Russian Defense Ministry deems Bellingcat project materials on Ukraine as propaganda
MOSCOW. Sept 8 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry called the Bellingcat project materials a fabrication and anti-Russian propaganda, which allegedly substantiate the involvement of the Russian military in the hostilities in Ukraine.
After Bellingcat emerged in the United Kingdom, the Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly noted that this "is no more than a guise for the publication of the anti-Russian propagandistic materials prepared by western colleagues," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Facebook on Thursday.
The next in line was the latest Bellingcat material about the Russian Defense Ministry departmental awards with other alleged "proof for the participation of Russian troops in the hostilities in Ukraine based on separate images in social networks of the badges of honor and medals of Russian servicemen with serial numbers," the general said.
Several media outlets citing the Bellingcat inquiry reported earlier that thousands of Russian soldiers had allegedly been awarded with the medals for valor and distinguished conduct in combat during the hostilities in Ukraine.
The authors of the inquiry do not hesitate "to lie without remorse and twist the facts, trying to 'stage' the necessary result by a mosaic of false statistics and citing the 'official' data."
"The relative rise in the number of awarded servicemen in 2014-2016 is actually caused by the growth in the intensity of surprise combat readiness inspections in the troops and other combat training actions in the army and the navy. Besides, the substantial number of our servicemen has been rewarded, following the performance of the security measures [combat duty service] at the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, as well as the holding of the anti-terrorist operations in the North Caucasian region," Konashenkov said.