“While Moldova prepares polling stations for the parliamentary elections on September 28, Russia writes an ominous scenario, already well known to Ukrainians, through information operations. Russia has systematically intervened in Moldova’s policy, and it has recently increased its rates when its external intelligence has explicitly stated that it was allegedly after Sunday elections, the EU intends to occupy Moldova under a fictional reason – to ensure peace in an unstable after -election situation.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
At the same time, it was stated that NATO forces allegedly prepare a landing in Odessa to intimidate the pro -Russian residents of Transnistria and disrupt their plans for the destabilization of Moldova. Although these statements are unverified and unconditionally false, the time and form of this information operation reflects early markers documented in Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine. In particular, it is about the use of a specific form of misinformation known as “Information Alibi”.
Information alibi consists in the preventive dissemination of false information, carefully constructed in order to translate responsibility for international crimes from a real perpetrator or state to the other party – that is, in fact for the acts that they plan to do. Designing such deceptive narratives, Russia seeks to commit crimes with impunity – freeing itself from responsibility by manipulating the information environment as an integral part of the criminal act itself. This tactic cynically uses rhetoric as a tool for hybrid warfare and ultimately – international crimes, in particular, the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity, war crimes and even genocide.
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This scenario is well known to Ukraine. As described in the recent Global Rights Compliance report and The Reckoning Project “Creating impunity: information operations of the Russian Federation in Ukraine”, before attacks on a Drama Theater in Mariupol, a dam of Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, a prisoners of prisoners of prisoners in Olena. State authorities and Telegram channels spread an alternative narrative-directly opposite to the true plans of Russia-and actively popularized it before, during and after attacks, until the deceptive narrative partially overshadowed the truth about crimes. The goal is to promote the crime so as to doubt the guilty side and obscure the public debate for a long time to promote military, geopolitical and criminal purposes.
This information operation – the statement about the “occupation of the EU Moldova” and “NATO invasion of Odessa” – is not just propaganda. It ALIBI Information, Which can be used to justify the future aggression against Moldova and a number of international crimes against those who may interfere with the implementation of this criminal plan. At the same time, it can promote further military operations in the Odessa region and, according to a typical Russian scenario, is accompanied by numerous attacks on the civilian population.
Why does Russia carry the “Alibi Information” script to Moldova? Russia’s main motivation in creating instability in Moldova is to block its accession to the EU, since membership is perceived by Moscow as a direct call for its outdated claims on the so -called “sphere of influence”. In addition, since the processes of accession of Moldova and Ukraine to the EU are informally interconnected, the inhibition of Moldova’s path has an additional “advantage” in the form of a slowdown in Ukraine’s progress.
By lighting up the information war in Moldova (see the latest BBC and Ziarul de Gardvey investigations), spending hundreds of millions of euros on the “capture of power” through parliamentary elections and using its presence in Transnistria, the Kremlin seeks either establishing a pro -Russian government or establishing a non -functional parliament. This approach not only leaves Moldova at a greater political and economic distance from the EU Member States, but also weakens the Western neighbor of Ukraine and undermines the EU expansion policy.
It is important that these measures are only part of a multilevel strategy aimed at restoring Russia’s hegemony in the region. If the above actions do not contribute to the success of Moscow, the Aliba Information can be the basis for the use of force in violation of the UN Charter and, as in the case of Ukraine, will open the way to committing a number of other international crimes.
What should Moldova do to counteract “Information Alibi” of Russia? Moldova and other states should consider Russian misinformation, including information alibi, as alarming signals of a criminal plan and promptly opposed to such narratives. It is not just propaganda is a tool for realizing a clear plan for aggression, which involves an encroachment on the sovereignty of the state and attacks on its civilian population. Moldova should track, check and publicly refute key statements, publishing true facts so that Moldova citizens can resist dangerous narratives of Russia and thus to tear its criminal plan. It is also important to coordinate actions with independent media and civil society in order to be alarmed before the active spread of information alibi.
In addition to forming an effective communication strategy, Moldova should document the Alibi Information so that they can serve in the future in the future in the mechanisms of bringing Russia to justice. In particular, such campaigns should be investigated as evidence of a criminal plan to violate the prohibition on the use of force enshrined in the UN Charter.
On the eve of the election on September 28, Moldova should take into account the lesson of Ukraine: pre -widespread narratives are not just meaningless misinformation, but a possible proof of intention to take actions directly prohibited by international law. The Moscow Alibi Information in Moldova aims to justify the use of force and in legal dimension can be regarded as a component of a plan aimed at violating Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter and committing international crimes.
From Kiev to Chisinau, the strategy of counteracting the information alibi remains obvious: to recognize the Russian scenario, to refute misinformation, and to ensure that the future of Moldova is determined by its citizens – without allowing the information alibi to destroy the democracy to clean up for further aggression.
Scott Martin, International Legal Advisor to the Global Rights Complimentation Foundation
A column is a material that reflects the author’s point of view. The text of the column does not claim the objectivity and comprehensive coverage of the topic that rises in it. The editorial board of “Ukrainian Truth” is not responsible for the accuracy and interpretation of the information provided and performs the fault TKOK role of the carrier. The point of view of the UP editorial board may not coincide with the point of view of the author of the column.