This article was originally published in Russian. Read the Russian version here.

Beginning Monday a court in the Netherlands is holding 25 weeks of hearing after hearing to examine criminal responsibility for the downing of Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine six years ago. From my apartment in Moscow, I’ll be able to watch an online live stream of the trial where relatives of all 298 people killed finally get the chance to give statements to judges, and family members unable to come to the trial can dial in by a video feed.

On my TV screen, however, Russian state channels will simultaneously broadcast out a parallel universe of disinformation stories. It’s a familiar carousel of alternative theories and newly released “evidence” that circles through state-controlled broadcasters, gets pushed out by government-paid trolls on social media and then recycled by ordinary Russians. With each related news update Russia doubles down on its denials even against the staggering evidence that shows the Russian military supplied separatist troops with the missile that shot down the passenger plane over Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

But there’s something new looming over Russia’s coverage of the MH-17 trial. The downing of a Ukrainian passenger airplane in Iran earlier this year may have already dropped from international headlines but as Russia kicks one of its most effective disinformation campaigns back into gear, it’s the elephant in the room.