Russian propaganda links Kyiv, Washington to Raisi's helicopter crash death

May 20, 2024, 07:45 AM

Russian propagandists are attempting to spin a narrative alleging the involvement of Ukraine and the United States in the accident, following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the crash of a Mi-171 helicopter on May 19.

However, the guidelines suggest not overdoing it, limiting themselves to hints that allow the audience to draw the "right" conclusions.

For example, RT's Margarita Simonyan drew parallels between Raisi's death, the recent assassination attempt on pro-Kremlin Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and the assassinations of U.S. President John F. Kennedy (1963) and Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme (1986).

"Sh*t happens. But it happens most reliably with careful professional preparation by the sh*tmasters," she wrote on social media.

Russian State Duma member and Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky extended this conspiracy chain, adding another link.

"A number of May events, including the assassination attempts on the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the Prime Minister of Slovakia, are being lined up in a certain chain of 'tragic coincidences.' We cannot rule out any versions here," he said, commenting on the Mi-171 crash.

Simonyan's colleague Yevgeniy Popov called the Russian helicopter one of the "most reliable in the world."

"I would not be surprised at all if the crash was the result of an attack on the Iranian president," he said.

Meanwhile, "political scientist" Sergei Markov alleged that edits to the Wikipedia article on the Iranian president indicate the intelligence services of Ukraine, the United States, and Israel were behind the crash.

The New Voice of Ukraine