A study visit from 2016 has caused the Russian site Newsfront to publish the article which has now aroused reactions at the highest political level in Sweden.
In the article, which was published on April 15 this year, the site indirectly accuses the participants of the study visit of causing 119 children to die in the conflict zone around southeastern Ukraine.
"Completely unacceptable"The information has caused Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist to shrug off the sharp.
- This is a collaboration we have with Ukraine and has nothing to do with educating war criminals or spreading concern in southeastern Ukraine, as one writes. You try to black paint, disinform, mislead in a systematic way. Which I think is totally unacceptable, he says in an interview with SVT.
Want to pay attention to the Swedish peopleAccording to Peter Hultqvist, disinformation is a constantly ongoing business, but what still got him to respond to this is the roughness, which he thinks differs from what one usually sees. He now wants to alert Swedish citizens to what it looks like.
How do you decide what is state-based disinformation and just general misleading news, satire or other?
- In its annual reports, SAPO has pointed out that we have a problematic situation with Russia, China and Iran. Disinformation and misleading propaganda are part of the means used. In this specific example, I am content to say that it is a Russian-language site.
A survey of the article's distribution on Facebook shows that it is most divided into pro-Russian groups. But despite not being picked up in broad stock, the fact-checking organization Stop fake in Ukraine believes that the article may have fulfilled its purpose by reaching the locals in Ukraine.
- This is probably funded by the Russian security service FSB, but to prove it is more difficult because they do everything to keep that information secret. This is a very typical narrative spread from pro-Russian media that is controlled and financed by the Russian state, says Oleksandr Jaroschuk at Stop fake to SVT.