“A delegation from Norway has arrived in Crimea for an official visit. The delegation includes representatives of different political parties.”
This information was recently spread across Russian media with varying degrees of detail.
The above quotation is taken from RIA FAN; a news agency which is, in fact, a “rebranded” version of the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, also known as the “troll factory.”
But similar messages were communicated also by other Russian media.
The daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that “the 9 members of a Norwegian delegation arrived in Crimea on 30 September.” Kremlin-owned RIA Novosti repeated the line that the “delegation” included “representatives of different political parties.” Gazeta.ru informed that “the delegation’s visit will last until 6 October.”
There they were met by local authorities as if they were an official delegation, and their trip was used for the propaganda purpose of making it look as if there is significant Norwegian support for Crimea’s current Russian authorities.
The incident, which was also reported by StopFake, echoes previous cases when groups arriving in Crimea have been used for such manipulations.
A recent similar example was when RIA Novosti reported “delegation from the US calls Crimea Referendum expression of the will of the people,” with many other Kremlin-loyal media following suit.
Further reading:
- Putin’s Crimea film borrows from Nazi propaganda film about Sudetenland
- Delegation of French MPs to visit occupied Crimea. Again
- Italian delegation to occupied Crimea: between politics and business
- Who are the French MPs that are visiting Crimea
- Someone Said That the Referendum in Crimea was Legitimate
- Norway – a nation in moral decay?
- How falling for Putin’s Crimea narrative will feed Russian expansionism
- The civil war hoax: words that fooled the world
- French mayor signs official document with Yalta, occupied Crimea
- Mariani’s visit to Crimea shame for France – French citizen
- “Friends of Putin” French MPs to visit occupied Crimea
- Why a French MP defends the occupation of Crimea
- Russia to create antifascist committee with Nazis and fascists
