While analyzing the publication Analysis of YouTube activity of the largest state media in Belarus for October 2024, a video on the Belarusian YouTube channel CTVBY caught attention, titled Ex-NATO Secretary General Accused of Sparking the Conflict in Ukraine!. This short video garnered over 3 million views since October 4, 2024.
It states:
A lawsuit has been filed in Belgium against the former NATO Secretary General for involvement in starting the conflict in Ukraine (Sic!), as well as for endangering the safety of Alliance countries and committing crimes against peace. The accusations present extensive arguments regarding the Kyiv regime’s preparation for armed confrontation. These include statements by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel about using the Minsk agreements to buy time and arm the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The video contained no information on who specifically filed the lawsuit. The use of the plural in referring to those who filed the lawsuit also seemed suspicious.
We tried to investigate:
Verdict: Distortion of facts or manipulation
Explaining why this verdict was given.
The lawsuit was filed by French citizen Patrick Pasin in the Brussels Prosecutor’s Office against the now-former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Patrick Pasin had already filed a complaint with the French Prosecutor’s Office in February 2024. Patrick Pasin presents himself as the director of Talma Studios, author of numerous books, producer, documentary filmmaker, and film teacher. According to the NorthData database, he owns four active companies with minimal media presence and little recognition.
The lawsuit was reported by small, but questionable in terms of credibility, publications such as the Russian EurAsia Daily and the Hungarian NapiEU. The lawsuit was also mentioned by all major Russian media, including business publications:
- Ex-NATO Secretary General sued over starting the conflict in Ukraine
- Frenchman Pasin explains the essence of his lawsuit against Stoltenberg
- Frenchman who sued Stoltenberg is preparing a class-action lawsuit against him (October 8, 2024)
The title of Pasin’s latest book is: “The War in Ukraine: Western Criminal Responsibility – Our Possibilities to Stop the Crisis.” In it, Pasin concluded that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was initiated not by Russia in 2022, but by the West in 2014. When you look at all his book covers, it becomes quite clear – the author is a typical conspiracy theorist.
Suddenly, we find that Faina Savenkova (born in 2008, residing in the city of Luhansk) wrote in April 2024: “My French publisher and public figure Patrick Pasin filed a lawsuit against NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg. Here are his words: ‘Mr. Stoltenberg lied and this accelerated the war.'” It turns out that back in 2021, at the age of 12, Faina Savenkova was added to the Ukrainian database of the “Myrotvorets” website. The reason for being listed as a threat to Ukraine’s national security was her participation in the “Stars over Donbass” festival. The girl from Luhansk also took part in a joint project with Russian writer Alexander Kontorovich, and in 2021, she co-authored the novel “Standing Behind Your Shoulder” with him.
A victim of psychological violence and Russian-terrorist propaganda. Participates in anti-Ukrainian propaganda events. Calls herself a writer, playwright, and science fiction author. In reality, she spreads fake information and her own conjectures. Member of the so-called “Writers’ Union of the LNR”. On Children’s Day, May 31, 2021, Savenkova recorded a “video for the United Nations,” in which she called on the institution to remember that “the children of Donbass also deserve a real childhood.” Faina spoke about “constant shelling” by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Luhansk. Her statement was immediately used by the First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, in his speech, tying Savenkova’s words to the alleged “crimes” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in eastern Ukraine.
A detailed analysis of how children, including Faina, are used by Russian propaganda can be found in the article: Sacred Victims and “Yunarmia”: How Russian Fascism Uses Children.
Faina regularly publishes on Medium, and just a couple of days ago (November 24, 2024), an interview with the Press Secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, was posted on her YouTube channel:
So far, this video, which lacks an interviewer, has garnered less than 200 views. Nevertheless, all activities of these people (Faina Savenkova, Patrick Pasin) seem quite coordinated within a long-term communication effort.
The Belarusian YouTube channel CTVBY, owned by state media, participates in international distributed projects of Russian propaganda.
