Extraordinary images of Russian military trucks, flags waving, driving across Italy. Kremlin says this is a “humanitarian” operation—dubbed From Russia with Love—designed to help Italy fight the #COVID19 outbreak.

But things aren’t adding up.

Thread (1/7)
Last weekend, after a call with Italy’s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin ordered his government to send humanitarian aid to Italy. We reported that Russian media said they were sending several planes of protective equipment + 100 doctors to fight #covid19 https://www.codastory.com/waronscience/coronavirus-russia-patients-healthcare
Nine giant military planes landed just outside Rome.

“IL-76 planes efficiently delivering humanitarian aid to help Italy in fighting the pandemic, that’s a serious blow to NATO’s authority,” says a Russian state news agency.
@jacopo_iacoboni’s sources told @lastampa that most of the equipment Russia sent was “useless.”

Meanwhile, a Russian state news agency reported that Italians were “very dumbfounded” by the efficiency of the Russian military.
Since landing near Rome the military experts had been driven north to Bergamo, the epicenter of the outbreak, where they will now be stationed.

What will they be doing there? No one knows, according to @LaStampa.
Do you want to know how #disinformation is shaping #pandemic? Sign up for Coda’s Coronavirus Crisis newsletter for analysis of the impact of #COVID19 disinfo. In your inbox Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays.

http://bitly.com/coda_newsletter 
You can follow @CodaStory.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: