The same misinformation being spread in America by the QAnon conspiracy theory and Vladimir Putin's Russia, CNN reported Wednesday.
"A new conspiracy theory has become popular among some of the online communities that formed around QAnon – one simultaneously being promoted by the Kremlin as a justification for its invasion of Ukraine. The false claim: the United States is developing bioweapons in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin has stepped in to save the day and destroy the weapons," Donie O'Sullivan reported. "There are US-funded biolabs in Ukraine, that much is true. But they are not building bioweapons. Actually, it’s the opposite: Part of the reason for their creation was to secure old Soviet weapons left behind in the former Soviet republics."
Fox News personality Sean Hannity brought up the biolabs on Wednsday night, but Fox News defense reporter Jennifer Griffin debunked his propaganda.
"Russia has been pushing various bits of disinformation about the US and biological weapons since the Cold War – infamously publicizing, for instance, the false idea that the US manufactured the HIV/AIDS virus," CNN reminded. "Russia does not necessarily need to push its disinformation to QAnon adherents, because the two have enough shared interests. Today, many Americans find themselves in online groups and following accounts that mobilized around QAnon – there, Russian disinformation is sometimes embraced with enthusiasm."
The White House has sought to debunk the conspiracy theory.
This is preposterous. It\u2019s the kind of disinformation operation we\u2019ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862488
It\u2019s Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons, including in attempted assassinations and poisoning of Putin\u2019s political enemies like Alexey Navalny.— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862488
Also, Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating. In December, Russia falsely accused the U.S. of deploying contractors with chemical weapons in Ukraine.— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862489
Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. It\u2019s a clear pattern.— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862490
