Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 23/03/2022
Already on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army occupied the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. This event helped some social network users create fake news about “relaunched radiation” and then about crimes allegedly committed on the site where the worst nuclear catastrophe in the history of mankind occurred 36 years ago.
One of them was published on Facebook, and the author refers to the “Russian army” as the source.
“The Russian army in Chernobyl, unbelievable, what they found there in the depths, 4 floors underground… The original sound of the Russian commander… from what we saw, blood freezes in the veins… mutilated children, entrails, children in chains, still alive children which we released”, it is stated, among other things, in the post.
And as we are accustomed to citing such and similar sources (such as “well-informed sources” or “sources from diplomatic circles”…) these are unbelievable sources, information that cannot be verified, nor are they subject to further research.
There is no evidence to support the allegations that “mutilated children” and “children in chains” were found in Chernobyl, nor has any domestic, regional or international media reported on this, and it is not possible to find such information through any other sources, statements of officials or institutions. Additionally, there is no photo or video material to support these allegations.
Although it is no longer a functional power plant, Chernobyl has never been completely abandoned and still requires constant maintenance. About 2,400 people are still working on the site these days, including scientists, technicians, cooks, paramedics and other support staff, and members of the National Guard.
Reports from relevant institutions also say that Chernobyl is under constant scrutiny and that the situation is normal.
On March 10, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine stated on its website that “there are no violations of the boundaries and conditions of safe operation of nuclear power plants”, as well as that “the radioactive situation meets established norms” and that “physical protection systems work normally”.
The post which is the subject of this analysis adds the following:
“40 Deep State criminals have been shot.
More members of the Deep State are on the run, Commander, we will capture them all!
When it’s all over here, we’ll probably have to invade occupied Germany to eliminate all the Deep State criminals. The German people will be liberated!
Source: Russian Army”.
It is a rather confusing content, with vaguely worded sentences, where it cannot be clearly concluded why the author mentions the “deep state” and the attack on “occupied Germany”.
The term deep state is particularly prevalent among proponents of various conspiracy theories that advocate the idea of a “deep state” run by the US government. Our colleagues from Raskrinkavanje.ba wrote about it.
This term, especially after it was popularized by the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, has expanded globally, and in the past period, it can often be found in our language area in various conspiracy theories, usually without explaining what the term means and to whom it refers.
We rated this content as fake news and conspiracy theory.
The “fake news” rating is given to the original media report (entirely produced by the media that published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is assessed as fake news is created and disseminated to misinform the public, that is, to present a claim that is completely false as fact.
The “conspiracy theory” rating is given to a media report that gives a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event, or person, presenting it as part of or the result of a covert plan (“conspiracy”). It is characteristic of such contents that they present a series of claims, presented as facts without offering any credible evidence.
