Propaganda of the Russian Federation spreads a dirty fake about Ukraine providing weapons to Hamas terrorists

No sooner had the first shots rang out in Sderot, Otefa and other cities in southern Israel than a number of Russian propaganda platforms immediately began to throw in manipulations that Hamas, which attacked Israeli cities, was armed with weapons previously transferred from Ukraine.

Despite the generation of a huge number of such messages by Russian propaganda, none of them has ever been confirmed. However, despite the unconfirmed and clearly far-fetchedness of such manipulations, they continued to be generated both in the Russian information environment and in the West, especially in the USA, through the mass media and politicians loyal to Russia.

When Hamas launched an attack on Israel, Russian propaganda revived with renewed vigor, claiming that a number of samples of weapons seized from the terrorists were allegedly of Ukrainian origin. At the same time, not a single verified sample of such weapons was confirmed. But who cares about facts if emotions play the main role in fakes? But even if confirmed, what does it mean or change?

But Russia did not lose the chance to maximally activate all the resources under its control in order to start a large-scale information campaign to discredit Ukraine. This campaign involved both information platforms and political figures fighting for the end of aid to Ukraine, primarily Trumpists.

In particular, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, a kind of political conspiracy theorist, known for lobbying pro-Russian interests in the US Congress, has already accused Ukraine of transferring Western weapons to Hamas. But there is a nuance in these accusations, as well as in many that have sounded before.

First. All weapons and equipment transferred to Ukraine are controlled and tracked. It is simply impossible to somehow resell them on the so-called black market. In support of this, there is no verified fact of such a sale.

The second is the risk of trophies. A full-scale war is going on in Ukraine, in the framework of which equipment is not only damaged and destroyed, but also captured as trophies.

Ukraine, for example, has hundreds and even thousands of captured Russian equipment and weapons. Russia also has captured Ukrainian equipment and weapons, including those samples that were transferred to the West. And our partners are perfectly aware of each such case, and professionals do not make a tragedy out of it, but populists and propagandists, on the contrary, make bonfires and hold Sabbaths.

If there were tank mechanics among Hamas, then according to the results of the attack on October 7, this terrorist group would already have Merkava Mk.4 trophy weapons.

Now the US will help Israel deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but why are opponents of aid to Ukraine silent, justifying this aid by the fact that weapons can get from Ukrainians to some terrorists, if there is a risk of these weapons getting to terrorists already in Israel? Dissonant, from the position of primitive propagandists and lobbyists of Russia, the question, isn’t it?

Benjamin Netanyahu, don’t make Merkava Mk.4 tanks, because they can be captured by Hamas! And in general, disband the IDF, because your soldiers can be taken hostage by terrorists!

Third. When it is planned to transfer one or another weapon to Ukraine, the factor of seizure of this weapon or equipment by the enemy is always taken into account. From this, conclusions are made whether it is appropriate to transfer this particular weapon or equipment at this stage or not. Will their possible takeover harm the security of the US and its partners, and will the resulting technology in any way help the enemy.

Only after discussion of these issues is the transfer made.

And therefore, the wave that has now risen in the information environment regarding some weapons that were allegedly previously transferred to Ukraine, but which ended up in Hamas, is nothing more than an information and psychological special operation (IPSO), clearly developed to accompany the attack on Israel. Taking into account the original source of this operation, Russia, it is safe to say that it participated in the preparation and other aspects of the attack.

It is also important to understand that this wave synergizes with the general agenda among pro-Russian lobbyists in the world. For example, a series of actions by the pacifist organization CODE PINK took place in the USA, which advocates the cessation of funding and arms shipments to Ukraine and peace negotiations with Russia without any preconditions.

CODE PINK is a pacifist organization known for its actions in support of Iran, Venezuela, contacts with Oleksandr Dugin, and the position that Crimea is Russia. More about CODE PINK can be found here: “CODE PINK is an American non-profit organization that works for the benefit of the Russian special services.”

From all of the above, it can be concluded that Russia has launched a large-scale ISPO against Ukraine, taking advantage of the bloodshed in Israel.

But it is unlikely that the Russian organizers of this information and psychological operation and its direct participants will be able to give answers to the following questions:

Why did the video of the movement of the second echelon of Hamas clearly show the military tactics of small sabotage and intelligence groups, characteristic of the Russian special forces?

How did it happen that Hamas in the shortest possible time became masters of drone operation from the experience of operating UAVs loaded with tandem cumulative ammunition, which are not inferior to Russian operators in the DB zone in Ukraine?

How did it happen that the reliable security system of the perimeter was broken by hackers as quickly as possible, because Hamas has never been famous for a high level of cyber attacks against Israel?

Where did Hamas terrorists get AK-103 assault rifles, of which the Russian army has only a few units, and the elite units that participated in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 were armed with them, largely because they were then supposed to show off these assault rifles at the Khreschatyk parade?

The answers will be uncomfortable for pro-Russian forces, in the political environment of both the US and Israel. However, it is not important for us to prove something to the skins that were sold, but it is important that the leaders of these countries look at the problem of the influence of the Russian agents with wide open eyes.

Otherwise, without openly calling the enemy an enemy, tragedies like the one on October 7 will be repeated more and more often, and the enemies will organize their propaganda sabbaths on them, which will weaken, not strengthen, the civilized world in the fight against global evil.

Military and political columnist Oleksandr Kovalenko