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They didn‘t fight on the russian side. For some reason english media mistranslated original press release. https://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/225d2c47fb2c9

by FDS 7y ago

They didn‘t fight on the russian side. For some reason english media mistranslated original press release. https://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/225d2c47fb2c9ef299497390 https://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/225d2c47fb2c9ef299497... It says "avevano combattuto nella regione ucraina del Donbass contro gli indipendentisti". So they were fighting against separatists.

AndyMcConachie 7y ago
Ars Technica needs to issue a correction to the story. Otherwise I'm going to lose considerable respect for them. There's a fine line between making a genuine mistake and lying to your readers.
- klez 7y ago
  I think if you point it out to them with a correct translation from the Italian police site they will correct it. Also, they're not the only one who made that mistake. The independent said the same thing. It would be interesting to know where the original mistranslation originated from.
  - Krasnol 7y ago
    I guess it came from the origin of the main suspect Fabio Del Bergiolo. He was was a candidate for Forza Nuova in 2010. FN is a pro-Kremlin far-right party. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)
  - HelloNurse 7y ago
    It might be a typical American level of ignorance of geography and foreign politics. A wrong assumption of Ukrainian separatists in a Russian land is an obvious mistake to make.
- aksss 7y ago
  > I'm going to lose considerable respect for them Hahaha.. as if the bank account was that full to begin with
- TorKlingberg 7y ago
  I think it's you who got it wrong. Some Googling shows that Forza Nuova is pro-Russia, possibly having switched from supporting Ukranian fascist groups in the past. "Mr. Fiore, of Italy’s Forza Nuova, said Moscow is now the sole guardian of Western values, in the way Rome once was." https://www.wsj.com/articles/far-right-flocks-to-russia-to-berate-the-west-1427059613 https://www.wsj.com/articles/far-right-flocks-to-russia-to-b...
mirimir 7y ago
And even Google translate: > The investigations had begun about a year ago when the police headquarters in Turin, coordinated by the Central Directorate of Prevention Police, had monitored some people linked to political movements of the ultra right and who had fought in the Ukrainian region of Donbass against the separatists. Wouldn't one expect at least that as part of fact checking? Edit: Damn, so perhaps the poliziadistato.it article got it wrong. At least, according to Wikipedia.[0] > Forza Nuova leader Roberto Fiore was once closely allied with the Ukrainian far-right Svoboda party, but following the beginning of the War in Donbass, Forza Nuova and Fiore "made a considerable shift to the pro-Russian camp." According to the Political Capital Institute, a Hungarian think tank, Forza Nuova is one of a number of Russian-backed radical right political parties in Europe. But the supporting cites are from 2014-2015, so who knows? 0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)
- JoeSmith123 7y ago
  Seriously, you prefer wikipedia over official police report?
  - mirimir 7y ago
    Judging from the other comments, Wikipedia may be correct in this case. Although, as I noted, the cites are a few years old. So FN could have switched sides again. Also, given that I don't know Italian, I don't really know what the police report said.
stareatgoats 7y ago
This does not seem to be correct, Forza Nuova seems indeed to be supporting the (Russian backed) separatists. According to the Wikipedia article (with sources) [0], the party used to be allied with neo-fascist Svoboda but switched sides during the Donbass conflict and is in return also backed by Russia. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)#Presence_outside_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)#Presence_out...
- JoeSmith123 7y ago
  Official police report looks like much more reliable source than article in Wikipedia (especially an article about politic and such topics).
Elzear 7y ago
Can't "indipendentisti" mean in favor of Ukraine's independence to Russia?
- kozak 7y ago
  More likely, Donbass "independence" from Ukraine.
Karto 7y ago
I'm coming to wonder whether it could be a typo in the Italian Police's report, that other media may have corrected. Pretty much all media have written that they fought ALONG the separatists. See French Le Monde and German Deutsche Welle right now, who agree that'd be PRO separatist.

by FDS 7y ago

AndyMcConachie 7y ago

Ars Technica needs to issue a correction to the story. Otherwise I'm going to lose considerable respect for them. There's a fine line between making a genuine mistake and lying to your readers.

klez 7y ago
I think if you point it out to them with a correct translation from the Italian police site they will correct it. Also, they're not the only one who made that mistake. The independent said the same thing. It would be interesting to know where the original mistranslation originated from.
- Krasnol 7y ago
  I guess it came from the origin of the main suspect Fabio Del Bergiolo. He was was a candidate for Forza Nuova in 2010. FN is a pro-Kremlin far-right party. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)
- HelloNurse 7y ago
  It might be a typical American level of ignorance of geography and foreign politics. A wrong assumption of Ukrainian separatists in a Russian land is an obvious mistake to make.
aksss 7y ago
> I'm going to lose considerable respect for them Hahaha.. as if the bank account was that full to begin with
TorKlingberg 7y ago
I think it's you who got it wrong. Some Googling shows that Forza Nuova is pro-Russia, possibly having switched from supporting Ukranian fascist groups in the past. "Mr. Fiore, of Italy’s Forza Nuova, said Moscow is now the sole guardian of Western values, in the way Rome once was." https://www.wsj.com/articles/far-right-flocks-to-russia-to-berate-the-west-1427059613 https://www.wsj.com/articles/far-right-flocks-to-russia-to-b...

mirimir 7y ago

And even Google translate: > The investigations had begun about a year ago when the police headquarters in Turin, coordinated by the Central Directorate of Prevention Police, had monitored some people linked to political movements of the ultra right and who had fought in the Ukrainian region of Donbass against the separatists. Wouldn't one expect at least that as part of fact checking? Edit: Damn, so perhaps the poliziadistato.it article got it wrong. At least, according to Wikipedia.[0] > Forza Nuova leader Roberto Fiore was once closely allied with the Ukrainian far-right Svoboda party, but following the beginning of the War in Donbass, Forza Nuova and Fiore "made a considerable shift to the pro-Russian camp." According to the Political Capital Institute, a Hungarian think tank, Forza Nuova is one of a number of Russian-backed radical right political parties in Europe. But the supporting cites are from 2014-2015, so who knows? 0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)

JoeSmith123 7y ago
Seriously, you prefer wikipedia over official police report?
- mirimir 7y ago
  Judging from the other comments, Wikipedia may be correct in this case. Although, as I noted, the cites are a few years old. So FN could have switched sides again. Also, given that I don't know Italian, I don't really know what the police report said.

stareatgoats 7y ago

This does not seem to be correct, Forza Nuova seems indeed to be supporting the (Russian backed) separatists. According to the Wikipedia article (with sources) [0], the party used to be allied with neo-fascist Svoboda but switched sides during the Donbass conflict and is in return also backed by Russia. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)#Presence_outside_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Force_(Italy)#Presence_out...

JoeSmith123 7y ago
Official police report looks like much more reliable source than article in Wikipedia (especially an article about politic and such topics).

Elzear 7y ago

Can't "indipendentisti" mean in favor of Ukraine's independence to Russia?

kozak 7y ago
More likely, Donbass "independence" from Ukraine.

Karto 7y ago

I'm coming to wonder whether it could be a typo in the Italian Police's report, that other media may have corrected. Pretty much all media have written that they fought ALONG the separatists. See French Le Monde and German Deutsche Welle right now, who agree that'd be PRO separatist.