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 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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

Life in the so-called new regions of the Russian Federation, that is, in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine, will supposedly soon improve. These are the promises that residents of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region constantly hear. However, occupiers often make promises but do not keep their promises. The Zaporizhzhia Investigation Center (ZCR) has collected false promises from the occupiers, which have not been fulfilled in recent months. Its experts emphasize that checking the real situation on TOT is complicated by the lack of free access to official Russian data and possible forgeries. They rely on messages and comments from local residents. In particular, experts warn that these comments may be biased, but they reflect the actual state of affairs.

“New elevators” for Berdiansk residents

In February 2024, the occupation authorities announced that the occupied territories would receive 300 new elevators, of which 22 would be in Berdiansk. In March they even reported on the launch of three and the installation of five more. Propagandists claimed that these elevators had greater capacity and speed, were quieter, and were more reliable and safe. However, these elevators quickly stopped working. Local residents were told that their work required documents from Moscow, which were not available. They say that until the documents are completed, the elevators will not work. Residents of TOT are again forced to walk, and the occupation authorities were satisfied with filming the story and photographing it.

Marketplaces in temporarily occupied territories

The occupation authorities promised that large Russian marketplaces - Ozon and Wildberries - would begin operating on the territory of the so-called Novorossiya. However, the marketplaces themselves denied this information, saying that the TOT does not have the necessary infrastructure to open their branches. The closest place with operating online stores is temporarily occupied Crimea. TOT residents order goods from Ozon and Wildberries and receive them through private carriers, since some goods, such as medicines, cannot be purchased on TOT.

Medicine stock for TOT

A month ago, the occupation authorities announced that in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, the necessary supply of medicines had allegedly been created and now residents do not need to wait for supplies or order hard-to-find medications. According to them, over the past two years, 146 pharmacies and pharmacy points have been opened in TOT. However, TOT residents continue to search for medicines, especially those in short supply. Ordering through marketplaces remains a more reliable method than buying them at a pharmacy. Another way is to receive medicine through “transfers” from Ukraine and Europe. Thus, the promise of stock of medicines has also not been fulfilled. The occupiers manipulate statistics by announcing the opening of new pharmacies, although it is likely that they were simply re-registered according to the rules of the occupation authorities. For example, before the occupation, more than 50 pharmacies operated in Berdiansk alone, and “improvement” of the network was not required.

Promises to improve life at the TOT are part of the propaganda that creates the impression of a stable situation at the TOT, encourages those who left to return, and paints a picture of prosperity for Russians. According to ZCR, promises are made every day, and TOT residents are skeptical about them.

This was recorded by analysts of the VoxCheck project. The SMS message itself states that the evacuation of Kharkiv and nearby settlements has allegedly begun.

However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations denied information about the announcement of evacuation from Kharkiv and noted that the State Emergency Service did not send out such a message.

Moreover, such emergency messages come from “DSNS UKR”, and not from the “DSNS Ukraina”, as in the screenshot.

Euractiv, citing the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Czech Senate, writes that Russian interference poses a significant threat to the elections to the European Parliament.

Such conclusions were made after recent revelations about the activities of the pro-Russian news agency Voice of Europe, which was eventually banned throughout the EU.

“This media company tried to influence public debate in the Czech Republic and other EU countries with Russian money, worked against the interests of the Czech Republic and systematically disseminated Russian propaganda”, said Czech Senator Pavel Fischer.

Let us remind you that the elections to the European Parliament are scheduled for June 6-9, 2024. They will be the first after Britain leaves the European Union. Previously, we analyzed the Russian message that the EU would supposedly disappear after the elections to the European Parliament.

In the temporarily occupied territories, they began teaching the subject “Moral Foundations of Family Life”, in which students are taught about “Russian values”. The Center for National Resistance reports this.

During lessons, Ukrainian children are taught about Russian “spirituality” and “tradition”. In particular, they argue that a woman should give birth and be submissive to a man, and a man should defend his homeland. Accordingly, propagandists form a pattern of a “model Russian family”, where a man should die in wars, and a woman should “produce” new soldiers.

At the same time, these lessons do not teach that the international criminal Putin has illegitimate children and abandoned his wife, since this does not at all correspond to the “traditions of the Russian family”.

The Center adds that propaganda and brainwashing of children is a crime, so everyone must be held accountable for these acts. One can report crimes by Russians and collaborators using this link.

American intelligence agencies note that in recent months, Russian propaganda has intensified discrediting messages against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. This was reported by European Truth with reference to CNN.

Russian disinformation focuses on two topics - the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Avdiivka, as well as the postponement of the presidential elections in Ukraine. The Russians are trying to present the first not as a strategic decision, but as a defeat, and the second - that supposedly Zelenskyi is no longer legitimate. At the same time, we have repeatedly refuted reports about the illegitimacy of the current President of Ukraine.

US intelligence agencies believe that Russian intelligence services are behind the campaign and are spreading disinformation through pro-Kremlin media, fake websites and social networks.

Russian propagandists addressed the military personnel of the occupation army with a “disclaimer” that the Ukrainian special services had trained a large number of saboteurs in the Kharkiv region. According to them, “representatives of the Ukrainian underground” can even be women, elderly people and teenagers. Propagandists also call for special attention to be paid to the relatives of killed or captured Ukrainian soldiers. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

In fact, information about Ukrainian saboteurs among women, the elderly and teenagers does not correspond to reality. Thus, Russian propaganda carries out “information processing” of the military in the context of intensifying hostilities, encouraging them to commit crimes against Ukrainian civilians. The Center also states that Russian propagandists must be held accountable for war crimes, as well as the authorities in the Kremlin who give orders to kill the civilian population of Ukraine.

Amid the offensive in the Kharkiv region, Russia has resorted to more belligerent rhetoric towards the Ukrainian Peace Formula. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

For example, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, commenting on the summit on the Ukrainian Formula of Peace, which is scheduled to take place in Switzerland in June of this year, made the following manipulative statements:

- “Russia is ready for negotiations, taking into account the current realities”;

- “if the West wants to fight on the battlefield, then so be it”;

- “Switzerland is not suitable for negotiations because it has abandoned neutrality”;

-”The Istanbul agreements could have ended the war on terms favorable to Ukraine”.

The Center adds that the Russian Federation sees a threat in the Ukrainian Peace Formula, therefore, as a result, it is making efforts to discredit it on the eve of the summit in Switzerland. Moreover, the Kremlin repeats the thesis about its supposed readiness for negotiations and at the same time increases the level of threats. He also wants to force Western states to reduce military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, trying to intimidate and persuade them to make concessions.

Propagandists began a large-scale disinformation campaign in connection with the escalation of hostilities in the Kharkiv region. For example, because of propaganda materials, information was disseminated that in the Kharkiv region there was supposedly no evacuation of the local population from Vovchansk. Like, “Nazi groups are using city residents as human shields”. StopFake writes about this.

Propagandists claim that “local residents made an agreement with the volunteers, but they did not let anyone into the city or let anyone out of it”. Such publications are accompanied by a screenshot of correspondence in which an unknown person writes that “no one has arrived” and “we are not allowed in”. It is not indicated which volunteers it is about, as well as whose correspondence this is.

However, the information about blocking the evacuation of Kharkiv residents is false. The removal of the population of border settlements continues, and in recent days about 6,000 people have been evacuated from the Kharkiv region. On May 13, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov, visited Vovchansk, supervising the evacuation process of local residents.

The Center for Countering Disinformation also noted that the goal of this campaign is to create a destabilizing situation in the region and discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are actively opposing the Russian occupiers in the Kharkiv direction.

Russia uses various means to influence public opinion both in its own country and at the international level. These means include not only “positive propaganda” but also complex “information operations”. The Jamestown Foundation wrote about this in more detail.

For a long time, the main line of Russian propaganda was to propagate the idea that truth is different or even non-existent. The main methods of such operations include spreading disinformation, manipulating ideas, exacerbating existing social conflicts, and discrediting the fundamental values and institutions of democratic societies.

The combination of cynicism and ideology led to the emergence of a unique Russian phenomenon known as “ideological cynicism”, where “geopolitics” became a cult without regard to moral guidelines or principles.

In addition, Russian propaganda uses contradictions in Western countries and between governments, as well as politicians' avoidance of real problems, to cause discord and deepening social polarization.

The most effective tools in these information operations have become “ideologies for export”, the essence of which is the creation of “mini-ideologies” — individual, often self-contradictory worldviews for different social groups. However, they can be countered through exposure and refutation.

By identifying the underlying strategies that underpin Russian propaganda, the West can develop more effective methods to counter Russian information operations and reduce global support for Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, in an interview with a Bosnian TV channel, made a number of propaganda statements to discredit the Ukrainian peace formula in the international arena. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

In particular, Lavrov believes that the West is allegedly lying, claiming that the Russian Federation refuses negotiations, because “the Russian Federation is actually open to negotiations based on realities”. He also stated that “Ukraine and the West are not ready for a serious conversation about peace”, and “The peace formula is an ultimatum to the Russian Federation” and “an absolutely dead-end format”. Russia itself will not participate in any measures promoting the Ukrainian peace formula, noted the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

With such contradictory statements, the Russian Federation is trying to mislead the world community. Speaking about the supposed readiness for peace, the Russian Federation is only trying to relieve itself of responsibility for the war. The Kremlin sees a threat in the promotion of the Ukrainian peace formula, so on the eve of the Swiss summit, information attacks intensified, the Center adds. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to ensure that the World Formula is supported by as few countries as possible.

Journalists from the Finnish publication Yle claim that in May the Russian Federation seeks to use Eurovision and the World Hockey Championship as a platform for propaganda. Then the Russians plan to use similar narratives in the summer at the European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympic Games in France.

The publication adds that a similar campaign was previously recorded in the Latvian segment of social networks. Then a group of hockey players from Latvia took part in a tournament organized by Putin in Kazan. After this, the Hockey Federation introduced a number of bans, and thousands of bots suddenly appeared on social network X, speaking out in defense of hockey players and demanding to “separate sports from politics”.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that Moscow is going to take advantage of large-scale measures in EU countries to weaken Europe and slow down support for Ukraine. Previously, Detector Media wrote about how Russian propaganda reacts to the exclusion from the 2024 Olympic Games.

On the social network TikTok, videos of some “bloggers” are being distributed who promote the thesis about the alleged “illegitimacy” of the Ukrainian authorities with calls for Ukrainians to go to protests. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

This is happening as part of Russia's massive disinformation campaign called Maidan-3. Its goal is to destabilize the situation in Ukraine as much as possible, discredit the military-political leadership of the state, and also sow chaos and an atmosphere of mistrust in Ukraine.

The Center adds that such calls correspond to the interests of Russia, which is preparing for an offensive at the front and is interested in disorganizing the situation in Ukraine. And the main efforts aimed at this are being prepared for the 20th of May.

Statements by Russian figures about the need for destruction and withdrawal of the population of Kharkiv were accompanied by a constant stream of similar messages on social networks. Since the beginning of 2024, there have been signs of an organized campaign to fill the online space with alarming messages promoting the idea that Kharkiv will soon become uninhabitable. Mariia Avdieyeva writes about this for the Ukraine Alert Atlantic Council project.

In her opinion, the role of social networks in Russia’s information attack against Kharkiv is very important. Platforms such as Telegram, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter) serve as platforms for carefully orchestrated Russian propaganda. Groups of accounts associated with the Kremlin are intensively promoting key propaganda messages on this topic. These include the hopelessness of the military situation in Ukraine, the inability of the Ukrainian state to protect its citizens and the likelihood that Kharkiv will suffer the same fate as Mariupol.

The Russian information attack is also expressed through the spread of false statements attributed to Ukrainian authorities. For example, accounts from Russia spread disinformation that the Ukrainian government was allegedly calling on residents of Kharkiv to immediately leave the city to avoid a cordon by Russian troops. Fake reports from Ukrainian authorities were also distributed that Kharkiv was on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

These fakes usually look convincing and are almost indistinguishable from official communications from the Ukrainian government. They even come with detailed information about “safe escape routes”. As a result, many residents of Kharkiv are exposed to this misinformation and unwittingly become accomplices in the spread of Russian fakes.

In addition, propagandists use real news and distort it to mislead the population and provoke panic. For example, they described a series of planned evacuations from certain settlements along the front line as a full-fledged evacuation of entire districts of the Kharkiv region.

In addition to faking government announcements and deliberate distortions, propagandists are also actively distributing videos. One of them said that thousands of cars were allegedly leaving Kharkiv. However, it later turned out that this is archived video from the beginning of the invasion in the spring of 2022.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that the Kremlin has launched another disinformation campaign.

According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Russians are spreading fake news about the alleged division of prisoners of war into categories or about Ukraine’s reluctance to release individual defenders and defenders from Russian captivity.

This is done with the aim of sowing discord among the families of captured military personnel provoking artificial conflicts. At the same time, such actions indicate Russia’s recognition of the effectiveness and perseverance of Ukraine in the issue of the release of all prisoners, including defenders from the Mariupol garrison, the Center adds.

For Ukraine, the priority is the release of every captive, regardless of age, gender, religion or other characteristics. Previously, we analyzed a Russian fake about lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war, whom Ukraine does not seem to want to return.