Analysis of the News: “Scott Ritter: The attacks on Sevastopol and Dagestan are terrorist acts by the US and NATO against Russia”

Published on:

June 2024.

As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.

Scott Ritter: The attacks on Sevastopol and Dagestan are terrorist acts by the US and NATO against Russia

https://lat.rt.rs/rusija/97143-skot-riter-sevastopolj-dagestan-teroristicki-napad/

Moscow immediately accused the United States of America of the Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the attack involved five long-range missiles that the US began delivering this year. They said the missiles were programmed by US experts and guided based on intelligence from US satellites and a nearby US reconnaissance drone.

As reported by Radio Free Europe, neither Kyiv nor Washington commented on this attack, which occurred as Russia continued to bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and attack the northeastern city of Kharkov.

However, this attack was used by the Russian state media and pro-Russian media to continue spreading the narrative that the US and the West, with their unreasonable military aid, are pushing the Ukrainian regime further into conflicts with Russia while Russia will be forced to continue attacking Ukraine as a result. Thus, a nuclear war, due to the irresponsible behaviour of the West, is presented as almost certain.

“The Ukrainian and American attack on Russia will lead to an escalation of the conflict,” warned the retired Texas congressman, as reported by the Srbin.info portal. He said there was enormous public pressure on Moscow to retaliate against the US. He characterized the attack on Sevastopol as an “American and Ukrainian attack on Russia”, adding that some form of escalation was inevitable.

This attack was also commented on by the American military analyst Scott Ritter, otherwise one of the favourites in the Serbian and Russian media because he is a sharp critic of American foreign policy. As reported by RT Balkan, he characterized the Ukrainian attacks on Sevastopol and Dagestan as a terrorist attack organized by the United States of America against Russia.

“The Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol with American weapons and the terrorist attack in Dagestan, which has all the characteristics of Western influence, are not just attacks by the henchmen of the USA and NATO, but a direct attack by America and the Alliance on the Russian Federation,” Ritter said in a post on X, and RT Balkan reports. He also asserts that the Ukrainians cannot carry out such an attack on their own.

“The question is what Russia will do.” Historically, Russia has shown the ability to absorb such provocations and remain focused on the task, which is the objectives of the Special Military Operation – the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.”

The portal Srbin.info writes that Russia will be forced to launch a nuclear attack due to such provocations by America and Ukraine. In the text: “Karganov: Russia will be forced to launch a nuclear attack on centres that…” the dominant narrative is that the West, by unwisely arming Ukraine, is forcing Russia to use nuclear weapons to defend itself.

“Now the West, with their unreasonable military aid to the Ukrainian regime, can force Russia to take the path of increasing escalation, up to the use of nuclear weapons.” I hope, I pray, I am working so that there will be no nuclear attack and that our Western maddened neighbours will sober up,” said Sergej Karanov, president of the presidium of the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, as reported by Srbin.info.

The attack on Crimea was only an occasion for the continuation of the spread of such narratives that have been present since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

Author: Sofija Popović