In mid-February 2023, Russian-language information resources disseminated a curious statement by the head of the Estonian Cabinet of Ministers, Kai Kallas. We checked to see if she said something like that.

The statement attributed to Callas is: “It is with great joy that I announce that today Estonia handed over ten F-16 fighters to Kyiv. While other countries doubt, we provide assistance. Unfortunately, we do not have the planes themselves, but the very fact of the transfer will be a colossal moral support for the people of Ukraine. If this number is not enough, then we are ready to discuss the transfer of another 30 fighters.”

This contradictory statement was spread by numerous Russian-speaking users “Zena» And Facebook, as well as a number of Telegram channels, including “The world today with "Yuri Podolyak"", "Geoenergetics info", "The world of Mikhail Onufrienko" And "Specifically" Total news audience on Telegram amounted to more than 1 million users.

The issue of Western countries supplying arms to Kyiv has been one of the most popular topics in Russian and European media since February 2022, and its discussion is often accompanied by disinformation. Estonia also did not remain aloof from military assistance, and over the past year conveyed Ukraine Javelin ATGMs, howitzers, anti-tank mines and grenade launchers, mortars, vehicles, ammunition and other equipment worth 1.08% of GDP, making it global leader according to this indicator. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas called such steps of the West are “the path to peace.”

Callas’s statement regarding the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, quoted in Telegram channels, began to spread on February 10. The day before, an extraordinary two-day summit European Council, at which participation President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky discussed military assistance to this country, including requests from Kyiv to provide it with modern Western fighters. Kaya Kallas also took part in the discussions, called EU countries to help Ukraine to the extent that would be enough to counter a new major offensive by Russian troops. She drew an analogy with the joint purchase of vaccines against COVID-19 and proposed jointly purchasing ammunition for the Ukrainian side using funds from EU member states.

We would like to draw attention to the conversation of the head of the Estonian government with journalists on the morning of February 9, shortly before the start of the summit. There's Callas, in particular, said: “We don’t have fighter jets, so it’s up to other democratic countries to decide whether they can [provide planes]. But I urge everyone to do everything they can, because the price increases with every delay, with every delay. If all countries had given already in January everything that they are providing now, the outcome could have been different. So I hope that if these countries can [help with the planes], they will do it. But it's their decision."

A video of this speech was immediately published by an American news agency. Bloomberg, and soon Kaya Callas was quoted in Russia - in particular, RIA Novosti. As we see, the Estonian Prime Minister did not say anything about the transfer of missing aircraft.

How did something Kaja Callas said become a viral quote? According to the TGStat service, this news first appeared on Telegram at 12:00 Moscow time in a channel called “And here is my Yandex wallet" The description of the channel speaks for itself: “Parody, satire on political reality. Only verified fakes.” This is no longer first, Not second and not even third a case when a text born in this channel with 18,000 subscribers is taken at face value on the Internet.

Cover photo: Wikipedia