Propagandists are distributing on anonymous telegram channels a photo of a letter allegedly from JSC National Atomic Power Generating Company Energoatom, addressed to the Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, about their readiness to export electricity to Poland. However, this is fake.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council drew attention to it. Its specialists checked the information at JSC National Atomic Power Generating Company Energoatom and found out that the letter being distributed was a fake. This indicates several details. Firstly, in the text of the “letter” there are obvious lexical and grammatical errors that are not typical for the Ukrainian language, especially in its last sentence. In addition, the head of Energoatom does not send official correspondence to government authorities of foreign countries, since this violates ethics and rules of international correspondence. The signature on the so-called document is also fake. Also, at the end of 2023, Energoatom became a joint-stock company, and not a state-owned enterprise, as stated in the “document”.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists are trying to cause public discontent and neutralize Russia’s role in the crisis of the energy system in Ukraine. They say that Ukrainians are sitting without electricity not because Russia is carrying out targeted attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, but because Ukraine allegedly sells electricity abroad.

Russian propagandists, taking advantage of the anniversary of the downing of flight MH-17 over Donbas, continue to try to blame Ukraine for this tragedy. They are actively disseminating reports that Ukraine allegedly “intentionally did not close the airspace” and that the plane was allegedly shot down “according to the SBU plan”, which provided for the introduction of NATO troops into Ukrainian territory after this terrorist attack. All these statements by Russian propagandists are unreliable.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council drew attention to them. They explained that responsibility for the downing of flight MH-17 lies entirely with Russia. An international investigation has found that the plane was shot down by a missile from a Buk anti-aircraft missile system delivered from Russia to territory controlled by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s hypocrisy is also evidenced by the fact that it is hiding three people on its territory; a court in the Netherlands in 2022 found them guilty of involvement in the downing of the plane.

This behavior demonstrates Russia's systematic strategy of avoiding responsibility for its actions, aimed at disinformation and manipulation of public opinion. Despite all efforts, Russia is, however, on the side of Ukraine, and the international community continues to support Ukraine in its quest for justice for the victims of this terrible terrorist attack.

A coalition of investigative journalists from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Germany, Romania and Poland investigated for VSQUARE how right-wing radical movements in EU countries used the social network TikTok, which spread messages consonant with Russian propaganda as well as themes of Russian aggression against Ukraine. They noted that TikTok's algorithm inadvertently promotes political activism, extremism and propaganda, complicating research due to limited access to data, which requires a combination of API data, web scraping (active search of open sources) and manual collection for conducting investigations.

In particular, it found that the TikTok landscape has become a breeding ground for German right-wing extremists, with a content reach of approximately 23 million users. The investigation shows how easy it is to manipulate TikTok's virality algorithm, which tolerates the creation of fake accounts and misinformation. The German AfD party has particularly benefited from this right, using TikTok to strengthen its pro-Russian position and influence young voters.

Olga, a TikTok influencer from Moscow, shows her Czech-speaking audience moments from everyday life and street interviews, subtly hinting at the “minimal” impact of international sanctions on Russia. After living in the Czech Republic for 12 years, she returned to Russia. Among the reasons for this decision, she names bureaucracy and a decrease in freedom in Europe. On her account Z Ruska s láskou (From Russia with Love), she discusses current events in the Czech Republic. For example, she answers the country's Prime Minister Petr Fial, comparing prices to emphasize lower costs in Russia. With more than 10,000 followers, her audience overlaps with that of Czech and Slovak politicians, a pro-Putin biker gang, and an anonymous extremist account critical of the Czech government and Ukraine.

Claudiu Tarziu, a Romanian MEP from the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), posts videos on his account that have been identified as containing disinformation. The authors of the study found that conspiracy theories and xenophobic messages make up more than 41% of its content. AUR and another far-right party, SOS RO, together won eight seats in the European Parliament elections. Context.ro analyzed the TikTok content of seven MEPs affiliated with these parties and found that between 20 and 42% of their videos contained toxic messages. Using automated software, Context.ro analyzed more than 5,800 videos from 36 MEP candidates, finding 2,000 instances of exaggeration, fear-mongering or false content.

In the 2024 European Parliament elections, Poland's far-right Confederation alliance won six seats, marking a significant increase from 2019, when no far-right candidate was elected to represent the country. Their success is largely due to a strong presence on TikTok, where alliance leader Slawomir Mentzen boasts over 850,000 followers and the Confederation's official page has 329,000 followers. Despite the fact that TikTok accounts were created recently, in late 2022 or early 2023, members of the Confederation actively joined the network during election campaigns, but subsequently began to publish less material. In particular, MEP Grzegorz Braun, known for his anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, also gained more than 100,000 subscribers, correlating with his electoral support. In addition, influential figures such as Stefan Tompson, who has more than 100,000 followers, amplify Polish far-right narratives, although such accounts are registered abroad, particularly in Germany.

After the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico, Slovakia saw a surge in disinformation and conspiracy theories on this topic, including on TikTok. Former judge Stefan Harabin, linked to nationalist SNS MP Roman Mihelko, spread a conspiracy theory blaming the attack on someone linked to the country's former president Zuzana Caputova, calling her the “ideological architect” of the attack. Despite TikTok's limited reach in Slovakia compared to Facebook's dominance in the context of political content, a video related to the murder received 60,000 views, and other content on the topic reached more than 300,000 viewers. The Jan Kuciak Investigative Center found that high-profile figures such as President Petr Pellegrini and the Smer party were the driving force behind this narrative, along with lesser-known profiles that spread baseless accusations, for example linking the attacker to LGBTQ activists.

Hungarian TikTok features mainstream, not just fringe, media outlets spreading Russian disinformation. Channels such as M1-Híradó and VILÁGHÍRADÓ ROLI OLDALA attract more than 125,000 and 50,000 subscribers respectively by publishing snippets of news programs with a pro-Russian slant, despite the fact that these accounts are not officially affiliated with copper. Even figures associated with pro-government media, such as Daniel Ferko of Hír TV, distribute similar content, such as statements linking the recent Moscow terrorist attacks to Ukrainian forces.

As Eesti Ekspress found out, Estonian TikTok videos in which their creators expressed fear of possible power outages were part of the disinformation ecosystem in Estonia. Examining conspiracy content related to Russian aggression against Ukraine, the report's authors found that 63% of such videos on Estonian TikTok could be classified as disinformation. Although there are approximately 400,000 TikTok users in Estonia, it is dominated by Russian propaganda aimed at stoking anxiety and fear. Eesti Ekspress found around 50 accounts spreading disinformation, posting monologue-style videos and dark humor about the risks of war in Estonia.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, responded to queryers by reiterating its efforts to combat misinformation, saying it uses fact-checkers and proactively removes harmful content. They noted that misinformation is rare on TikTok: less than 2% of removed videos in Q4 2023 violated the virtue and authenticity policies, and less than 40% violated the misinformation or civic virtue policies. TikTok ensures that toxic content is either removed completely or its access to users' feeds is reduced. The company denies the accusation that it promotes the spread of misinformation, noting that it has strict policies against the accounts of governments, politicians and political parties aimed at maintaining freedom of expression and creating a “cheerful platform for the community”. However, the report's authors note that these efforts are not enough.

Last week, propagandists spread information on anonymous telegram channels that F-16 fighter jets spotted in the skies over the Odesa region were flying from Romanian airfields. However, this is fake.

It was denied by the Romanian Ministry of Defense. The corresponding statement of the Ministry was published by the European Pravda publication with reference to News.ro. In fact, the F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force operate exclusively within national airspace and strictly adhere to international regulations.

The Romanian ministry said that “the alleged sources of Russian propaganda are conveying false information”. The spread of this disinformation coincided with the NATO summit in Washington, where important decisions were made to support Ukraine's defense efforts.

Propagandists spread this misinformation as they try to create an image of aggressive activity on the part of the West and its allies, in particular NATO, of which Romania is a member. It is part of a broader propaganda campaign aimed at bolstering support for Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Propagandists distribute on anonymous telegram channels, which in Ukraine want to create a memorial military cemetery in each region. They say this was reported by the acting Minister of Veterans Affairs Oleksandr Porkhun. Russian propaganda claims that they are already preparing 100 thousand burial places in the traditional way, and 60 thousand using the columbar method. This gives grounds to estimate the real number of war victims on the Ukrainian side. However, this is manipulation.

In fact, it is about creating a National War Memorial Cemetery. for the burial of all veterans. Deputy director of the relevant government agency Yaroslav Starushchenko said in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine that all veterans will be buried in this cemetery, and not just those who died in battles since the full-scale invasion. This includes veterans who will die many years after the end of their service but will still have combat status. In addition, the war memorial cemetery does not provide for the burial of civilians who did not participate in hostilities.

The idea of creating a memorial cemetery was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in October 2022. In August 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the implementation of the project in the Hatnenska Community near Kyiv. The first phase of construction should be completed by the end of 2024, and the complete completion of the complex is planned for 2027.

Propagandists spread false information about this idea to create panic among the population and lower their morale. They seek to show that Ukrainian military casualties are so high that new cemeteries are needed in every region, even though official data suggests otherwise. In this way, they are also trying to sabotage support among the population for the continuation of the fight and disrupt the mobilization process in Ukraine.