim cannot be yet be assessed, with circumstantial evidence suggesting it is false. -
Margarita Simonyan
Editor and Chief of RT
" This Ofcom, which looks at us under a magnifying glass and writes us warnings, for the previous year wrote more to Fox News than to us."
Read more...While it is true that RT received fewer warnings in 2016 from the UK’s communication regulator Ofcom than Fox News, it was only one fewer, and RT has received a total of 14 warnings while Fox has received nine.