{"id":25447,"date":"2024-05-22T11:50:57","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T08:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheck.bg\/?p=25447"},"modified":"2024-05-22T11:50:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T08:50:57","slug":"network-of-social-media-groups-spreading-disinformation-about-green-energy-war-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheck.bg\/en\/network-of-social-media-groups-spreading-disinformation-about-green-energy-war-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Network of social media groups spreading disinformation about green energy, war in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bulgaria must continue to generate electricity from coal \u00a0 <\/span>without coal-fired power plants, we will not have enough electricity to supply the country, or so claim hundreds of posts on social media. In the same groups spreading these claims, others can be found \u2014 for example, that green energy actually creates more pollution, or that the transition is going to kill our energy sector.<\/p>\n

Where are these claims being spread most actively, and is there any connection between the groups on social media where they are published?<\/p>\n

Against wind turbines and for \u201cneutrality\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2022, the municipality of Vetrino near Varna announced a moratorium on the installation of wind turbines in its territory. Several months later, the decision was declared null and void<\/span><\/a>, but hostility towards green energy has continued in Vetrino and the environs in other ways.<\/p>\n

To put it plainly, it has been launched against a specific project in the village of Neofit Rilski, Vetrino Municipality, to build dozens of wind turbines. Leading this campaign is the founder of the Varna-area attraction Historical Park, Ivelin Mihaylov, who has spread claims<\/span><\/a> that wind turbines are harmful to people\u2019s health. Fighting the wind turbines in Vetrino is gradually becoming a battle against green energy altogether, to preserve coal-fired power plants, and against military aid for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The jury is still out on the evidence regarding the impact of wind turbine noise on people\u2019s sleep and moods \u00a0 <\/span>some studies have identified effects, while others have not<\/span><\/a>. However, recent studies have found no evidence that wind turbine noise increases<\/span><\/a> the risk of heart attack or stroke, congenital defects, high blood pressure, or diabetes. When it comes to suggestions that people\u2019s proximity to wind turbines can provoke oncological diseases, such claims have been repeatedly refuted<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to serving on the board of directors of the Historical Park Association, a search in the Commercial Register<\/span><\/a> reveals that Ivelin Mihaylov is also involved in the management of several other companies and enterprises. One of them is Blazhenstvo [Bliss] Ltd.,<\/span><\/a> where Mihaylov is the manager and sole proprietor. Blazhenstvo is also listed as the publisher of the newspaper Beautiful Vetrino<\/i><\/span><\/a>. On the print edition’s website, dozens of publications with false claims regarding renewable energy can be found. Ivelin Mihaylov is also the author of many of website\u2019s articles.<\/p>\n

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In another article on the Beautiful Vetrino<\/i> site, Mihaylov describes<\/span><\/a> a network of \u201crevolutionary media\u201d, of which his newspaper is a part. Following the same model, newspapers such as Beautiful Provadia, Beautiful Vulchi Dol, Beautiful Varna<\/i>, and Beautiful Velingrad<\/i> have appeared, as well as the website Svoboden Glas<\/i> [Free Voice<\/i>]. Also part of the group, the website Suprotivata<\/i> [The Resistance<\/i>] defines itself in its \u201cAbout Us\u201d section as \u201cthe immune system in the battle against the infectious diseases brought in with Sodom and Gomorrah, packaged under the guise of neoliberalism, transhumanism, and the new world order\u201d. The same site also has a section called \u201cGreen Poison\u201d, where the authors focus on how wind energy harms people\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

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After the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, publications calling for \u201cneutrality\u201d, against sending military aid to Kyiv, and repeating Russian propaganda narratives about \u201cNazism in Ukraine\u201d began popping up on the websites associated with Ivelin Mihaylov. The Svoboden Glas<\/i> YouTube channel features interviews with a number of public figures defending pro-Russian positions. Among them are former National Security Service (NSS) officer Nikolay Markov, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) host Petar Volgin, and analyst Boyan Chukov. Suprotivata<\/i> has also been spreading false claims about Ukraine which have been debunked by Factcheck.bg in the past<\/span><\/a>, like those about elevated radiation levels following an explosion at an arms depot in Khmelnytsky.<\/p>\n\r\n