Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are circulating a video in which Czech President Petr Pavel calls for closer monitoring of Russians living in the West, as was the case with the Japanese in the United States during World War II. Russian propaganda distributed this video with the caption that Peter Pavel said to create concentration camps for Russians living in Europe. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. On June 15, 2023, the Ukrainian division of Radio Svoboda (Liberty) media published an interview with the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. He stated that “all Russians living in Western countries should be more monitored than in the past as they are citizens of a country that is waging a war of aggression”. He noted that when World War II began, all Japanese living in the United States were under strict surveillance.

Later, the presidential speaker sent an email to Radio Svoboda (Liberty) clarifying the comparison. She wrote that supervision should apply to those Russians who bear risks. And that restrictions on citizens of the aggressor country are nothing new. Peter Pavel did not speak about the creation of concentration camps for the Russians.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Czech President Petr Pavel and expose him as a violator of international law. This is how Russian propaganda tries to divert international attention from Russian war crimes. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that the supply of Western weapons allowed Ukraine to destroy the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.