Verification within Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program
Information is being spread online that the former Greek ambassador to Ukraine, Vassilios Bornovas, allegedly stated in an interview with the Hellas Journal portal that the OSCE in Donetsk region secretly passed on classified information to the Armed Forces of Ukraine about the positions of illegal armed groups (“LPR/DPR”), after which they were immediately shelled by the Ukrainian army.
However, this claim is unfounded. There is no evidence that the OSCE transmitted the locations of Russian militants. Moreover, former Greek ambassador Vassilios Bornovas did not provide any evidence that the OSCE shared any classified information.
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The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the largest regional security organization in the world, focused on conflict prevention, human rights monitoring, democratic processes, and security oversight in its 57 member states. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission operated based on impartiality and objectivity, not taking sides in the conflict.
The official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine provides detailed information about the OSCE mission’s principles of work in Ukraine. These principles do not include transferring information about the positions of Russian occupiers. We also did not find any confirmations in Ukrainian or foreign media that the OSCE transmitted classified information about the locations of Russians.
Vassilios Bornovas served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Greece to Ukraine from 2019 to 2022.
A keyword search showed that Vassilios Bornovas indeed gave an interview to the Greek portal Hellas Journal. In particular, in an article dedicated to the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, he claimed that the OSCE allegedly transmitted classified information to Ukrainian authorities, after which the AFU shelled “weapon locations on the Russian side of the contact line in eastern Ukraine“.
“One of the issues that also caught my attention concerned the use of classified information sent by observers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) about the locations of weapons on the Russian side of the contact line in eastern Ukraine. Since these positions were immediately shelled by Ukrainian troops, it is obvious that the observers’ reports were first passed to Ukrainian authorities,” stated Vassilios Bornovas.
However, the former Greek ambassador does not provide any evidence. Moreover, in the original quote, Vassilios Bornovas uses the word “obvious”, substituting facts with assumptions. This creates an illusion of a causal link, which is manipulation and an example of a false conclusion.
In addition, in the interview, Vassilios Bornovas repeatedly voiced narratives aligned with Russian rhetoric. In particular, he claimed that the West, by providing support, allegedly dragged Zelenskyi into a war with Russia; that “radical nationalist forces” supposedly still have influence in Ukraine; and that the responsibility for the war “lies with both sides” (i.e., Russia and Ukraine).
Previously, we debunked claims that the OSCE was adjusting Ukrainian strikes on Donetsk and Luhansk.
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