Russian propagandists are spreading manipulative messages that Russian aviation allegedly destroyed a UAV train in Zaporizhzhia. Russian media, citing the alleged words of the spokesman of the Operational-Strategic Group of Forces “Tavria” Vladyslav Voloshyn, claim that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly confirmed the “liquidation of the UAV production workshop”. This is reported by StopFake.

In fact, Russia has really stepped up terror against the civilian population of Ukraine's frontline cities - dozens of airstrikes are carried out daily on Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kherson, Odesa and other populated areas. Schools, playgrounds, residential buildings and hospitals often fall under these indiscriminate attacks. Russian occupiers have modernized guided aerial bombs (GAB), allowing them to attack cities located deep in the rear. On September 27, 2024, on the air of Novosti.Live, the press secretary of the Tavria Operational-Strategic Group of Forces, Vladyslav Voloshyn, commented on the modernization of Russian aerial bombs, but made no statements about the destruction of “UAV workshops”. Voloshyn noted that Russia continues to destroy Ukrainian frontline cities, striking the civilian population. He also noted that it is very difficult to shoot down guided air bombs and Ukraine should focus on destroying the enemy's rear airfields and its aircraft. This requires long-range weapons.

Russia's airstrikes in Ukraine can be considered war crimes falling under the jurisdiction of international courts. In this context, on March 5, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for the commander of Russia's Long-Range Aviation Serhii Kobylash and the former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Viktor Sokolov for attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine.

Propaganda is trying to create the false impression that the Ukrainian military will suffer serious losses due to Russian airstrikes. Fakes about the destruction of “UAV warehouses” and “drone production workshops” help to present Russia as an effective force capable of carrying out pinpoint strikes on important Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities. By claiming that Ukrainian speakers allegedly confirm Russian successes, the Kremlin is trying to raise doubts about the veracity of Ukrainian reports and sow mistrust among Ukrainian citizens and the international community. The spread of false reports about allegedly massive strikes on important facilities in the rear can also sow panic among the population, undermine morale and create a sense of danger even far from the front line. Fake reports about the destruction of military infrastructure can be aimed at weakening Western support for Ukraine, making them doubt the advisability of providing further assistance.

Propagandists are spreading information on social networks that 47% of Ukraine's territory belongs to BlackRock, and that company representatives came to Kyiv and asked not to bury the dead soldiers on their lands. However, this is a fake.

It was refuted by fact-checkers of the Lithuanian version of the Baltic media conglomerate Delfi. They found that the claim that BlackRock banned Ukraine from burying its military is wrong. According to the press service of the President of Ukraine, in late 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyi held a remote meeting with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, during which they discussed possible projects to help structure funds for the country's recovery. In 2023, the Ukrainian government signed an agreement with BlackRock and JPMorgan to create a fund designed to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment to restore the Ukrainian economy, but this did not include restrictions on burying the military. In addition, about 70% of Ukraine's territory is agricultural land. As of 2020, about 31 million hectares, or 75%, were privately owned. The largest companies controlled only 16% of agricultural land, or about 6.45 million hectares. There are more than 10 foreign agricultural companies operating in the country, owning about 3-4 million hectares of land. The largest of these are the US-based Agroprosperis (300,000 hectares) and the Saudi Arabian Continental Farmers Group (195,000 hectares), but BlackRock has not invested in either company.

Georgian fact-checking portal Mythdetector found a recording from a Telegram channel that this claim is based on back in July. The author of the post claims that the CEO of BlackRock allegedly advised Ukraine not to pollute arable land with the bodies of dead soldiers and to use crematoriums. The description of the channel indicates that this information may be satirical or false.

This fake is intended to portray Ukraine as a country that has lost its sovereignty and is completely dependent on Western corporations. Successful partnerships between Ukraine and international companies, such as BlackRock, could become a tool for post-war reconstruction. The propaganda attempts to sow distrust in such investors, portraying them as a threat to sovereignty and national interests. By spreading such fakes, propagandists try to demoralize the population of Ukraine, creating the impression that even burying fallen defenders could become a problem due to the loss of control over national lands. Propagandists also use this fake to distract attention from their own failures and problems, in particular, Russia's crimes in the temporarily occupied territories, economic instability, and poor human rights situation.

Conspiracy theories are an important tool of Russian propaganda, especially when it is necessary to discredit or undermine trust in international organizations such as the European Union (EU). The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council explained this using the example of the spread of conspiracy theories regarding the new composition of the European Commission, in particular messages aimed at discrediting EU institutions and their officials.

Russian propaganda actively uses the idea of an “inevitable crisis” as one of the main means of manipulating public opinion. In this case, the main message is that the new composition of the European Commission will allegedly lead to a “deep political and economic crisis in European countries”. Forecasts of such crises without specific facts or evidence are typical of conspiracy theories, since they easily cause fear and anxiety among the audience.

One of the main targets of this disinformation campaign is the new EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos. Propagandists create conspiracy theories about abuses in the accession process of new countries to the EU, which undermines confidence in the EU enlargement process and causes fear among the population of EU member states. Using a specific person as a target is a typical strategy to divert attention from real problems and create an artificial enemy.

Another manipulation is the use of the new European Commissioner for Defense to promote the thesis of the transformation of the EU into a military-political bloc. This element corresponds to a typical conspiracy theory template, when changes in organizations are interpreted as part of a large and hidden plan that is aggressive or hostile in nature. In this way, Russian propaganda spreads fears among Europeans about a possible direct military conflict between the EU and Russia.

Another key element of propaganda is the manipulation of the topic of budgetary flows distribution in the EU. This is done to undermine trust between EU member states by speculating on issues of fairness and honesty of resource distribution. This approach contributes to the growth of tensions and conflicts within the European Union.

The main goal of the campaign is to provoke internal divisions within the EU. This is done by discrediting European institutions through the dissemination of conspiracy theories that question the legitimacy and fairness of EU processes. Russian propaganda also tries to hinder support for Ukraine’s struggle for independence and economic stability by weakening international ties through disinformation.

Conspiracy theories used by Russian propagandists are a complex mixture of catastrophic predictions, manipulation of facts and intimidation aimed at weakening European unity. These methods help Russia not only to spread disinformation, but also to create mistrust in the processes of integration and cooperation between European countries, which in the long term could have a destructive impact on the EU and its policy towards Ukraine.

Thanks to the Serbian government's control over media and a favorable political environment, RT (formerly Russia Today) uses its office in Belgrade to adapt Kremlin narratives and spread them throughout southeastern Europe. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in its explanation of RT Balkan, calls on the European Union and its member states to hold Serbia accountable for hosting the video.

In September 2024, RSF approached RT with questions about the purpose of the new Balkan bureau and its relationship with the Russian government. RT immediately responded sarcastically: “We created RT Balkan with the sole purpose of annoying Reporters Without Borders”. This response underlines the provocative political nature of RT, which positions itself as a counterweight to organizations defending a free, independent and pluralistic press. However, this response also shows that RT is unwilling to be open about its goals or its ties to the government, as would be expected from a truly independent media outlet.

RT Balkan was officially launched on November 15, 2022, as an online broadcaster and multimedia website in the Serbian language. Although the TV channel never operated, RT Balkan quickly became the main tool of Russian propaganda in the Balkans. RT chose Serbia because of historical ties, shared Slavic culture and Orthodox religion, which created a favorable environment for Kremlin propaganda. Also importantly, the Serbian government controls a significant part of the media market, which it uses to spread its own propaganda. RT Balkan employs tactics such as “information laundering”, where disinformation published by RT is turned into “news” and distributed by mainstream media in the region. Through its presence in Serbia, RT actively amplifies Kremlin narratives across the region, particularly through social media and popular Serbian TV channels and newspapers.

Propaganda resources are spreading statements by Russian occupiers that the “Kyiv regime” is allegedly planning to use chemical and bacteriological weapons to poison reservoirs in the Kherson region. They say that the statement is based on the testimony of Ukrainian prisoners of war. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

These claims are yet another Russian fabrication aimed at continuing Russian disinformation about weapons of mass destruction that Ukraine is allegedly preparing to use. This narrative was used at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when Moscow spread fakes about “American biolabs” to justify its aggressive actions. In the meantime, Russian intelligence services are generating new false claims about a “chemical” and “bacteriological” threat.

The so-called "testimonies" of Ukrainian prisoners of war, which Russian propaganda refers to, are usually either invented or obtained under pressure, a frequently used tool of Russia. The statements about water poisoning in the Kherson region have no evidence.

The purpose of spreading this fake is to discredit Ukraine in the international arena, create an imaginary “threat” from Kyiv and intimidate residents of the temporarily occupied territories. This is an attempt to undermine trust in Ukraine and its Western allies by presenting the Ukrainian authorities as an aggressor ready to use weapons of mass destruction.

Russian propaganda resources are spreading false claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is allegedly trying to use tricks to drag the United States into a war with Russia. The propagandists claim that during his visit to the United States, Zelenskyi wanted to obtain permission to strike Russian territory and thus drag Washington into direct military action. This is reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

In fact, Ukraine is developing cooperation with the United States and other Western partners solely to obtain support for the defense of its territorial integrity in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. Kyiv does not seek to drag the West into war. Permission to use Western long-range weapons against targets in Russia is necessary to weaken the aggressor and force it to sit down at the negotiating table on fair terms.

This fake is part of Russia’s information campaign aimed at intimidating Western countries and attempting to undermine their resolve to continue providing military assistance to Ukraine. The narrative of “escalation leading to war between the US and Russia” is used to create tension and fear among Western partners in order to force them to reduce their support for Ukraine.