DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fake video that ricocheted across the internet claiming tensions between France and the United Arab Emirates after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's detention in Paris likely came from Russia, an analysis by The Associated Press shows, despite Moscow's efforts to maintain crucial ties to the UAE.
It remains unclear why Russian operatives would choose to publish such a video falsely claiming the Emirates halted a French arms sale, which appears to be the first noticeable effort by Moscow to target the UAE with a disinformation campaign. The Emirates remains one of the few locations to still have direct flights to Moscow, while Russian money has flooded into Dubai's booming real estate market since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
France, however, remains one of the key backers of Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the war grinds on. Meanwhile, Russia likely remains highly interested in what happens to Telegram, an app believed to be used widely by its military in the war and one that's also been used by activists in the past. And the move comes amid concerns in the United States over Russia, Iran and China interfering in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Russia's Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The fake video began circulating online Aug. 27, bearing the logos of the Qatar-based satellite news network Al Jazeera and attempting to copy the channel's style. It falsely claimed the Emirati government had halted a previously announced purchase of 80 Rafale fighter jets from France worth 16 billion euros ($18 billion) at the time, the largest-ever French weapons contract for export. It also sought to link Dubai's ruler and his crown prince son to the decision, as Durov holds an Emirati passport and has lived in Dubai.
Such a decision, however, was never made. The UAE and France maintain close relations, with the French military operating a naval base in the country. French warplanes and personnel also are stationed in a major facility outside the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
Reached for comment, Al Jazeera told the AP that the footage was “fake and we refute this attribution to the media network.” The network never aired any such claim when reporting on Durov’s detention as well, according to an AP check. On the social platform X, a note later appended by the company to some posts with the video identified it as “manipulated media.”
The video also appeared to seek to exploit the low-level suspicion still gripping the Gulf Arab states following the yearslong Qatar diplomatic crisis by falsely attributing it to the news network. State-funded Al Jazeera has drawn criticism in the past from Gulf nations over its coverage of the 2011 Arab Spring, from the United States for airing videos from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and most recently in Israel, where authorities closed its operation over its coverage of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The social media account that first spread the video did not respond to questions from the AP and later deleted its post. That account linked to another on the Telegram message app that repeatedly shared graphic images of dead Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian messages.
Such accounts have proliferated since the war began and bear the hallmark of past Russian disinformation campaigns.
In Ukraine, the Center for Countering Disinformation in Kyiv, a government project there focused on countering such Russian campaigns, told the AP that the account engaged in “systematic cross-quoting and reposting of content” associated with Russian state media and its government.
That indicates the account “is aimed at an international audience for the purpose of informational influence,” the center said. It “probably belongs to the Russian network of subversive information activities abroad.”
Other experts assessed the video to be likely Russian disinformation.
The Emirati government declined to comment. The French Embassy in Abu Dhabi did not respond to AP's request to comment.
Durov is now free on 5 million euros bail after being questioned by French authorities and preliminarily charged for allegedly allowing Telegram to be used for criminal activity. He has disputed the charges and promised to step up efforts to fight criminality on the messaging app.
Despite the video being flagged as fake online, captions and versions of the video continue to circulate, showing the challenge of trying to refute such messages. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov just attended a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Saudi Arabia attended by the UAE. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have mediated prisoner exchanges amid the war.
Given those close ties, the UAE likely will or has reached out quietly to Moscow over the video, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute who has long studied the region.
“It may be that this is a part of the Russian playbook which is to seek to create wedges between political and security partners, in a bid to create divisions and sow uncertainty," Ulrichsen said.
“The importance of the UAE to Russia post-2022 does make it unusual, but it may be that the campaign is aimed primarily at France and that any impact on the UAE’s image and reputation is a secondary issue as far as those behind the video are concerned.”
Associated Press writer Volodymr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
FILE - United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron pose for photographers ahead of their working dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — The three-phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir opened early Wednesday in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.
Authorities deployed thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers in the region’s seven southern districts where over 2.3 million residents are eligible to cast their votes and chose 24 lawmakers out of 219 candidates in the first phase of the polling.
Wearing riot gears and carrying assault rifles, troops set up checkpoints and patrolled the constituencies in the districts as locals lined up to cast their votes in villages and towns.
The second and third phases are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Oct. 1 in a process that is staggered to allow troops to move around to stop potential violence. Votes will be counted on Oct. 8, with results expected that day.
For the first time, authorities limited access of foreign media to polling stations and denied press credentials to most journalists working with international media, including to The Associated Press, without citing any reason. Press passes issued by election authorities are mandatory for journalists to travel and film, photograph or interview voters in a polling constituency.
The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s semi-autonomy and downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory. It was also divided into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run the territories along unelected bureaucrats and security personnel.
The multistage election will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a local legislature, called an assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhi’s direct rule. A chief minister will head a council of ministers in the government.
However, there will be a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly as Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India.
Multiple local parties have campaigned on promises to fight for reversal of 2019 changes and address other key issues like rising unemployment and inflation in the region where locals have struggled amid curtailed civil liberties particularly after the revocation of the special status.
India's ruling BJP, however, has vowed to block any move aimed at undoing those changes but promised to help in the region’s economic development.
India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
The region’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. But the government collapsed in 2018, after BJP withdrew from the coalition.
Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.
Kashmiri women queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Kashmiri's queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A Kashmiri man walks back after casting his vote at a polling booth in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard as Kashmiri's queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Polling officials carry electronic voting machines and other election material to a venue for distribution, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldier guard a venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Former union minster and star campaigner of BJP Anurag Thakur and state in charge Ram Madhav wave to supporters during a campaign rally, after party candidates filed the nomination papers for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections at Nagrota outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, Sep.12, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Supporters of India's opposition Congress party, wave during an election rally at Dooru some 78 kilometers (49 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party workers attend a rally, ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Jammu, India, Saturday Sep.7, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldier guard as polling officials carry electronic voting machines and other election material to a venue for distribution, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Security personnel members stand and wait as polling officials prepare to leave for their respective polling booths on the eve of the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, in Ramban 150 kilometers (94 miles) northeast of Jammu, India, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Polling officials carry electronic voting machines and other election material to a venue for distribution, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
