The Russian disinformation network Pravda is increasingly expanding its presence in the global information space, particularly through the Spanish-language segment – and this poses a new challenge not only for Europe but also for technological systems that many consider to be neutral to some extent. This is emphasized in the latest study by the ATHENA project, which focuses on how pro-Kremlin narratives are spreading in Spain and influencing artificial intelligence (AI).

The Pravda network, first identified in April 2022, has become, according to researchers from the ATHENA project, not merely a propaganda tool but a full-fledged disinformation machine. As noted in our article from March 12, 2025, the network comprised more than 150 domains across roughly 49 countries. According to NewsGuard, most of the network’s websites do not produce original content; instead, they aggregate, republish, or translate pro-Kremlin messages from Russian state media, Telegram channels, or official sources.

In the ATHENA report, researchers note that the Spanish-language Pravda integrates into the Spanish-speaking information space the same messages that Russia systematically promotes globally: claims of the “fascization of Ukraine”, the “decline of the EU”, and justifications for the war. All of these texts follow a common structural pattern – they present Russian propaganda materials as “expert opinions” or an “alternative point of view”, while portraying the site itself as a local outlet supposedly “fighting censorship”. This disguise, combined with its targeting of Spanish audiences, makes the network a dangerous instrument of influence.

The ATHENA project also found that, in addition to a general Spanish-language section, versions in Catalan, Basque, and Galician have appeared. All of them systematically disseminate content adapted to local audiences, largely based on Russian state media as well as anonymous Telegram channels. The simultaneous emergence of several language branches was not accidental: the first articles in the Catalan, Basque, and Galician sections were published at the same time and were virtually identical translations. This points to a centralized content factory that automates and scales disinformation for different audiences. The system operates as a multi-level chain: at its core are thousands of Telegram channels that generate the initial pool of materials, followed by aggregators and localized “Pravda” sites that instantly turn these signals into publications. Monitoring by Maldita.es, cited by ATHENA, shows that a large share of the network’s materials consist of reposted Telegram messages.

This disinformation operation has several strategic objectives. First, it aims to expand influence within Spain itself and across the entire Spanish-speaking world, since content published in Spain can easily spread to Latin America. Second, the media network seeks to build up a “propaganda footprint” online. NewsGuard found that one third of the responses produced by leading chatbots echoed narratives promoted by the Pravda network, and in many cases the models directly cited materials from this network, creating a risk that fake sources may be legitimized in AI-generated answers.

The practical consequences of this approach are also visible in the timing of the network’s activity spikes: Pravda synchronously increased its publishing volume during moments of crisis, when public attention was at its peak – for example, during the large-scale power outage that affected Spain and Portugal on April 28, 2025. On those days, the group published hundreds of posts, often hinting at cyberattacks or making outright false claims about the scale of the disruption, thereby amplifying panic or undermining confidence in the ability of state institutions to respond to the crisis.

ATHENA and Maldita.es traced how messages from Telegram appeared on the network’s websites within the first minutes, making these platforms an effective tool for the rapid spread of narratives during periods of uncertainty. A significant share of Pravda’s sources are outlets linked to Russian state propaganda – RT, Sputnik, RIA Novosti, and others. Around 40% of the network’s Spanish-language publications directly cited such sources; the rest mostly originated from Telegram chains that themselves frequently republish or rework material from these platforms.

For Ukraine and for European media, such activity can undermine trust in institutions and sow doubts about the effectiveness of policies or decisions, or function as a technological attack on the ways information is accessed through modern tools.

Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and media outlets are actively spreading eye-catching infographics that allegedly rely on data from the German platform Statista. They claim that Putin’s speeches enjoy high audience engagement in European countries – especially in Poland, Germany, and France. The creators of the fake explain this by people’s “desire to bypass censorship” and their “support for the Russian position”.

This was highlighted by analysts from the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

This is an outright manipulation, experts note. Statista, a reputable statistics platform, has not conducted any research on views of Putin’s political speeches. There is no mention of such data on the platform’s official website.

On the contrary, according to Statista (September 2025):

These figures directly contradict the Kremlin’s claims of “popularity”. The source cited for the infographic is Social Blade. Indeed, this platform is mentioned in the graphic. However, Social Blade does not analyze views of political broadcasts by country. It only tracks statistics of individual YouTube, Twitch, or X accounts – such as subscribers, views, and estimated revenue. It is technically incapable of showing how many people in Poland or France watched a speech by Putin.

This is a deliberately fabricated infographic, created to imitate “scientific analysis”. Its purpose is to create the illusion of support for Putin abroad, despite Russia’s real international isolation.

By claiming that “everyone is watching Putin despite censorship”, propaganda seeks to prove that restrictions do not work and that the West is “hurting itself”. For a Russian audience, this serves as “proof” that “we are not alone”, that “the world is with us”, reinforcing the narrative of a “war against the West rather than against Ukraine”.

Russia has launched a large-scale propaganda campaign in the occupied territories ahead of the so-called “National Unity Day of the Russian Federation.” In the temporarily occupied areas, monuments, memorials, and exhibitions are being opened en masse, glorifying participants in the war against Ukraine. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

In Donetsk, a memorial titled “In Memory of the Defenders of Donbas” was unveiled, with the ceremony attended by the First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration and the Kremlin’s information policy curator for the occupied territories, Sergey Kiriyenko. In Volnovakha, a monument was erected to Vladimir Zhoza, a militant of the so-called “DPR”, while in Moscow an exhibition was opened that places Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine on the same level as participants in World War II. In addition, events are being held to “honor” propagandists who were killed in the combat zone.

Fake statistics are being spread in the pro-Russian segment of social media, claiming that in 2025 the largest audience for Vladimir Putin’s public speeches was allegedly in Ukraine. According to this fabrication, more than 78% of Ukrainian internet users supposedly watched the Russian leader’s speeches. Next in the fake ranking are Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and France, and even in Germany, according to these claims, nearly half of internet users (49%) allegedly followed Putin’s speeches. This fabricated “statistics” was debunked by StopFake fact-checkers.

The cited statistics are completely fabricated. The Statista website, which propagandists refer to, contains no research on which countries follow the Kremlin leader’s speeches the most. Instead, the portal published entirely different data – on global attitudes toward Russia. According to this data, as of September 2025, 79% of the world’s population view Russia negatively, with the most negative attitudes recorded in Sweden (93%) and Poland (90%). These figures directly contradict claims about Putin’s alleged popularity among Europeans.

By spreading such fakes, Kremlin propaganda is trying to create the illusion of international interest in Vladimir Putin’s speeches and to boost his authority in the eyes of Western audiences.

Last year, the Hoaxy a podvody team exposed a coordinated network of Telegram channels that systematically spread Russian propaganda across European countries. At the center of this network is the Czech channel Selský rozum, whose activities have been officially confirmed by the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) and Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications.

According to the BIS report for 2024, among the channels “controlled from Russia”, Selský rozum continued activity directly linked to Russian intelligence services. The channel was created immediately after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In February 2024, it even publicly called for the collection of personal data about the Czech manufacturer of Vampire rocket launchers and its employees, indicating coordination with Russian intelligence structures.

The network operates according to a simple but effective scheme. Short news items from Russian propaganda outlets, including those under sanctions, are mass-translated into different languages and synchronously published across affiliated Telegram channels. Identical messages appear simultaneously across all participants in the network, creating the illusion of “multiple sources” and “public support”.

Last year, researchers identified nine such channels; their number has now grown to eleven. In Slovakia, the key propaganda platform was the TVOTV.sk channel, which, after the investigation was published, changed its name to Púchoviny – an ironic reference to David Púchovský, the founder of the Hoaxy a podvody initiative.

A photo of a derailed train is being circulated on Russian Telegram channels, as well as on the social networks X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Propagandist posts claim that this is allegedly the result of a railway track sabotage in Ukraine’s Odesa region carried out by “local pro-Russian partisans”. According to their version, the train was supposedly transporting Western military aid and fuel for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, this information is fake.

This was reported by Ukrinform.

In reality, the image shows the aftermath of a strike on Russian railway infrastructure in Russia’s Leningrad region. The attack was carried out by units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine together with the Special Operations Forces.

It was previously reported that the incident occurred on the night of 14 September near the Nizovskaya station in the Luga district. At around 02:30, the railway line between St. Petersburg and Pskov was blown up on the Stroganovo-Mshinskaya section. As a result of the sabotage, a locomotive derailed and 15 fuel tank cars were destroyed.

This is another example of how Russian propaganda tries to distort facts and attribute events that took place on Russian territory to Ukrainian regions in order to create the illusion of internal resistance within Ukraine.

Russian media outlets, citing statements by the U.S. Department of Defense Press Secretary Pat Ryder, have widely circulated reports claiming that the Pentagon has ‘finally acknowledged’ Russia's success in the war against Ukraine.  

In reality, propagandists have taken the words of the U.S. Major General out of context, thereby distorting their meaning. This was reported by the StopFake project.  

At a press briefing on January 13, 2025, Ryder commented on the developments in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In response to a journalist's question about whether Russia holds any advantage on the battlefield, the Pentagon spokesperson highlighted the limited capabilities of the Russian army.  

“What we are seeing on the battlefield, particularly in Eastern Ukraine, is that Russia has achieved some additional tactical gains. Of course, this is a very tough fight, as it is in the Kursk region. But when you talk about an advantage… beyond these tactical gains - strategically, Russia has again failed to achieve any of the goals it set for itself almost three years ago (...)”, Ryder emphasized.  

The Major General also noted that, despite receiving support from Iran and deploying 12,000 troops from North Korea, Russia has not made any significant progress on the battlefield. Ryder added that three years of full-scale war in Ukraine have severely depleted Russian forces, while “Ukrainians are holding the defense well, despite the heavy fighting”.  

Thus, Ryder’s main message was that Russia has failed to achieve any of its strategic objectives in its full-scale war against Ukraine. Propagandists shifted the focus and distorted the Pentagon spokesperson's remarks. The goal of Russian media is to exaggerate their army's achievements while undermining the credibility of Ukraine's Armed Forces.  

Previously, we analyzed disinformation claiming that the Pentagon had allegedly called Ukraine ‘one of the most corrupt countries’. 

Russian dictator Putin has said that Russia's nuclear doctrine will remain unchanged, but with an increased number of missiles like the Oreshnik, it will supposedly be improved. This statement is part of the Kremlin's broader campaign of nuclear blackmail.

This is reported by the Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security. Its experts emphasize that Russia is actually using the Oreshnik missiles primarily for propaganda purposes to escalate fears and destabilize. After the missile strike on Dnipro on November 21, Russia intensified its information campaign: Belarusian dictator Lukashenko announced the deployment of missiles in Belarus on December 10, and Putin compared the Oreshnik to nuclear weapons. These statements are accompanied by appearances of Russian influence agents abroad, who amplify hysteria.

This coordinated informational and psychological operation aims to pressure the West into reducing military support for Ukraine. The operation's escalation followed a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Emmanuel Macron, and Donald Trump in Paris on December 7, highlighting the connection between these actions and the strengthening of Ukraine’s support from its partners.

Anonymous propaganda Telegram channels are spreading claims that Ukrainian instructors from the GUR are in the Syrian province of Idlib, allegedly training Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants to fight in Syria. In reality, this is part of a Russian information campaign aimed at discrediting Ukraine.

This is what experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security write about. They found out that Moscow has used similar accusations before, in particular regarding the supply of weapons to Hamas or participation in terrorist attacks. No evidence of these accusations has been presented. On December 4, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denied these accusations, emphasizing that Moscow itself is the main exporter of violence and chaos, in particular by supporting terrorist organizations.

In this way, propagandists are trying to create a negative image of Ukraine in order to undermine its international reputation and relations with partners. It is also done to divert attention from Russia's own actions in Syria and other regions where it actively supports violence and chaos. In addition, it is an attempt to reduce the level of assistance to Ukraine from Western countries by sowing doubts about its actions and moral principles.

The FSB said it had detained a Russian for drug production under the alleged supervision of Ukrainians, and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs accused a Ukrainian of organizing fraud through crypto machines. However, no evidence supports these claims.

This is reported by the Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security. Its experts found that such stories have already become a standard part of the Russian information campaign aimed at shaping the image of Ukraine as the source of all internal problems. This strategy dates back to 2022, when stories about drug labs and groups allegedly overseen by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) began appearing in the media. Since then, the so-called Ukrainian trace has been systematically linked to fraud, terrorism, drug trafficking, and other issues in Russia.

An example is the story of the “Moscow Escobar”, who, according to propagandists, operated under the control of the SBU, but was later identified as a participant in Kremlin celebrations. Other cases include phone scammers, arson attacks on military registration and enlistment offices, unrest in Dagestan, and even cryptographic crimes.

Such accusations are part of a long-term campaign that not only fuels hostility toward Ukraine but also creates the illusion of an all-powerful enemy among Russians. This can lead to increased public paranoia as propagandists continue to present new “evidence” of Ukraine's involvement in Russia’s troubles on a daily basis.

On November 29, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had allegedly shot down 10 ATACMS missiles in a week, adding this to the total “successes” in November: 15 ATACMS missiles and 37 HIMARS. Moreover, the Russian Defense Ministry regularly reports about the “destruction” of HIMARS launchers, the number of which has already exceeded the number received by Ukraine. However, this is not true.

This is reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. These kinds of statements are aimed at supporting Russia’s illusions, because Russian propaganda has long operated on the principle of quantitative exaggeration. For example, back in 2017, Serhii Shoihu reported on the “liberation” of 500,000 km² in Syria, although the area of ​​the country is only 185,000 km². At the same time, the real facts remain outside the official reports. November 2024 was the deadliest month for Russia since the start of the war: during that month the Russian army lost 45,720 soldiers, in both killed and wounded. But this data remains unnoticed by propagandists who focus on creating illusory victories.

Russian fake “reports” not only create a false picture of reality for domestic audiences, but are also designed to distract attention from Russia’s massive losses and failures on the front.

The pro-Russian segment of the network is spreading information that allegedly the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that “the European Union is forced to buy Russian oil so that Putin does not earn more money elsewhere”.  The corresponding statement was made at the opening of the European Political Community summit on November 7, 2024 in Budapest.

However, propagandists distorted her words and changed the context of the statement, writes the StopFake project. First of all, this quote is not from von der Leyen's speech at the Budapest summit, but from an interview with the MSNBC channel more than two years ago. In that interview, the President of the European Commission said that a complete embargo on Russian oil products is not an appropriate option for economically isolating Russia. According to the politician, a sharp end to the EU's purchase of oil from Russia would allow it to sell resources on the world market, then prices would inevitably rise, and this would further replenish Moscow's military budget. She spoke in favor of implementing a strategic and gradual policy of abandoning Russian oil. At the same time, von der Leyen emphasized that the EU plans to get rid of its dependence on Russian minerals and never return to it again.

Also in the same interview, the President of the European Commission announced another package of sanctions against Russia (as of November 2024, 14 of them have already been adopted). The EU is trying to replace Russian minerals with analogues from other countries: recently, von der Leyen announced Europe's plans to buy liquefied natural gas from the United States instead of Russia.

In turn, in Budapest, which was written about by propagandists, von der Leyen only indirectly recalled the victory over the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as an example of the unity and strength of the European community.

Russian propaganda regularly resorts to manipulating the words of Western politicians. For example, they previously analyzed the manipulation, they say, von der Leyen allegedly stated that Ukraine will join the EU in 20-30 years.

Propagandists are spreading the message in the media that the US allegedly still cannot choose a platform for confrontation with Russia between Moldova and Georgia, using dubious claims. They describe pro-European leaders, such as the presidents of both countries, Salome Zurabishvili and Maia Sandu, as allegedly connected with the West with the aim of “splitting” the region. They also create an image of a threat of intervention by foreign troops, in particular Ukrainian ones, to destabilize the situation in order to cause fear and mistrust in democracy. The goal of this message is to promote pro-Russian narratives and reduce support for European integration processes.

Claims of “no evidence” of Russian interference in the politics of these countries are intended to discredit pro-European leaders. First, the rhetoric about the “link” of pro-European politicians to the US and EU, portrayed as a threat to “national interests”,  is intended to encourage the perception of any support for international partners as foreign interference. Claims of “voter-buying plots” without evidence in Moldova and Georgia, used in this message in the context of recent elections in both countries, are intended to undermine confidence in the democratic electoral processes promoted by pro-European parties.

In addition, there are hints of military threat generation, such as the “arrival of Ukrainian snipers” for provocation, used to justify potential intervention and justify Russia’s actions, especially for audiences receptive to such claims. Such disinformation is aimed at undermining Western trust and increasing Georgia and Moldova’s dependence on Russian support in a time of political uncertainty.

Thus, the propagandists want to create the appearance of external influence, allegedly imposing an “alien” political position in order to support democratic choice. This approach is intended to distract from the real problems in the regions where there are risks of pro-Russian intervention, such as economic and political pressure on Moldova and Georgia.

Propagandists, including Russian government officials, are spreading information in the media that Russia does not threaten other countries, unlike NATO. This message has been refuted by experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

In recent years, Russia has not only waged military campaigns against its neighbors, but also resorted to direct and indirect aggression against Western states. Sabotage in Poland and the Baltics, poisoning in Salisbury, cyber attacks and election interference are evidence of Russia’s active aggressive policy. It also tries to divide Western society by promoting narratives about NATO’s alleged provocative role. In parallel, threats to use nuclear weapons are voiced, such as plans to strike Poland or London, in order to sow fear and reduce support for defense strategies.

Such statements are aimed at presenting Russia as a state provoked by Western countries, thus justifying its own aggressive actions in Ukraine and other regions. This is aimed at easing international sanctions and renewing business ties with Western companies. In this way, propagandists are also trying to convince European society that aid to Ukraine and support for NATO are economically disadvantageous and provoke conflicts. This message is aimed at reducing the level of support among citizens of European countries. And these information operations are aimed at weakening international support for Ukraine, isolating the country in the diplomatic arena and forming mistrust of Western defense initiatives.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Serhii Lavrov repeated a set of typical Kremlin talking points aimed at discrediting the West, the EU and justifying Russian aggression. His speech was yet another attempt to spread disinformation on the international stage, blaming the West for all the world's problems. The EUvsDisInfo project compiled a selection of the main messages from it.

Lavrov has tried to shift responsibility for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to the West, in particular through the myth of “NATO expansion”. This disinformation is a classic example of Russia repeating false claims over and over again in order to make them more believable. The Kremlin claims that the West provokes Russia when independent countries, including Ukraine, exercise their right to choose their own foreign policy and join NATO.

Russia also manipulates the principle of self-determination, claiming that residents of temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine allegedly “chose” to become part of Russia. This claim is used to justify aggression against Ukraine, although in reality Russia violates the rights of Ukrainians and forcibly annexes their territories, particularly in Crimea and the east.

One of Russia’s main tools is to promote the message of a “neo-Nazi regime” in Kyiv that allegedly threatened residents of the occupied territories. Such statements are aimed at justifying aggression and shifting the focus to Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine. This myth is used to discredit Western support for Ukraine and to portray Russia as a “defender” of the supposedly oppressed.

Russia is trying to shift responsibility for its actions to the West, claiming that Ukraine was preparing to attack the east and Crimea with the support of Western countries. In this way, the Kremlin justifies its invasion as a preventive action. Accusations against NATO, the US and the EU are intended to sow mistrust in these countries and split international support for Ukraine. Russia spreads myths about the West’s “neo-colonialist practices” in an attempt to gain support among countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Russian disinformation is aimed at creating a false picture of the conflict on the international stage, presenting Russia as a victim of aggressive actions by the West and Ukraine.

German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, as well as the Estonian online publication Delfi, have gained access to leaked internal documents of the Agency for Social Design (ASD), an organization under EU and US sanctions. According to US law enforcement agencies, this agency works on behalf of the Russian presidential administration.

Journalists from Schemes (Radio Liberty), together with a number of European editorial offices, examined thousands of files obtained as part of the leak. As part of the Fake Factory project, they found out that ASD, under the leadership of Russian political strategist Illia Gambashidze, is engaged in disseminating disinformation to discredit Ukraine, its leadership and citizens, as well as Western leaders who support Ukraine. At the same time, the agency promotes Russian interests and supports European politicians who promote these interests.

Some of the documents from this leak were published by American law enforcement in early September, when they filed a motion to seize Internet domains associated with ASD. According to anonymous sources in Western intelligence, the files obtained by journalists are authentic.

ASD positions itself as an organization providing customers with full media support, including analysis of the Western information space, identification of potential threats, proposal of solutions and their implementation. The leak contains a video presentation of the company, presumably created for customers, where its director, Illia Gambashidze, appears. In the presentation, Gambashidze takes off his glasses and hood, stating that there is no point in hiding anymore, since the Doppelganger campaign was exposed by French intelligence.

The Doppelganger campaign involved creating fake websites of well-known publications, such as France's Le Monde and Germany's Der Spiegel, to discredit Ukraine. The fake news also covered Germany, the US, and Israel. Meta called Doppelganger the largest Russian information operation since 2017.

American law enforcement directly accuses ASD of working for the Kremlin and names its activities as being supervised by Serhii Kiriienko, deputy head of the administration of Russian President Volodymyr Putin. In addition, Sofiia Zakharova, an employee of the Putin administration, who, according to American intelligence agencies, took part in planning disinformation campaigns, was also involved in the Doppelganger campaign.

According to the documents, the ASD’s activities are carried out in three main areas:

Monitoring – analysis of the media space and opinions of more than 1000 public opinion leaders in six languages.

Analytics – studying the target audience and creating topics for further use.

Creative – creating fake articles and visual content that looks authentic to the target audience.

According to the leak, between January and April 2024 alone, the SDA created 39,899 pieces of content, including posts, videos, articles, memes, and special messages that are part of disinformation campaigns. The agency is also involved in distributing fake official documents.

In the leak, the journalists of Schemes found examples of forgeries of Ukrainian government documents. Among them are orders allegedly from the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense, which were aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government and military, accusing them of censorship and concealment of information.

The experts of the fakenews.pl portal, together with analysts from GLOBSEC (Slovakia) and Political Capital (Hungary), with the support of the Open Information Partnership, conducted a study of the activities of pro-Russian anti-war movements in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It describes the messages, connections of these movements, the background of their leaders and how the Kremlin manipulates pacifist ideas to legitimize the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin's main trick in this case, according to the above-mentioned experts, is to use anti-war appeals to justify Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Instead of real peace, these movements spread ideas that shift part of the blame to the victim of aggression - Ukraine.

They also came to the following conclusions:

Pro-Russian “anti-war” movements cover a wide range of political forces, from parties in power to opposition and small political movements

In some countries (Slovakia, Hungary) anti-war rhetoric was successfully used to gain political advantages.

Almost all the movements studied have direct or indirect links with Russian officials or structures.

Anti-war movements use the same set of pro-Russian messages, adapted to the local context, but maintaining the general pro-Russian line.

The Visegrad Group organizations (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic), as well as Germany, Bulgaria and Romania, cooperate, mutually promoting Russian propaganda.

Left- and right-wing movements are willing to cooperate if they are united by a pro-Russian narrative.

“Anti-war” movements that sympathize with Russia oppose supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. Although they hide behind ideas of pacifism, their rhetoric strengthens the Kremlin’s position and contributes to disinformation. Using fear and emotion, these movements try to influence public opinion, creating a false image of the world, which in fact involves concessions to the aggressor.

The video states that 74% of Ukrainians are against military action on Russian territory. The Ukrainian voiceover claims that a significant portion of Ukrainian citizens hoped for the end of the war and the signing of a peace agreement, but their hopes were dashed by the Kursk operation.

In fact, the analyzed video is fake. This is reported by journalists from the StopFake project. The video was spread by pro-Russian sources, the first to publish the news was a propaganda Telegram channel with an audience of over 200 thousand subscribers. In addition, the video has a logo that could not be identified. It was probably created by propagandists based on stock images.

Also, the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in the Kursk region began quite recently and continues. Accordingly, there are no valid and reliable statistics yet. However, some street polls of Ukrainian citizens and interviews with the military show a completely opposite picture - Kyiv residents call the operation “fantastic”, and Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen say that the advance of troops into Russian territory has raised morale and brought relief in all directions of the front.

Earlier we analyzed Russian manipulation, saying that Foreign Affairs wrote that the Kursk operation changed the “balance of attrition” not in favor of Ukraine.

The Center for Countering Disinformation continues to monitor the Russian information space and expose new fake news and manipulations that the enemy is spreading regarding the events in the Kursk region.

So, the Center for Countering Disinformation has recorded another wave of disinformation around the following topics:

“Shoot your own soldiers”. In order to undermine the fighting spirit of Ukrainians and discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russian propaganda reports that Ukrainian commanders in the Kursk region are executing their subordinates for refusing to carry out orders.

“Attack on pensioners”. Propagandists created a story about the work of combat medics in the Kursk region, where it is about saving two pensioners after an alleged attack by a Ukrainian drone on their car. However, the story only shows assistance to wounded Russian soldiers, not pensioners.

“Genocide”. Russian propaganda continues to spread eyewitness accounts of Ukrainian war crimes in Sudzha in the Kursk region. In the video, “eyewitnesses” talk about “Ukrainian Nazis who shoot everyone indiscriminately” and allegedly seek to exterminate the Russian people. The operation in the Kursk region has been going on for almost a month, but no evidence of these “Ukrainian atrocities” has been provided.

“Looting in Kursk region”. A video of a Ukrainian-language blogger is being distributed, claiming mass looting in the Kursk region, citing reports from a wounded Ukrainian soldier. This information operation is aimed at the Ukrainian audience in order to sow doubts about the actions of our military leadership. The video uses narratives that have long been actively promoted by Russian propaganda - that the Kursk operation is a “conspiracy” and that Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers should fight not in the Kursk region, but in Donbas.

Propagandists on anonymous Telegram channels claim that the Kursk operation allegedly changed the “balance of attrition” to Ukraine’s disadvantage, since it allegedly lacks reserves to respond to Russian breakthroughs and is short of ammunition. They say this is what Foreign Affairs writes about. They compare it to other battles where, according to propaganda, Ukraine suffered heavy losses, and predict that a prolonged positional war could undermine public support.

However, this information is a distortion and manipulation based on the content of the Foreign Affairs article and is part of a broader disinformation campaign aimed at demoralizing Ukrainian society and reducing international support for Ukraine.

In reality, the manipulative lifts that highlight Ukraine’s supposed weakness are taken out of context to create a false impression about the situation on the front and the ability of the Ukrainian army to resist Russian forces. These operations, such as the Battle of Bakhmut or the counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, were important steps in countering Russian aggression. Although they were indeed complex and demanding of significant resources, they were of strategic importance and were part of Ukraine’s broader defensive and offensive strategy.

Propagandists spread such messages for several reasons. One of the key aspects of this disinformation is to lower the morale of Ukrainian society by creating the impression that Ukraine’s defense is futile and the losses are unjustified. Russia also tries to sow doubts in Western countries about the effectiveness of aid to Ukraine in order to reduce military, financial and political support. Propagandists seek to present Russia as a more powerful and experienced adversary in order to force Ukraine to make concessions or end hostilities on Russia’s terms. These messages are aimed at weakening Ukraine both internally and through international isolation, so they need to be examined critically and debunked using verified sources of information.

A “news story” has been spreading on social media, purporting to show British MP Andrew Bridgen claiming that NATO is planning to carry out a false flag attack on a European city using a nuclear “dirty bomb” and blame it on Russia.

But fact-checkers at VoxCheck reported that Andrew Bridgen provides no evidence for his thesis. Moreover, he has repeatedly spread conspiracy theories.

A reverse search was used to find an interview, an excerpt from which was distributed by propagandists. It was published on June 20, 2024, on the YouTube channel Resistance GB. The Guardian journalists found out that this channel spreads conspiracy theories, in particular, anti-vaccination narratives.

Mr. Bridgen did not provide any evidence, names of experts, details, etc., by which this information could be verified. The statement about a “NATO plan to detonate a bomb” has already been invented in Russian channels. In his messages in X, Bridgen also promotes pro-Russian narratives, in particular calling the transfer of military aid to Ukraine an “escalation”.

Russia is speculating on the use of a “dirty bomb” to sow distrust in Ukraine and force the world to spend resources on refuting the accusations of propagandists. An IAEA commission came to Ukraine to check whether a “dirty bomb” was really being developed at the sites that Russia claimed to be developing – the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Vody and the Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The result of the inspection was that the Agency did not find any signs of such a weapon at Ukrainian nuclear sites.

The fake news about Ukraine creating a “dirty bomb” is a mirror response from Russia, the purpose of which is to try to convince the world that it is Ukraine that is acting as a terrorist group. This, by the way, is one of the most common messages of Russian propaganda, constantly trying to accuse Ukraine of terrorism, saying that it itself is shelling Ukrainian civilians and launching missile strikes on its own critical infrastructure.

Read more on “Dirty Bomb”: What is it and why did Russia come up with this fake?

Russian telegram channels are spreading a message with a video in which the media United 24 allegedly claims that the Ukrainian army intercepted a radio conversation in which a Russian commander warns his soldiers that they can only eat the food they brought with them. The video notes that there have been mass cases of fatal poisoning among Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk direction after they allegedly stole and ate food from local supermarkets.

But this is a fake. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are not looting in the Kursk region, unlike the Russian army and locals, who have been repeatedly seen robbing stores. We checked the United 24 website, as well as their social media pages, and did not find the news quoted by the propagandists. In addition, the fakeness of the message is indicated by the use of videos from Russian Telegram channels in the background, in which Ukrainian soldiers allegedly steal food en masse from Kursk stores and supermarkets.

The main goal of this fake is to spread messages about marginalization and looting among the military defense forces of Ukraine. In this way, the propagandists want to discredit the Ukrainian army, accuse it of crimes against the civilian population, and also hide their own. In addition, such news should convince Ukrainians that the operation in the Kursk direction is a failure for Ukraine, primarily due to the alleged presence of active public resistance among Russians.

CopyCop is a newly created network of news websites that has repeatedly attracted the attention of the community through its pro-Russian and controversial publications written using artificial intelligence. Investigators Recorded Future already published a report in May, in which they noted that CopyCop published 19 thousand false texts in a month. In early March, this network of websites began publishing articles in English and French on a number of controversial issues. In particular, accusations against Israel of war crimes, emotional materials about the political debate in America on immigration and reparations for slavery, and also spread stories about alleged Polish mercenaries in Ukraine. What was new was that the articles were taken from legitimate news agencies and modified using artificial intelligence, most likely ChatGPT. Recorded Future believed that CopyCop may be connected to the Russian government.

A report from Insikt Group was subsequently published showing that CopyCop had shifted its focus to the 2024 US elections. Using artificial intelligence and inauthentic websites, CopyCop is mass-producing pro-Russian political content. For example, between May 10 and 12, 2024, the network registered 120 new websites with the purpose of promoting news related to the US elections, although the content of these websites received limited distribution on social media.

CopyCop has shifted its focus primarily to the 2024 US presidential election, distributing targeted content via YouTube videos aimed at discrediting political leaders in France, Ukraine, and the European Union (EU). The network of websites uses content from leading US, UK, and Russian state-run news outlets. Within 24 hours of the original articles being published, CopyCop extracts, modifies, and distributes them to US-based websites using over 1,000 fake journalists.

The network has adapted to recent scrutiny by moving its infrastructure to US-based hosts, which is likely to minimize evidence of ties to the Russian government. Additionally, fewer traces of generative AI indicate an attempt to hide the use of large language models (LLMs).

According to Insikt Group, AI-powered influence networks like CopyCop are likely to become more visible ahead of the 2024 US elections. There is a possibility that once these websites develop a stable algorithm for their actions, CopyCop will publish more pro-Russian content hidden among a large volume of other media, making it more difficult to identify and analyze. This is evidence that Russia is likely exploring the use of AI to expand its influence avenues in the information war against Ukraine and its partner countries. In particular, this concerns interference in the elections in the US, one of the main suppliers of military and financial aid to our country.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariia Zakharova said that thousands of citizens from NATO countries are allegedly storming Russian diplomatic missions, trying to save their families and children from Western governments. She explains this as a consequence of the “liberal idea”, which allegedly erases the boundaries between good and evil, leading to the rejection of “traditional values” and causing a deep crisis in Western society. However, this statement is just another manifestation of Russian propaganda, which seeks to create the illusion that Russia is a defender of “true” values in the fight against the supposedly degraded West.

This was noted by specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They note that this rhetoric is one of the key elements of the ideology of Russia-ism, which is trying to present Russia as the last fortress of morality and justice in the world.

The facts show otherwise. There are very few cases of Western citizens moving to Russia, and most of them have a criminal or other questionable background. For example, Russian media actively spread the story of an “American from Boston” named Wilmer Puello-Mota, who allegedly moved to Russia and even participated in a so-called “special military operation”. Although Puello-Mota does exist, the propaganda conceals the fact that he fled to Russia due to criminal prosecution in the United States. He is suspected of possessing child pornography and other crimes, so his case is not an example of “fleeing liberalism”, but just another manipulation by Russian media.

The purpose of spreading such stories is to discredit the West and to support the idea that only in Russia can one find a real refuge from the “decay” and “immorality” that propaganda attributes to other countries. This is part of a broader strategy to increase anti-Western sentiment both in Russia and among its international allies.

On social networks in the Russian segment, they add that the American authorities “expect” the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use ATACMS long-range missiles “against Russian cities”. Thus, propagandists concluded that the United States was “forcing” Ukraine to attack Russia. The messages also refer to CNN material.

StopFake fact-checkers explained that even in the article they write how the United States “does not want to give permission” to Ukraine to use American long-range weapons against enemy targets on Russian territory.

Regarding the Kursk region, the United States officially denied involvement in organizing the operation in the Kursk region. For example, as Reuters writes, the United States still considers Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region of Russia unexpected.

The Biden administration is now working to determine Ukraine's goals in its offensive, which U.S. officials say has taken Washington by surprise.

Moreover, the American government has not lifted absolutely all restrictions for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the use of weapons on Russian territory: neither in range nor in use. Actually, the country's leadership is still determining the feasibility of using weapons in the Kursk region. That is about the fact that the United States was not informed about this offensive.