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The Russian government is organizing mock protests in a number of European cities, including the Netherlands. This was reported, among other things, by the Danish public broadcaster doctor. The fake protests should split Europe over the war in Ukraine, according to leaked documents from the Russian intelligence services.
Protests in ten European cities always show the same Russian men with the same protest banners. For example, at a climate protest in The Hague in January, a man stood holding a sign calling to stop sending weapons to Ukraine. The same man also stood at a protest in Brussels.
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The fake protester in The Hague and Brussels -
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DR, in collaboration with a number of other European media outlets, including the French newspaper Le Monde, has tracked down ten such mock protests. They all occurred from December last year to March this year. The men were seen holding protest banners in The Hague, Paris, Brussels and Madrid.
“Highly visited”
The fake protesters were always photographed with other demonstrations in the background, such as a demonstration for healthcare workers in Brussels, and a protest in Paris against French pension reforms.
The pictures of the “demonstrations” were supposed to look like the bogus pro-Russian demonstrations were being visited en masse. It was then circulated on social media, including Facebook and YouTube groups.
The leaked report from the Russian secret service says the photos have been “a resounding success”. The newspaper wrote that messages on social media seen by Le Monde had received little or no likes and reactions.
DR and Le Monde contacted some of the men who participated in the mock demonstrations, but they refused to answer questions.
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