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

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

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

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

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

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

The so-called Coordinating Councils of Organizations of Russian Compatriots or CCORC operate in many countries around the world. This is a Russian initiative aimed at uniting and strengthening communities founded by Russian emigrants abroad. 

The study by the Civil Awareness Center team of the Prytula Foundation presents the deanonymization of 92 leaders of CCORC with a brief description of their activities, and with the first material devoted to Europe.

In some countries, CCORC activities are already banned or restricted, such as in the United States, Sweden and Ukraine. The study provides a rationale for considering banning their activities in other countries as well.

Each CCORC states that their main goal is “strengthening the ties of compatriots with their historical homeland”. However, the founding documents also contain other propaganda goals, such as:

support for the efforts of compatriots in promoting an objective image of Russia in the public life of the host country;

popularization of the achievements of Russian culture and history, traditions and customs of the peoples of Russia through all available information resources;

promoting the development of Russian-language media in the host country;

dissemination of information about the achievements of Russia's multinational culture.

Most CCORC do not have legal status. This is written in their principles as a separate point: “CCORC is a public institution, preferably without the creation of a legal entity”.

CCORC is actively used to spread Russian propaganda among foreigners in order to form a positive perception of Russia and its actions. One of the official goals of the activity is “actively attracting young people”, which is the main means of influence. The leaders of these associations mostly support Putin's policies. Some CCORC delivered humanitarian aid to the territories occupied by Russia during the full-scale invasion.

Riots break out in several UK cities after three children are killed in the north-west The unrest, which involved hundreds of anti-immigration protesters, began after false information was spread on social media that the suspect in the Southport attack was a radical Muslim migrant. The protests in English cities have escalated into clashes between protesters and police, and between anti-immigrant protesters and their opponents. Shops have been smashed and police officers have been attacked.

Although police said the suspect, 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain, anti-immigration and anti-Muslim protests continued, turning violent, arson and looting.

The Royal United Services Institute has published research claiming that the Kremlin has actively exploited the theme of mass unrest using bots. An analysis of typical provocative terms associated with protests and unrest (#twotierkier, #twotierpolicing.) showed clear signs of Kremlin interference.

Some of the accounts that reposted this content were created back in 2022, during the full-scale invasion, but now these boots have moved from attacking Ukraine to criticizing the government for “allowing refugees, particularly Ukrainians, into Britain”. That is, they are trying to demonstrate, one way or another, that Ukrainians are to blame for such mass unrest.

Thus, Russian propaganda tries to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research. Since the beginning of the great war in Ukraine, Russian propaganda has been trying to discredit refugees who were forced to leave Ukraine to save their lives.

While monitoring the information space, the Center for Countering Disinformation discovered a fake Telegram channel illegally using the name of the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade of the Airborne Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This fake Telegram channel actively spreads false messages aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian military. In particular, the channel spreads manipulative information about the situation on one of the front lines in the Donetsk region.

It is important to note that this channel has nothing to do with the 46th Brigade. Official representatives of the brigade stated this on their official pages, noting that the information on the fake channel is manipulation and disinformation.

The purpose of spreading such fake news is to undermine confidence in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and sow panic among the Ukrainian population. Propagandists are trying to demoralize citizens, raise doubts about the effectiveness of defense and the ability of the military to protect the country. In addition, such disinformation may be part of a broader information war aimed at creating chaos and destabilizing society, which may ultimately weaken national resistance to the aggressor.

The Center for Countering Disinformation continues to monitor the Russian information space, identifying new fakes and manipulations that the enemy is spreading about the situation in the Kursk region. Detector Media writes about the latest of them.

“Chemical attacks”: Propagandists are spreading a photo of a downed drone, claiming that the Ukrainian military planned to use it to spray chemical or biological weapons in the Kursk region. However, this information is not true. Ukraine strictly adheres to the Chemical Weapons Convention, while Russian troops have repeatedly used gas attacks on the front, which is confirmed by numerous reports even from their own war correspondents.

“Civilian Murders”: Russian propaganda has come up with a new story about “murders of people” trying to evacuate from Kursk region. One version tells of a man who allegedly drove 100 kilometers with his dead wife in the car after the car was fired upon by Ukrainian soldiers. However, this information is also untrue.

“Ukrainians against the operation in Kursk”: the enemy launched an information and psychological operation (IPSO), claiming that the Ukrainian population allegedly massively opposes the operation in Kursk. Materials with the narrative “we do not need Kursk” are being distributed in social networks, the purpose of which is to create the illusion of discontent among Ukrainians regarding the situation at the front.

“Overcrowded morgues in Khmelnytskyi”: false information is being spread that 215 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in Kursk have allegedly been delivered to Khmelnytskyi. No evidence has been provided for this information.

Russian propaganda is also spreading disinformation about looting allegedly committed by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. A new, probably staged, video has appeared about the trident brand” with which Ukrainian soldiers allegedly planned to brand civilians in the Kursk region. In addition, a significant number of manipulative publications concern the so-called “failure of the Kursk adventure”, which Russian propagandists are trying to attribute to the words of both the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrskyi and an American fighting on the side of Ukraine.

This wave of disinformation is aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its military, increasing panic among the population, and attempting to sow doubts about the success of Ukrainian military operations.

Russia's Operation Doppelganger, discovered in September 2022, aims to undermine support for Ukraine and promote Russian propaganda. Within its framework, propagandists create copies of media sites and government agencies to distribute their content on social networks. In December 2022, Meta linked the campaign to Russian companies Struktura and Social Media Agency, which led to EU sanctions. Subsequent investigations revealed that the fake sites targeted different audiences, including French-speaking, English-speaking and German-speaking social media users. The continuation of this campaign demonstrates a strategy to exploit political and social vulnerabilities at the global level.

The Reset Tech research team monitors current events within the operation on the social network X (formerly Twitter). In June 2024, they noticed an increase in activity, including a new tactic: the use of trending hashtags to promote video content in tune with Russian propaganda. They often use hashtags that are not related to the content being shared, such as those related to the Euro 2024 football championship. This tactic is focused on increasing the organic visibility of the content.

Since June 3, a network of 250 anonymous and inauthentic accounts on X has been activated to amplify Kremlin messages, marking a new phase in a long-running campaign on the platform. These accounts belong to several distinct groups, each of which shows signs of coordinated behavior, such as content similarity, simultaneous activation, and overall similar appearance. Some of these accounts were created recently, others are old accounts that have been modified to suit the needs of the campaign. They publish content in German, French, English, Turkish and Russian. Earlier in 2024, Reset Tech discovered groups of accounts that posted similar content in Hebrew and Arabic.

A new aspect of the operation involves the use of verified accounts. In this phase of the campaign, 119 verified X accounts were identified. This raises serious concerns about the platform's monetization practices and the potential abuse of verified account status to enhance coordinated disinformation efforts. This is particularly relevant in light of the European Commission's preliminary findings that the practice is inconsistent with the EU Digital Services Directive (DSA), indicating that “there is evidence that fraudsters are abusing the status of verified accounts to mislead users”.

On social networks and anonymous telegram channels they distributed a photo with the caption “in one photo one can see the whole of Ukraine in miniature” and describe the photo:

“Pensioners are starving and forced to beg. People are trying to live their old lives and survive. The “people catchers” [propagandists called the Territorial center of recruitment and social support in such a way - Ed. DM] are looking for the next victim. There is a swastika on the fence. There are drug advertisements on the asphalt”.

However, as the InVid photo service interference analysis tool shows, there is interference in the image in the area: the names of the resource where drugs can be removed; swastikas and legs of military personnel.

It was not possible to determine the source of the photo publication. The oldest example of photo distribution provided by the TinEye tool is June 14, 8 am. This is later than the date of publication on anonymous and pro-Russian telegram channels.

Anonymous telegram channels are distributing a video story supposedly from the French publication Le Figaro, which tells about the murder of a twenty-year-old woman on the closing day of the Olympic Games at the “hands of a Ukrainian refugee”. A screenshot of news material from the publication’s website is added to the publications.

However, this video is fake. In the original story there is no insertion that the suspect for committing the crime is a “Ukrainian refugee”. In general, the nationality of the accused is not indicated in the video material. There is only information that this is a forty-nine-year-old man who does not speak French. No additional information was added in the interests of the investigation.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research. Since the beginning of the big war in Ukraine, Russian propaganda has been trying to discredit refugees who were forced to leave Ukraine in order to save their lives. Propagandists regularly spread fake news about them; call refugees dependents; they claim that they went abroad not for safety, but for profit; they convince that residents of countries that have accepted Ukrainian refugees are dissatisfied with the behavior of Ukrainians. Propagandists need this in order to stake out the opinion that Ukrainians are pagans who do not value the help that residents of other countries provide them; take advantage of the kindness of people in other countries.

Russian propagandists continue to spread new disinformation about the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. This time, a story began to actively spread on social networks that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly shot a pregnant 24-year-old woman in front of her husband and little son.

On August 7, a multimillion-dollar Russian propaganda channel published a story that “Ukrainian soldiers” allegedly shot at the car of a pregnant civilian woman who was trying to evacuate with her family from the territory of Sudzha (Kursk region). No evidence was shown that directly indicated the veracity of this news or the involvement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the incident. A few hours later, another telegram channel decided to present an audio telephone conversation with the man of the deceased, in which he stated that he allegedly saw “one AFU military” and “clearly remembered the blue electrical tape on his helmet” before this soldier opened his phone, his and his wife's cars were under direct fire.

Also, immediately after this audio recording, a video was released from the father-in-law of a 24-year-old girl, who decided to remove the damage left on the car after the shelling. However, it is clear that all 4 windows of the car were completely broken, and the glass on all sides was smashed to pieces towards the inside of the passenger seats, which is not natural if the shelling was carried out from one side, as the man stated in a telephone conversation.

Military defeats at the front and, as a consequence, the transfer of hostilities from the territory of Ukraine to the territory of the Kursk region significantly shook up the political elite of the Russian Federation, calling into question many of the myths that propagandists “fed” the entire Russian population for many years.

In addition, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation, the Russian military and political command is very concerned that the fighting in the Kursk region is not accompanied by violence against civilians by the Ukrainian army. Therefore, today Russian propaganda is actively trying to shift the emphasis from the defeats and mistakes of the leadership of their country. on the Ukrainian Armed Forces, creating an external and internal message that the Ukrainian army is allegedly killing civilians in the Kursk region. Thus, on August 12, the Center for Countering Disinformation and the Security Service of Ukraine already warned that the Russians would try to stage war crimes in the Kursk region by dressing in the uniform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Administrators of the fake telegram channel “Red Cross of Ukraine” encourage people to leave their personal data in an online application to supposedly “receive cash assistance in the amount of 6,500 UAH”. The Ukrainian Red Cross warned about this on its official Facebook page.

The organization noted that it does not collect personal data or bank card data through social networks and bots, and also emphasized that all official communication channels of the Ukrainian Red Cross are verified, that is, “recognized by social networks and have a blue circle with a tick next to the name, which confirms this status”. If suspicious information is found, they encourage people to write to the Ukrainian Red Cross support service sos@redcross.org.ua or check the information in the Information Center at 0 800 332 656.

On August 6, it was already reported about scammers who sent out fake letters from the tax office in order to break the mail of Ukrainian organizations.

Hackers send emails disguised as messages from the Security Service of Ukraine. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

According to the government response team CERT-UA, more than 100 infected computers have already been detected, including those belonging to government agencies and local governments. The State Committee for Special Communications reported this.

The emails contain a link to download a file called Documents. But in fact, this link downloads a file that activates the malicious software ANONVNC, allowing attackers to gain hidden, unauthorized access to the victim’s computer.

The State Committee for Special Communications notes that urgent measures have already been taken to reduce the risk of a cyber threat.

Russian propaganda is distributing publications accusing the Ukrainian Armed Forces of war crimes. As “evidence”, the Russians use the stories of people who found themselves in the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops.

These people claim that the Ukrainian military allegedly shelled and looted civilian homes, burned homes, or opened fire on civilians. However, there is no evidence to support these words. This was reported by the National Security and Defense Council Center for Countering Disinformation.

By spreading false statements about “crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” on behalf of the population of the occupied territories, Russia seeks to:

- justify the war she started;

- set up residents of the occupied territories against the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

- shift responsibility for the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

The Center adds that in reality it is Russia that is destroying Ukrainian settlements. It is responsible for the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories.

Previously, we have already recorded fake evidence of “crimes of the Ukrainian Armed ForcesЄ. Thus, Russian propaganda accused the Ukrainian military of threatening residents of the occupied territories and extorting intimate services from them, of taking children away from their parents in the Donbas in order to hand them over to pedophiles or organs.

Russian telegram channels disseminated information that the United States intends to “invite clarification” to Kyiv regarding the course of events in the Kursk region. The corresponding statement was allegedly made in the White House.

In fact, propagandists distorted the words of the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. He said that the United States has not changed its policy regarding allowing Ukraine to use the provided weapons “on targets that pose an imminent threat on the other side of the border”. Kirby also added that officials “will be in contact with Ukrainian counterparts to gain a better understanding of the situation”. This is stated in the material of the American publication Bloomberg. That is, the wording about “inviting clarifications” from Kyiv from the White House on the situation in the Kursk region is incorrect - it was invented by Russian propagandists.

Also, the representative of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, also stated that the possible actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region “do not violate US policy”. He confirmed that the US had not received warnings about possible operations on Russian soil, adding: “It is not unusual for Ukraine to not tell us its exact tactics before implementing them”.

By manipulating information, Russians seek to fuel their narrative that Ukraine is a “puppet state” and is led either by the “collective West” or by “Washington and London”. That is why Ukraine seems to have to coordinate all its decisions with “Western leaders”. However, Ukraine is an independent and sovereign state, and such propagandists' reproaches are aimed at declaring the fictitious dependence of the Ukrainian government.

Some propaganda telegram channels claim that in Kyiv unknown persons attempted to assassinate the current Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umierov. An explosive device allegedly went off, after which the minister was immediately taken out. Propagandists add that there is no information yet about Umierov’s condition.

In fact, this “news” is fake. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council after it verified the relevant information with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

This is not the first time that Russian propaganda has carried out information attacks against Ukrainian officials, trying to destabilize the situation within the country. Thus, earlier we refuted information about the alleged death of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyryl Budanov, and also that Rustem Umierov was poisoned.

Russian propaganda is actively using Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council to promote its own narratives regarding Ukraine. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine drew attention to this when on July 25 Russia convened a meeting due to the “problem of supplying weapons to Ukraine”, where diplomats from the aggressor country disseminated propaganda messages.

Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasyl Nebenzia, repeated several propaganda clichés that were discovered by the Center for Research and Explained and explained by Detector Media.

“The West is robbing Ukraine with colonial schemes”

With the help of this cliché, Russian propagandists are trying to show that the West allegedly really does not help Ukraine, but only uses its resources and capabilities. This statement is aimed at undermining Ukrainians' trust in Western aid and support, presenting it not as help but as exploitation. In this way, Russia is trying to sow doubts among the population of Ukraine and the international community regarding the honesty and selflessness of assistance from the West. Propagandists also want to influence the mood in Western countries so that the population begins to doubt the advisability of supporting Ukraine.

“Corruption in Ukraine has reached unprecedented proportions”

This unsubstantiated statement attempts to discredit the Ukrainian government, undermining its legitimacy and the credibility of its international partners. The purpose of its dissemination is to convince the international community that support for Ukraine is wasteful and ineffective. The exaggeration of corruption at high levels is intended to discourage other states from continuing to provide assistance.

“Volodymyr Zelenskyi has lost legitimacy”

Propagandists are once again seeking to portray the President of Ukraine as an illegitimate leader in order to weaken his domestic and international support. This is done in order to reduce his influence and authority. Russia is trying to increase destabilization in Ukraine and create the impression of chaos, which can be used as justification for its crimes against Ukraine and its inhabitants.

“The Ukrainian peace formula makes no sense”

This cliche is aimed at discrediting Ukrainian peace initiatives in order to present Ukraine as an obstacle to peace. The goal is to impose on the world community the opinion that the Ukrainian proposals are not successful, and thus force them to accept conditions favorable to Russia. Thus, Russia seeks to impose its vision of scenarios for ending the war and its peace conditions, which would ensure exclusively its strategic interests.

The latest meeting of the Security Council once again showed that Russia is using the international platform and diplomats as a propaganda tool, avoiding constructive dialogue. It seeks to convince the international community that it is right and justify its aggressive actions in Ukraine by spreading distorted information and manipulation.

The “information alibi” method consists of proactively accusing the other party of actions that will actually be committed by the accusers themselves. This technique is used to cover up or justify one's criminal actions by creating a preemptive message to confuse the audience and deflect responsibility. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council spoke in more detail about its use.

Its experts showed with real examples how it works. Russian troops launched a missile attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk in April 2022, killing civilians. In anticipation of this attack, Russian telegram channels distributed warnings about the danger of evacuation by rail, blaming the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the concentration of militants at the station. This created the preconditions for accusing Ukraine of organizing the attack. A few weeks before Russia blew up Colony No. 120 in Olenivka, where Ukrainian prisoners were kept, a telegram spread information that Ukraine was allegedly preparing to destroy the colony. When Russia prepared and carried out mass civilian killings in Izium and Uman, propaganda disseminated information in advance about Ukrainian “provocations” in these cities. The Russians are also still distributing “information alibis”, the formation of which has not yet been completed, for example, about the staging of the mass death of locals in Kherson.

By anticipating possible charges, Russia is trying to confuse the international community and divert attention from its actions. By accusing Ukraine of future or already committed crimes, propagandists also try to undermine trust in the Ukrainian authorities and the Armed Forces of Ukraine both within the country and abroad. Creating alternative versions of events helps Russia spread doubt to an international audience, making it difficult to unequivocally condemn its actions and subsequently impose sanctions. Russian propaganda deliberately complicates the establishment of the truth, which is beneficial for the aggressor to continue his criminal actions without due responsibility.

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.