Russia's Justice Ministry says online history exhibit was fact-checked against archives
Russian Deputy Justice Minister Oleg Sviridenko claims every fact in the ministry's online exhibition was checked against archival sources, and calls critics "foreign agents". Independent journalists had found errors and a propaganda film about Hitler in it.
Every fact in the online exhibition of Russia's Justice Ministry was verified, and the "foreign agents" who found mistakes in it knowingly spread false information. That is what Deputy Justice Minister Oleg Sviridenko said in an interview with the TASS news agency, as cited by the outlet Agentstvo.
The exhibition, titled "Protecting the Sovereignty of the Russian State: Past and Present", appeared on the ministry's website in late July. It deals with attempts to "violate the sovereignty" of Russia. Independent journalists found a propaganda film about Hitler in the section with photographs and documentaries. Elsewhere they identified numerous errors, including factual ones, and signs that artificial intelligence had been used to write the text.
The ministry's response
In the interview, Sviridenko was asked whether he had expected such a strong reaction from media outlets that Russia designates as foreign agents. He called the attention "a predictable reaction". In his words, their job is to spread distorted information among Russian citizens, falsify history and replace facts with interpretations serving their Western "employers".
Sviridenko said all the exhibition materials were prepared with input from historians, representatives of Russia's leading museums, historical institutions and organizations involved in historical scholarship. He added that every fact had been checked against primary sources in archives.
He also asserted that the information spread by foreign agents has no scholarly basis and is purely political and deceitful. According to him, such outlets do not deal in facts because the facts work against them, and instead use emotionally charged labels and baseless accusations aimed at an audience that lacks the background to assess them.
