Anti-vaccination protesters say an event held in Adelaide was "hijacked" by pro-Russia demonstrators and misrepresented by Russian news websites — turning a "day of remembrance" for people they say have been injured by COVID-19 vaccines into "a rally in support of Russia".
About 500 demonstrators gathered on the steps of Parliament House last Saturday, and later marched down North Terrace toward the CBD's East End, holding white crosses to symbolise people who claimed to have experienced medical problems after receiving COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
A member of South Australia's Ukrainian community told the ABC she attended part of the rally and noticed "fewer than 10" people holding Russian flags.
"I went and saw what was an anti-vaccination rally that was commemorating vaccine injury," Stefania* said.
"Speakers spoke about their experiences with vaccine injury … I saw a couple of hundred people who looked like your average, everyday Australians, and I also saw a handful of people with Russian flags.
"What I then saw online was a completely different picture. I saw numerous articles in Russian language and English language.
"What really concerned me were the direct quotes [used by Russian websites] … about children in Adelaide being persecuted and bullied for speaking Russian … this is a very familiar narrative that was used before Russia's invasion.
"This made me feel quite unsafe, how far Russian propaganda and how far the Russian state can reach."
The website Russkiy Mir posted an article dated February 25, with the headline "Russians in Australia Protest Against Violation of their Rights".
"Several hundred people went to a rally in support of Russia's actions in Adelaide, Australia, RIA Novosti reports," the article stated.
Other Russian news sites, in English and Russia, reported the event as a "large-scale rally for freedom and in support of Russia".
Russia supporters did attend, holding Russian flags, some wearing T-shirts with the "Z" symbol, which implies support for Russian troops in Ukraine.
Some attendees complained to event organisers about the Russian presence, alleging the rally was "hijacked".
But event organiser Kathy Scarborough told the ABC that claims the event was a sanctioned pro-Russia protest and that police were needed to "keep order" were false.
"This is pure fiction," she said.
"Parliament House steps were booked under the registered non-for-profit Vaccination Information SA, which is behind Adelaide Freedom Rally with the intent of the rally on the paperwork attached — 'to raise awareness of COVID vaccine damage'."
Ms Scarborough also rejected claims in some articles that "the ataman of the Australian Cossacks in Sydney, Semyon Boikov, helped organise the rally".
Mr Boikov — or Simeon — is the Sydney-born leader of the Australian Cossacks — a Russian nationalist group — and had previously led groups of Australian Cossacks to Russia.
'We're all on the same team'
Mr Boikov told the ABC the rally was not misrepresented.
"It's a fact … that there were people at the rally who were there to speak up about persecution of Russians and to put forward their perspective and their views about the Russian situation," he said.
"There were people wearing 'Z' shirts, there were people holding Russian flags, there were people there — attendees of the rally — who gave quotes to Russian media later on.
"The anti-vaxxers are overwhelmingly pro-Russian, and the pro-Russian people are overwhelmingly anti-vax."
Mr Boikov said he was simply reporting on the protest and did not claim to have organised the anti-vaccine element of it.
"I wasn't there, I was sitting in the Russian consulate in Sydney. If there were elements of pro-Russian protesters there, why not report on the facts?
"Were the Russian supporters more organised? Yes. Were they dominant? Yes. Were they loud? Yes. Did they have camera crews in place and they have good connections with Russian state media, which publicised their activities? Yes. That's it."
Ms Scarborough said the claim that the anti-vaccine movement was overwhelming pro-Russian was "not true at all".
Adelaide man Vassily Koinov is quoted in some of the Russian media articles, but told the ABC he was misrepresented.
"I published to the organisers of the rally my apologies … my part in all this story … because it was myself who brought the flags, and it was myself who was standing on the parliament steps with Russian flags," he said.
"The rally was not about the Russian cause — the rally was about COVID [vaccine] victims.
"I think this hurt a lot, and it put division between Australian protesters and the Russian community who support both the freedom rallies and the Russian cause."
Semyon Boikov moved into the Russian embassy in December, claiming he needed protection from Australian authorities.
He said the anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown movement protest should change its focus to opposing Western support for Ukraine.
"Things are changing; it's no longer enough just to walk around and complain and stand on the street about vaccinations," he said.
"You've got to be relevant to world events, and what's the most important event at the moment in the world? That is the fact that we're on the brink of World War III."
In 2021, Mr Boikov told the ABC's Four Corners program that "the purpose of the Cossacks in Australia is to preserve Cossack traditions, culture, values, and also to promote pro-Russian sentiment".
"So our job as Russian patriots … is to be mobilised and be active in defending Russia," he said.
'Propaganda' for domestic support
La Trobe University senior lecturer Robert Horvath, an expert in Russian politics, said the misrepresentation of overseas events in Russian media was an established tactic of Vladimir Putin's regime.
"It exemplifies the way that the Putin regime's propagandists are trying to neutralise international criticism of the war in Ukraine by communicating the message that Western governments might be criticising, but ordinary people in the West sympathise with Putin and with the war that Russia's waging," he said.
"It's extremely important because the legitimacy of the Putin regime is challenged by the scale of international criticism, by the sanctions, by the constant series of statements by Western leaders … transforming Russia into a pariah on the world stage."
Dr Horvath said the tactic was an attempt by Vladimir Putin's government to maintain domestic support.
"This kind of propaganda is clearly designed to reinforce the authority and the legitimacy of the regime," he said.
"It's to manufacture an image of the outside world that reinforces the central propaganda narratives of the Putin regime.
"A secondary function is to promote the idea of Russophobia [anti-Russian sentiment] which is quite central to the ideology of the Putin regime."
