The NATO Washington Summit took place on July 9-11, 2024. Subsequently, Chinese journalists began to write about the results of the summit. In particular, some of them criticized the decision to help Ukraine and spread a narrative consistent with Russian propaganda: “NATO is fomenting confrontation”. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

In addition, the Chinese publication Global Times published an interview with American economist Jeffrey Sachs, who voiced theses on Ukraine that were beneficial to Russia. It should be noted here that this is not the first time he has spread pro-Russian rhetoric.

As for India, its media pays great attention to the visit of the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Moscow, which took place on July 8-9, 2024, and sees benefits from relations with Russia. However, in India they are unhappy that the agreement on the dismissal of their citizens from service in Russia is not being fulfilled.

Also, some Indian publications, without context, are disseminating comments from Russian representatives about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and relaying Moscow’s calls to Washington to stop supplying arms to Ukraine and focus on internal security.

With the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine began to actively develop relations with countries of the Global South. First of all, contacts take place in the context of the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, because it has a global context. However, Russia doesn’t really like this, so it is trying in every possible way to ruin these relations.

Propaganda telegram channels disseminate a number of manipulations and narratives in the best traditions of Russian propaganda on issues related to Ukrainian energy. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

Thus, as a result of monitoring the information space, the following main disinformation messages were discovered:

– Ukraine is on the verge of an energy catastrophe;

– a black winter awaits Ukrainians;

– the authorities are incompetent in the conditions of the energy crisis;

– Ukraine sells electricity abroad while its population is without electricity;

- The authorities are profiting from raising tariffs.

Moscow is spreading these narratives with the aim of destabilizing the situation inside Ukraine. Also, by spreading manipulations about supposedly “mass protests of Ukrainians against blackouts”, Russia is trying to create the illusion that Ukraine is on the verge of a social explosion.

At the same time, on the TikTok social network, propagandists are artificially promoting the trend about the unbearability of life in Ukraine with calls for citizens to go abroad. Thus, Russia seeks to provoke a new wave of migration by driving Ukrainians out of their homes.

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.

The authors of Wired examined how a Russian propaganda network used artificial intelligence to create a fake video of US President Joe Biden. This video, titled Bye Bye Biden, was widely shared on social networks and received millions of views. The video portrays Biden in a negative light, showing signs that he is allegedly suffering from senility, and makes the statement sound like he supports illegal immigrants more than US citizens. For the manipulation, they used deepfake technology, where the appearance of the actors changed to resemble Biden and former President Donald Trump.

The publication's specialists noted the inconsistency of the video, which indicates a hasty production of the video. For example, the characters' lip movements did not always match the voice acting, and their body language looked unnatural. The ambiguity of a deepfake makes it difficult for viewers to determine its authenticity. This is a “lie dividend” tactic — an increase in skepticism about the veracity of information due to the too high prevalence of fake materials. This tactic makes it harder for such content to be identified and removed on social media, allowing it to spread better.

The use of AI in disinformation campaigns is a growing concern. With the development and availability of AI tools, the potential for creating more convincing fake content increases, posing significant challenges to maintaining public trust and political stability.

Because of its propagandists, Russia informally admits responsibility for the missile attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital on July 8, 2024 and tries to convince its citizens of the “correctness” of such attacks. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

For example, one of the Russian publications, known for its “radical Orthodox” rhetoric, published an article by propagandist Perley, who states that the attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv was not an accident. The author calls not to spare Ukrainian children and uses as justification the manipulation of the topic of “children of Donbas”, which Russia has been widely exploiting for 10 years to cover up its crimes against Ukraine. The propagandist also emphasizes that there is “no civilian population” in Ukraine, because absolutely all Ukrainians are enemies for the Russians.

So, Russian propaganda has once again shown its cannibalistic nature. Propagandists who incite hatred against Ukrainians and actually encourage genocide should be brought before an international court as accomplices in Russia's crimes against Ukraine. We wrote earlier that another Russian propagandist, Krasovskyi, has repeatedly called for the killing of Ukrainian children.

Russian propagandists, citing statements by Kremlin Speaker Pieskov about the results of the NATO summit in Washington on July 9-11, 2024, are trying to shift responsibility for the war in Ukraine to the North Atlantic Alliance.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council writes that we are talking about the following disinformation messages:

– “NATO is de facto fully involved in the conflict in Ukraine”;

– “The results of the NATO summit confirmed the confrontational nature of the alliance and its reluctance to achieve peace”;

– “The movement of NATO military infrastructure towards Russia’s borders continues”;

- “NATO’s plans to accept Ukraine are connected with the desire to defeat Russia”.

By accusing NATO of aggressive intentions towards Russia, the Kremlin is trying to mislead the world community and convince it that it is waging a war against Ukraine in order to “defend itself”. Moscow also seeks to discredit Ukraine’s desire for Euro-Atlantic integration, building its propaganda image as a hostile state and an apostate of the West.

Based on the results of the summit, it can be argued that Russia is promoting the thesis that NATO has raised the stakes and escalated the situation, thereby leaving Russia no choice. Read more about the change in Russian rhetoric towards Ukraine after the Washington NATO summit in the corresponding article by the Detector Media Research Center.

Russia continues to invest large resources in the ideological indoctrination of youth in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT), expanding the network of organizations specially created for this purpose. In particular, at the TOT, with the assistance of local gauleiters, recruitment is underway for the all-Russian community of children and youth “Movement of the First”, created on December 18, 2022 on the initiative of Russian President Putin. Outreach events are also held for local schoolchildren and students. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

As for the “First Movement” community, it is the reincarnation of Soviet practices of youth education - organizations of pioneers and Komsomol members. By resorting to old, proven methods, the Kremlin is trying to achieve several goals at once:

– ideologically educate youth at the TOT in the spirit of loyalty to Russia;

– prevent any resistance by controlling the mood of young people;

– integrate local youth into the Russian space;

– form personnel for administrative, political and military structures at the TOT.

This youth movement is part of a large-scale program to strengthen the influence and control of children and youth in the temporarily occupied territories.

A network of Russian websites is spreading fake stories as part of an information operation increasingly targeting the US election, BBC reports. The Kremlin uses artificial intelligence to create thousands of news articles published on dozens of sites with names that should look American: Houston Post, Chicago Crier, Boston Times, DC Weekly and others. They also use names of newspapers that went out of business several years or decades ago, the BBC adds.

One of the key figures in this campaign is ex-Florida police officer John Mark Dugan, who moved to Moscow. According to the BBC, a wealth of digital evidence suggests links between Dugan and Russian fake websites - experts consulted by the investigation traced IP addresses and other digital information to websites operated by Dugan.

Fictional stories tracked by the BBC appear aimed at influencing American voters and sowing distrust ahead of the November election. Some of the fakes were completely ignored, but others were spread by influential individuals and members of the US Congress.

Russian propagandists can resort to large-scale disinformation campaigns before key events in a particular region of the world and set themselves the goal of influencing them. For example, there is evidence that the Kremlin has already interfered in the US presidential elections in both 2016 and 2020. We also recently wrote that Russia purposefully created fake news to influence the European Parliament elections that took place on June 6-9, 2024.

The Russians managed to create a network of their contacts among local journalists and politicians in Israel, who are becoming instruments of influence in the region. Israel Hayom writes about this, citing Israeli intelligence services. These contacts are actively used to spread Russian propaganda and disinformation aimed at undermining stability in Israel.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine notes that in order to analyze the activities of Russians in the Israeli media space, it was discovered that the Kremlin uses a wide arsenal to promote propaganda in it. This includes both traditional and new methods to maximize influence on public opinion.

Key technologies include:

- creation of websites masquerading as Israeli media. They look like real news outlets, but they actually spread pro-Russian information and disinformation;

- dissemination of pro-Russian messages in the comments of popular political groups on social networks. This allows one to form public opinion and support the necessary narratives among the population;

- Distribution of anti-Ukrainian publications, including interviews with Israeli military and political figures calling for continued cooperation with Russia. These materials should undermine support for Ukraine and justify Russian aggression.

Israeli intelligence services are actively monitoring these influence attempts and working to neutralize them, but the problem remains relevant and requires constant attention and counteraction.

A recent Bloomberg report highlighted how Russia is using Western bloggers to spread its propaganda. With an audience of more than two million subscribers, they either moved to Russia permanently or traveled there after the start of the full-scale invasion. In their content, these bloggers mostly ignore the topic of the war in Ukraine. In turn, they focus on the supposedly insignificant impact of sanctions and the creation of a positive image of Russia.

There is no direct evidence that these bloggers are part of a coordinated pro-Kremlin campaign. However, the Russian propaganda machine often uses social media to spread disinformation, and bloggers have become an important part of this mechanism.

Specialists from the Beyond the News project analyzed this using the example of Russian blogger Elina Bakunova, known as Eli from Russia, who promotes Kremlin narratives due to her travels around Russia.

She has a YouTube channel with over 700 thousand subscribers, some of her videos have received millions of views. In them, Bakunova shows Lake Baikal, Mount Elbrus and other sights of Russia, creating the impression that her content is dedicated exclusively to travel.

She positions herself as an ordinary girl from Perm, although her education and access to professional equipment indicate otherwise. She began her career by talking about studying in Italy, where she studied English and PR. Her videos include professional drone footage and time lapses.

Her connection with propagandists is evidenced, in particular, by her interview with an American working for Russia Today about the advantages of living in Russia. In addition, in June 2022, it joined the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), whose honorary president is Shoihu and whose supervisory board is headed by Putin. The organization has become an instrument of hybrid warfare in the international arena and in the field of education. They use cartography to create false maps that label temporarily occupied territories of other countries as Russian.

In its videos, Eli from Russia shows different peoples as part of “great Russia”, focusing on landscapes and cuisine and only briefly mentioning culture and customs. She constantly emphasizes Russian as the main language for everyday use. The YouTuber avoids discussing the past and contemporary problems of these peoples, keeping silent about their true history of “annexing” to Russia, trying to create an attractive image of the state.

While traveling through countries that Russian propaganda calls post-Soviet, such as Georgia and Kazakhstan, she ignores anti-Russian sentiment and focuses on nostalgia for Soviet times. The YouTuber talks about life under the Soviet Union as “the best of times”.

In the comments to the video, she is reproached for keeping silent about Russian aggression against Ukraine. However, her supporters argue that the blog is dedicated to nature and cultures, so she should not talk about political topics. She continues to move freely around the country and travel abroad. After February 24, 2022, she published a video about her trip beyond the Northern Circle, without uttering a word about Russian aggression.

Also, she doubts the fairness of international sanctions against Russia, arguing that they only harm ordinary people, and not Putin and his circle. She focuses on the difficulties that the sanctions created for her personally, without mentioning the reasons for their introduction.

On her travel channel, Elina made several videos that even her fans considered inappropriate. Like the one where she talks about “Victory Day” and praises her grandfather who “fought” “Ukrainian nationalists” during Russia’s modern war against Ukraine.

Eli from Russia disseminates pro-Kremlin narratives to Western audiences who know little about history and life in Russia. They see a beautiful picture that creates the impression of a different Russia and reduces the critical perception of its aggressive actions. She keeps quiet about the war in Ukraine and avoids critical topics, furthering the goals of the propaganda machine, despite the lack of direct evidence of coordination with the Kremlin.

The telegram channels of the occupation authorities are filled with messages about improvements in the TOT: repair of water pipelines and roads, drilling of new wells, infrastructure development. The Zaporizhzhia Investigation Center found out what really lies behind this news and how local residents react to it.

Manipulation No. 1. Restoration of roads in Zaporizhzhia region

The occupation authorities claim that since the beginning of the year, 106 kilometers of roads have allegedly been restored in the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region. The so-called governor Balytskyi claims that special attention is paid to settlements where roads “have not been repaired for decades”. According to the plan for this year, asphalt should be replaced and laid on 265 km of roads.

However, comments from TOT residents on these channels indicate that the real situation is different. Verification of this information is complicated by the lack of access to official Russian data and possible falsification, so one has to rely on reports and comments from local residents. They note that the roads after the so-called repairs leave much to be desired.

Manipulation No. 2. Half a billion rubles for the Kuibyshev district

Each TOT district has “chiefs” - regions or territories of the Russian Federation who finance the restoration of occupied territories. The head of Mari El, the patronage region of the former Bilmatskyi district, said that by 2028 he will allocate half a billion rubles. This year, 138 million rubles have been allocated for the social sphere and utilities.

Checking the information shows that repairs are carried out quickly and without complying with standards. It is likely that we are also talking about money laundering.

Manipulation No. 3. Observation platform in Berdiansk

The reconstruction of the observation deck in Berdiansk is a long-standing promise of the occupiers. In April 2024, the occupation authorities announced the start of preparatory work. 105 million rubles were allocated. However, residents of Berdiansk did not understand who voted for the project. Even Ukraine’s opponents admit that its benefits are questionable.

The occupiers promise to complete the project by the end of 2024, but the site still looks like a wasteland.

The editor of the Locator.Media website, Oleksandr Pylypenko, explained that regional chefs send their contractors, through whom the money is immediately returned to the Russian Federation. Critical work is done superficially or not done at all.

Russian propaganda is trying to create the illusion of an improvement in life on the TOT, talking about new projects and renovations in order to justify its aggression against Ukraine. However, TOT residents are skeptical about such improvements. Work in sponsored territories is carried out by contractors from the Russian Federation, and the money is returned to Russia, which leads to insufficient or non-fulfillment of planned work.

Propaganda telegram channels are disseminating information that Ukraine seems to be pulling troops, weapons and military equipment to the borders of Belarus. In particular, American infantry fighting vehicles, multiple launch rocket systems, heavy long-range artillery and other equipment are allegedly already located in the Zhytomyr region.

However, in a comment to the Belarusian service of Radio Svoboda (Liberty), the speaker of the Ukrainian State Border Service Andrii Demchenko, in response to propaganda reproaches about a possible invasion, said that Ukraine does not pose any threat to Belarus.

Also, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andrii Kovalenko, wrote about Russia’s information operation to escalate the situation on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. He claims that so-called military correspondents have already been involved in this process, saying that Ukraine is preparing an attack on Belarus. However, the threat really comes from Belarus, because there are Russian DRGs there, although there are not enough forces for an invasion.

According to Andrii Kovalenko, through this information operation the Russians are trying to draw more Ukrainian forces to the border with Belarus. Probably in order to make other sectors of the front more vulnerable to Russian attacks. Previously, we analyzed how Russia is involving the Lukashenko regime in nuclear blackmail.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council analyzed the information space and identified Russian information influence campaigns against Ukrainian refugees. Despite the fact that most of the analyzed messages are neutral in nature, a significant part of them are manipulations and disinformation aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its citizens abroad, as well as the governments and populations of European countries that have received Ukrainians.

Based on the results of the analysis, the Center identified three areas of information influence that Russia uses in the context of Ukrainian refugees:

1. Demonization of Ukrainian refugees aimed at a European audience

As part of this direction, the Russian Federation seeks to distort the perception of European citizens about Ukrainians and create the image of a Ukrainian refugee as an “ungrateful vandal-criminal”. In general, the Kremlin has made a lot of efforts to “demonize” Ukrainian refugees in the eyes of European audiences. To achieve the above goal, the Russians created and distributed a number of fake materials regarding Ukrainian refugees, which were then distributed in the English, Polish, French, German and Spanish segments of the information space. For example, a fake about Ukrainian refugees who allegedly set fire to a pharmaceutical compound in Poland.

2. Demonization of EU countries in the issue of supporting Ukrainian refugees, aimed at Russian and Ukrainian audiences

Along with the demonization of Ukrainian refugees aimed at a European audience, the Russian Federation also uses the topic of Ukrainian refugees to discredit the countries and citizens of the European Union in the eyes of Russian and Ukrainian audiences. The main goal is to “demonize” EU countries and citizens by creating an image of “unreliable” and “self-serving adherents of immoral values”. In particular, within the framework of this direction, among others, a fake was documented that the EU Council decided to deport 830 thousand Ukrainians.

3. “Russia’s position as the best refuge for Ukrainian refugees”

In addition to “demonizing” Ukrainians abroad and influencing the policies of European countries, the Kremlin is actively using the topic of Ukrainian refugees to justify the goals of the so-called SVO (military operation), demonstrating the desire of Ukrainian citizens to combine their lives with the Russian Federation. The main task is to discredit the military-political leadership of Ukraine and justify the war crimes of the Russian army on Ukrainian lands. Thus, within the framework of this narrative, for example, they spread the message that “in Europe, no one needs Ukrainian refugees, but Russia accepts them and gives them citizenship”.

Also, as part of a large-scale campaign by the Russian Federation to discredit Ukrainian refugees, the Center noticed similarities in common narratives with what the Kremlin promoted during the active phase of the civil war in Syria.

Russian telegram channels are distributing a photo of a “non-public” order of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, which allegedly states that the heads of local administrations of settlements were supposed to evacuate along with their families by June 3, and the mayor of Kharkiv was supposed to provide them with housing.

VoxCheck analysts explained that the document is fake.

After all, the contents of the order do not comply with the rules for drawing up official documentation:

- in the original orders, the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration spells out the word year in full, and does not abbreviate it, as they did in the fake document;

- the word “order” is used in the plural, although it is correct to write in the singular;

— the phrase “universal list” regarding heads of administrations is incorrect. In Ukrainian the correct word is “universal”.

In its digest of anti-Ukrainian messages in Russian media, the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine highlighted the manipulation and fake news spread by Russian propagandists.

Russia seems to be offering a “peace agreement” rather than issuing an ultimatum to Ukraine.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that Russia is offering Ukraine a peace agreement to end the war. Thus, Russia is highlighted as a peacemaker, a party desiring peace. At the same time, propagandists claim the “unwillingness” of Ukraine or the West, which “leads Ukraine”, to end the war.

In fact, Russia issued an ultimatum to Ukraine. The Russians’ demands included: the transfer to Russia of the territories it occupied and international recognition of Ukrainian territories as part of Russia, the non-aligned and nuclear-free status of Ukraine, and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Russian propagandists have resorted to replacing concepts in order to portray Russia not as an aggressor, but as a peacemaker. Such propaganda affects both Russian and foreign audiences. It demonizes the West, portrays Russia as morally superior, and instills doubts in Western society about the wisdom of continuing to support Ukraine.

Ukraine allegedly uses cargo ships for military purposes

Propagandists baselessly claim that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly launching missile attacks on Sevastopol and Crimea using dry cargo ships on which launchers with ATACMS missiles are placed. Thus, the ship is supposedly capable of entering the Black Sea or Odesa cargo port after an attack and merging with the dry cargo ships stationed there.

However, this is a fake, since a cargo ship is a transport vessel designed to transport dry cargo and is not suitable for installing weapons on it. Moreover, Russian propagandists cannot provide any evidence of the use of such vessels by Ukraine.

The dissemination of such a fake is an attempt to legitimize Russian attacks on non-military vessels that are allegedly used for military purposes. So the Russians are blowing up maritime security and jeopardizing one of the trade routes for Ukraine. In addition, in this way, Russian propagandists are spreading fear among Ukrainians and, in general, undermining trust in Ukraine.

Russian propaganda, due to a number of statements by officials and propaganda channels, is spreading lies about Ukraine’s involvement in a series of terrorist attacks on June 23 in Dagestan, which were directed against religious institutions and the police.

On June 23, in the Republic of Dagestan, Russian Federation, street battles took place between Russian law enforcement agencies and militants who attacked an Orthodox church and synagogue in Derbent, as well as a police post in Makhachkala. 15 law enforcement officers and several civilians died during the attacks. This was reported by the publication Zerkalo Nedeli (Weekly Mirror) with reference to the official Russian news agency TASS.

Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from Dagestan Abdulkhakim Gadzhiev said that the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO could allegedly be behind the attacks on Makhachkala and Derbent. The head of Dagestan, Serhii Mielikov, said that Ukraine was interested in the terrorist attacks, connected the latest events with the so-called “special military operation” and called this evidence that “the war has come to their homes”. According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, “the reaction of bloggers-propagandists, who found a “Ukrainian trace” in the events even before any official statements, was also typical”.

The terrorist attacks in Dagestan are another failure in the work of the Russian special services. However, as in the situation with the terrorist attack in Crocus, the Russian Federation is once again promoting a propaganda narrative about “Ukrainian terrorism” without evidence. Let us recall that on the evening of March 22, 2024, in the town of Krasnogorsk near Moscow, a group of armed men entered the Crocus City Hall concert hall and opened fire on visitors and security guards. As a result of terrorist actions, 145 people were killed and more than five hundred were injured. The Wilayat Khorasan organization, the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the attack. Read more about how Russian propagandists tried to blame Ukraine and its allies for the terrorist attack in Crocus in our material.

The head of the Center for Investigation, Andrii Kovalenko, suggests that there is now a confrontation in the FSB between different groups of influence, so the terrorist attacks in Dagestan could have been organized by one of these groups in order to eliminate the director of the special service, Oleksandr Bortnikov. The situation within the FSB and its inability to respond to threats in the future could lead to a “third Caucasian war”.

Journalist for the American online publication The Washington Post, Lee Hockstader, claims that Russia began actively spreading disinformation in Europe even on the eve of the European Parliament elections. In his column, Hockstader writes that in 2022, Europe was already experiencing a large-scale Russian disinformation operation: “The Moscow-controlled organization cloned the websites of newspapers, magazines and news services, including the British Guardian and the German Bild, posted copies under similar domain names and filled them with Kremlin”.

The main attacks of Russian disinformation are directed against Ukraine: “A website posing as the French Ministry of Defense announced that 200 thousand French recruits will be sought for service in Ukraine. A prominent German TV journalist known as a “Putin expert” and Moscow sympathizer was found to have received more than $600,000 from a Kremlin-linked Russian billionaire”.

Russia's war against Ukraine has removed obstacles to Moscow's use of various disinformation tools. The United States may face a similar or even greater challenge this fall on the eve of the presidential election. If Europe does not respond to this challenge, Hockstader said, which is looking increasingly likely, then the picture will look even bleaker in some places. Particularly in the United States, where dysfunctional policies and First Amendment protections make tracking Russian mischief even more difficult.

This resource disseminates fake news, in particular, about “the death of soldiers of the French Foreign Legion in the war in Ukraine”, criticizes the French government, publishes caricatures of President Macron, promotes pro-Russian fakes and supports right-wing radicals. They write about this in the Center for Strategic Communications and Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Resistancerepublicaine.com is registered and hosted in Moscow - that is why the .com domain was chosen rather than .fr, intended for French online resources. This was determined by researchers from Insight News Media.

According to investigators, the materials on this site are intended to spread chaos, despair and protest sentiments in France, to blow up the French government and support right-wing radicals committed to Moscow. Previously, we denied information that France had allegedly made an official decision to send its troops to Ukraine.

On the social network Facebook, on behalf of Ukrenergo, advertisements are being distributed about “severe power outages” in different regions of Ukraine.

However, Ukrenergo itself denied this message. They explained that the company never publishes a schedule of hourly outages in the regions. Also, even grammatical errors indicate the falsity of the message - power engineers will never write “power outage”.

By publishing false messages about outages, unscrupulous people thus increase the audience of their telegram channels, Ukrenergo adds. True information about power outages can be found on the official pages on the social networks of the Ministry of Energy, NEC Ukrenergo, every oblenergo and local authorities.

Online, on behalf of the alleged National Police of Ukraine, information is being spread that the “military police” are offering Ukrainians a reward for their cooperation in identifying evaders.

However, this information is not true. The National Police of Ukraine did not make any such proposals, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. Also, there is simply no “military police” in Ukraine.

Such messages are an element of the Russian information psychological operation (IPSO) and are aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The Center urges Ukrainian citizens not to call the numbers indicated in these messages and not to follow links from unknown sources. At the same time, Russia can use real telephone numbers of Ukrainian government authorities.

For its part, the Cyber ​​Police of Ukraine recalls the importance of verifying facts, information and statements that are disseminated through various communication channels.

Previously, we analyzed the manipulation that the Ukrainian authorities allegedly purchased several hundred SUVs so that “the police would catch the Ukrainians”.

Defense Minister of the Lukashenko regime Viktor Khrienin announced the participation of Russian troops in the second stage of trainig using non-strategic nuclear weapons. He expressed concern about “aggressive actions” from the West and said that Belarus is ready, together with Russia, to respond to these “threats”“.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to the message. They note that permission to use Western weapons on Russian territory showed that Moscow’s nuclear blackmail did not work. The continuation of hysteria on the part of the Kremlin indicates that Russia has no other plan.

For its part, Belarus plays along with Moscow’s desires in order to obtain preferences in response to efforts to destabilize the situation in Europe. This applies not only to nuclear threats, but also to the artificially created migration crisis and participation in the information war against Ukraine. Russia is trying to up the ante in intimidating Europe by enlisting Belarus for nuclear blackmail.

This statement is part of a Russian nuclear blackmail campaign aimed at causing panic among Ukraine's partners and influencing the decision to support our state.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, the Russian intelligence services are planning a new campaign to discredit the country’s military leadership, aimed, in particular, at Ukrainian military intelligence. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda has prepared a number of articles and films that reveal the data of employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine involved in coordinating the combat work of special forces of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine.

Propagandists have already received instructions to organize paid creation and distribution of relevant materials in the media space of Ukraine and Western countries. The Russians allocated $15 million for this, intelligence officials said.

Russia's next information attack has the following goal:

• discredit Ukrainian military special forces, their officers and employees;

• block the work of departments developing and carrying out combat and special missions against Moscow;

• create another factor of social tension in Ukraine.

Previously, we wrote about how the Russians are recruiting people for Maidan-3 on Telegram.

Propaganda telegram channels working in the interests of the occupation forces in the Zaporizhzhia region quote an article from the Turkish publication dikGazete. The author of the article claims that Russian reforms in the agricultural sector of the Zaporizhzhia region allegedly led to economic growth. This, according to them, became possible thanks to the support of the Russian government, which purchases the products of local farmers at market prices and provides them with subsidies. They also praise the organization of the State Grain Operator, which creates jobs and pays high prices for grain. However, they do not have objective information about the work of this operator. They say that Ukraine, on the contrary, sold off land and neglected the region. The article was pointed out by the Zaporizhzhia Investigation Center.

Its experts found that the information in this publication is manipulative and deceitful. For example, the mention of Russia’s “rescue” actions in restoring the agricultural sector of the Zaporizhzhia region after the Ukrainian government does not reflect the real situation, since the region had developed agricultural activities even before the invasion. In addition, the statement about the sale of agricultural land to foreign investors is not true, since until July 2021 there was a moratorium on the sale of such land in Ukraine, and after its lifting, sales to foreigners remain complicated.

This media has a pronounced pro-Russian slant. At the time of writing, columns were published on the main page of the publication’s website about the alleged blackmail of the families of Russian prisoners of war by Ukraine and disappointing forecasts for Ukraine. These materials have a direct connection with Russia: the author of one of them indicated Moscow as his location, and the other - St. Petersburg.

Propagandists spread such disinformation to the TOT inhabitants to convince them that Russia supposedly cares about “new regions”, unlike Ukraine.

Russian telegram channels are distributing photos of the alleged order of the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov on the evacuation of administration representatives and members of their families from certain settlements of the Kharkiv region.

After verifying this information in the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council reported that the order was fake. The administration also noted that under number 121 B, indicated in the fake document, the Regional Military Administration already has another order. It is dated March 1, 2024 and concerns the re-issuance of a license to carry out educational activities in the field of complete general secondary education.

One should also pay attention to the design of the so-called order and the use in the text of the document of the expressions we order and general list, which does not meet the requirements of business speech.

The Russians are spreading this and other similar fakes with the aim of sowing panic among the population and destabilizing the already difficult situation in the region, the cause of which is primarily the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region and frequent terrorist attacks on Kharkiv and the region. Previously, we refuted the information that the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration allegedly fled the city.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Moskalkova, accused Ukraine of suspending the prisoner exchange process for several months.

However, in fact, Ukraine is ready for an exchange both in the “all for all” format and in other options. And reproaches against the Ukrainian side for “far-fetched demands”, supposedly “constantly changing”, are incomprehensible and unfounded, the Center adds.

It is Russia that is blocking the exchange, the last of which took place on February 8, 2024. Moscow similarly blocked the process in the second half of 2023, trying, as usual, to shift the blame to Kyiv. At the same time, Ukraine constantly initiates prisoner exchanges: proposals were received on April 10, 2024, on the occasion of Easter and on the occasion of the call of the Pope, but Moscow ignored Ukrainian initiatives.

Russia’s blocking of the exchange process occurs against the backdrop of numerous violations: the Russians resort to torture and execution of prisoners, use them as “human shields”, and hold civilians captive.

Also, the Russian Federation has still not provided any evidence of the death of Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were allegedly on board the Il-76 on January 24, or the bodies of the dead.