Is it true that the White Helmets shot a staged video about the salvation of a person from the rubble?

The couple of last months in the Russian state media often recall the Syrian organization “White Helmets” and its alleged staged videos. And we decided to remind you of the plot of the Russia 24 channel and make out its statements about one specific video.

“White helmets”, or “Syrian civil defense”, is a volunteer organization, involved Medical help and salvation of civilians who suffered during hostilities in Syria in the territories controlled by Syrian rebels. Another important one function Organizations - video recording of what is happening. According to a number of Western journalists, the Government of Syria and Russia lead Disinformation campaign in order to discredit “white helmets”.

So, on November 24, 2016 on the channel "Russia 24" I went out Exclusive reporting of the military commander Evgeny Poddubny. The Sinopsis indicates the following: “On the eve of the Internet, the next staged video of the White Helmets of the human rights organization was blown up. The video shows how the camera for almost half a minute makes the flight next to the seemingly frozen rescuers and the victim of the blockage, whose face is in dust and blood. Then the characters “come to life”: a man under the rubble begins to scream, and volunteers from “white helmets” pull him to a safe place.

We quote from the report (the moment from the mark 5:12): “At the same time, activists who are loyal to terrorists continue to make staged materials about allegedly victims of Russian and Syrian aircraft. Here, a video of the pseudo -humanitarian organization "White Helmets" got into the network. This is what they did not have time to cut off ... But the audience had to see this part. There were photographs that confirm: in the East Aleppo there is a structure that is professionally engaged in the production of fakes. Here the victim smiles in an embrace with the rescuer, but the same militant in the form of an action movie of the so -called free Syrian army. While the Western viewer looks at such productions, and politicians give these videos as irrefutable evidence, in the eastern part of Aleppo, residents die of hunger due to the fault of terrorists. ”

This video is often used as an irrefutable example of the supplies of rescue operations of “white helmets”. For example, a screenshot from this video accompanies The material of 2019 “Helmets split: in the UK plead guilty for chemical productions” on the website Vesti.ru. And here is an excerpt from special reporting Alexander Lukyanov 2019 about the exposure of the organization (from the mark 22:50): "The video that got into the network by chance - they did not manage to edit it, because only the audience had to see this part." Indeed, it is difficult to deny that this video is staged. But what's the matter: its authors never hid that this was a production.

In November 2016, a trend called Mannequin Challenge has gained popularity on the Web (it can be translated into Russian as a “challenge to the mannequin”). As the name implies, in this flash mob people imitated mannequins in short videos, many of which became viral. Challenge originated only at the end of October, but by the end of the year It turned out The most popular on Twitter. Moreover, many famous actors, athletes, politicians, singers and journalists participated in it.

And at the end of November to the flash mob with his 54-second video called "On the verge of death" joined and the Syrian opposition media RFS (mediaofis "Revolutionary Forces of Syria"). Judging by the comments, the audience took the idea ambiguously, and some did not even understand the idea and decidedthat this is evidence of falsification. Apparently, due to the reaction of users, the video was deleted, but on the 22th they again added to the YouTube channel. “I must say that it is quite stupid to make a video with Mannequin Challenge from the side of the“ white helmets ”because there will be such comments (about falsifications. - Approx. Ed.), - - wrote On his Twitter on the night of November 22, the founder of Bellingcat Eliot Higgins.

November 24 on BBC It turned out The statement of “white helmets”: “This video and the posts associated with it were created by RFS Media with the participation of volunteers of the Syrian Civil Defense (“ White Helmets ”), who hoped to establish contact between the horrors taking place in Syria and the rest of the world through the Mannequin Challenge viral flash mob. This was a wrong decision, and we apologize on behalf of the participating volunteers. This video did not spread through our official channels, and we immediately took measures to punish the perpetrators and prevent the repetition of such incidents. Our volunteers seek to save lives, reacting to war crimes in Syria and reporting them. This allows us to attack us not only to bombs, but also to those who are trying to silence us for being telling the truth. ”

And on November 23, an application with clarifications released And on the RFS Media Office. Below the full text is in our translation.

The video “On the verge of death” is an attempt to take part in the international flash mob under the hashtag #mannequinChallenge. And the “brilliant” media, controlled by Assad, set the simulation in the form of reality! The video is originally a short staged scene from the RFS Media Office as part of the international campaign #mannequinChallenge.

The video is intended to increase the awareness of the international community about the Syrian revolution in general and about civil defense members, emphasizing their role and the victim in protecting and saving the lives of civilians in Syria. The video demonstrates the work of “white helmets” teams in the form of static mannequins to simulate reality. However, the regime used it to distort facts and perception.

As usual, the media employees of the Syrian regime took this video, did not tell its background and began to use it in false stories that serve their own goals and goals of the Assad regime, who kills the Syrians for almost six years, while accusing the RFS Media Office of creating fabricated video surveys of civil defense forces.

Thus, the regime and its media have proven their isolation from the human and international context. Ignoring a large -scale Mannequin Challenge media campaign, which participated in international figures, such as a former presidential candidate Hillary Clintonas well as Munich Football Club "Bavaria", only proves serious insulation of the regime from the rest of the world.

RFS Media Office once again emphasizes that the video is a simulation of reality and part of the international flash mob #mannequinChallenge. The unfounded statements of the regime about our video contains only half-truth and incomplete information due to propaganda, which Assad and its allies lead against the Syrian people from the beginning of the Syrian revolution.

RFS representative also reported BBC that activists from time to time use this kind of campaign to draw attention to the suffering of millions of ordinary Syrians. He recalled that in the past there were already attempts to increase the awareness of conflict through promotions with photos of children and Pokemon from the game Pokémon Go and with superheroes from the movie "Avengers".

Now, as for the actor who played the role of the victim. Firstly, his name is Nur al-Yslan, he is a photographer. And then the sunsid photo, which was shown on the air "Russia 24", no one hid-al-Yazlan Laid Fice on Facebook* on November 16, 2016. The signature indicates that the photo was taken behind the scenes of the next small project, Ahrace is also awarded in the post. And in the form of a free Syrian army, which was mentioned in the report, al-Yazlan starred in a short film from RFS Media Office. Video Layd In the public domain at least from October 2016. In the description of the video, the operator, and the director, the screenwriter, and the actors are indicated.

It should be noted that only six plots with the personnel we discussed have been released on the Russia 24 television channel only since 2016. However, we do not see a single editorial policy regarding them. One would think that at first the journalists were mistaken, and then figured out that the video was shot as part of the mannequin Challenge challenge, and they began to mention it. However, this is not so. Chronologically the first was the plot of November 23, 2016, in which correspondent Alexei Kazakov reportedThat we have a flash mob from the “white helmets”, but said that his full version was not intended for the general public. On what this conclusion is based on is unknown.

The second was the plot of Evgeny Poddubnoy, which we made up above, where there was not a word about the flash mob, only the accusation of the production. There was also another broadcast of Kazakov, where he told: “Of course, only the second part of the video was intended for the Internet and Western media, but he still got into the network. And this photo hit. Having worked out the setting of the corpse (let me call them that way), gives tribute to another trend - makes a selfie with the same unfortunate Syrian. They carefully tried to remove this picture and the video itself from the online space, but in vain. ” However, he did not explain why to remove both parts of the challenge, if only the second was intended for the network. He did not tell that the authors of the video prevented the authors of the video from his official YouTube channel and why the actor did not delete the post from the photo from his page.

And in a special report “50 shades of white” for December 20, 2016 at 7:20 They say: “The victims willingly pose and are in no hurry to ambulances, for example, as in this video in the style of Mannequin Challenge.” They did not report that in the video there is only one “victim”, which was actually an actor.

Thus, the authors of the video with Mannequin Challenge never tried to hide the staging character of the video, although the opposite was said on the state channel.

Image: screenshot video RFS Media Office

Half truth

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