Thread by @AlexandraChalup

a) Putin causes humanitarian crises, he doesn’t alleviate them;

b) Putin uses humanitarian crises, including those he causes, to further the Kremlin’s agenda, using Russia’s “aid” as political propaganda that advances military objectives.

1/6

https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1419558815985541123

In 2014, Putin invaded and illegally annexed part of Ukraine, causing a humanitarian crisis displacing millions and escalated his war in eastern Ukraine using humanitarian aid as cover to advance military operations; fake aid for a crisis he created.

2/6
bbc.com/news/world-eur…

In 2020, during peak of pandemic, as Russia executed a disinformation operation about Covid aimed to hurt the West, Putin sent “aid” to Italy that looked like a soft power move; turned out to be 80% worthless and gave cover for a GRU intel operation.

3/6
themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/03/ita…

Putin, who caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in Syria and used refugees to advance his hybrid war on Europe, cares so much about humanitarian aid that he tried to block it from starving Syrians in 2020…during the peak of the pandemic.

4/6

foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/10/rus…

Kremlin’s tactic of using a humanitarian crisis to advance its own agenda, including military operations, is something it has done since the Soviet Union; i.e., executing a disinformation campaign about the AIDS/HIV crisis during 1980s, blaming U.S.

5/6

4freerussia.org/russian-malign…

Russia is being hit by a third wave of Covid now due to Putin’s failed leadership and experienced the “highest death toll per capita of any developing nation,” ABC News reported.

Putin won’t help his own people but wants to “help” Cubans? No.

6/6

abcnews.go.com/International/…