In Lviv, a Telegram channel was distributing information about possible terrorist attacks in schools. The channel quickly gained popularity, reaching more than 2,500 participants before it was blocked, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported.

As the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs noted, the channel was administered from Russian territory. This is another case of disinformation aimed at spreading panic and destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The threats of terrorist attacks in Lviv schools mentioned in the channel are not confirmed.

Intimidation of the population and the spread of rumors about possible terrorist attacks in educational institutions create fear and uncertainty about security. Such messages cause anxiety among parents and schoolchildren, which negatively affects the morale of the population. Due to the spread of rumors and panic, propaganda is trying to undermine trust in local authorities and law enforcement agencies, forcing citizens to believe that the authorities are not able to ensure security in their own country. Fake threats and manipulative statements contribute to disorientation in the information space, reducing trust in official sources of information and increasing faith in anonymous channels that spread false news. This disinformation distracts citizens from important events, focusing on fictitious threats, which at the same time gives Russia room to implement its aggressive plans. Spreading fear through social networks and instant messengers is a tool of hybrid warfare that Russia uses to increase pressure on Ukrainian society and demoralize citizens during the war.

Fraudsters have launched eight fake chatbots that copy the official “Main Intelligence Bot” in name, description and appearance. The main goal of these fake resources is to mislead Ukrainians, especially those living in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT), in order to obtain confidential information or distort communication. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Attackers create these bots to collect sensitive data from the population and misinform citizens. This can be used to pass personal information to hostile forces or to undermine trust in government agencies, in particular the GUR.

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) notes that the use of such bots is extremely dangerous and calls on citizens not to transmit any information through them.

Links to the real GUR bot can be found on the official GUR website or on their verified social media pages marked with a blue or green checkmark.

Proven methods of communication with the GUR: the official chatbot of the Main Intelligence Directorate – @gur_official_bot; email: gur_official@proton.me; via Signal and WhatsApp: +38 096 945 53 41.

The spread of fakes about cooperation with terrorist groups is aimed at destroying Ukraine’s reputation with its international partners. It is an attempt to create an image of Ukraine as a country that supports terrorism. Accusing Ukraine of recruiting militants is aimed at distracting attention from Russia’s own actions, which are actively recruiting Syrian mercenaries to fight against Ukraine. This is part of a broader Russian propaganda strategy. This fake is also aimed at a domestic audience, where such statements can undermine trust in the Ukrainian government and military. Russia is trying to create fear and mistrust in the Ukrainian defense forces, making people believe that they are using “dubious” mercenaries to defend the country.

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

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

They also came to the following conclusions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fake emails from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine have started arriving in Ukrainians' email inboxes. These emails talk about the so-called “rocket attack” on the Rivne NPP, which resulted in increased radiation levels. The emails contain evacuation instructions and links to unknown resources.

Experts advise the Center for Countering Disinformation to mark such letters as spam and not to follow the links under any circumstances. If you do follow the link, contact the Cyberpolice.

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

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

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

In the Ukrainian segment of social networks, in particular on Facebook, an advertising post is being distributed with information that the Ukrainian Sports Association is allegedly providing assistance in the amount of 7,500 hryvnias for Ukrainians “affected by the war”. This was reported by the TSN publication on its page. Then the publication suggests applying for financial assistance.

However, fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project have established that such a payment from the Ukrainian Sports Association does not exist. Fraudsters use the application form as a way to obtain users' personal information.

Moreover, the page that distributed the fake publication about compensation actually mimics the real TSN account on Facebook.

Also, there is no announcement about the payment on the official website of the Ukrainian Sports Association, and the association's website has not been updated since 2021. Also, the link to the site with alleged information about the social payment differs from the official link to the Ministry of Social Policy website.

Russians are creating fake pages of the Coordination Headquarters for the Collection of Confidential Information. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Fraudsters create so-called “doubles” of official resources, promising Ukrainians alleged “help” in finding relatives who have been captured by the enemy or “assistance” in obtaining information about them. These fake sites and pages are created with the aim of misleading citizens and forcing them to voluntarily provide their personal data.

According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, such actions by the Russian side are aimed not only at collecting information, but also at having more dangerous consequences. The enemy seeks to gain access to private data for further blackmail and recruitment of Ukrainians, using the vulnerability of the families of prisoners of war. In addition, the enemy can manipulate public sentiment, creating an atmosphere of fear and mistrust.

The purpose of these fraudulent actions is to destabilize Ukrainian society by using the families of defenders for psychological pressure. The enemy can also use the information obtained to threaten the safety of prisoners of war and conduct reconnaissance on military operations.

The Coordination Headquarters reminds: never provide your personal data, phone numbers, bank accounts or data of your loved ones through unverified resources, as well as third-party applications and anonymous sources. Disclosure of such information on fake sites can seriously harm not only Ukrainian prisoners of war, but also endanger the lives of their fellow prisoners. Do not give the enemy the opportunity to manipulate emotions and use you for their own purposes.

Russian Telegram channels are distributing photos of ATMs with images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi pasted on them with the caption “I eat your taxes!”. In the corresponding messages, propagandists claim that the photos were taken in the center of Barcelona (Spain).

The Center for Countering Disinformation, after verifying this information at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Consulate General of Ukraine in Barcelona, reported that this was a Russian-ordered campaign. They took several photos and began distributing disinformation material about Volodymyr Zelenskyi. At the same time, the campaign did not become widespread.

The Center for Countering Disinformation adds that Russia is distributing such fakes as part of the “Black Hole” information campaign, the results of which can be found here.

Earlier, Russian propagandists distributed photos of leaflets with the image of the Ukrainian president asking for money in different languages of the world.

After the adoption of bill No. 8371 in August 2024 on the ban on the activities of religious organizations whose leadership center is located in the aggressor country, Russian propagandists began to spread more disinformation about the religious situation in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Crisis Media Center has highlighted recent key messages on this topic.

“Data on Ukrainians’ support for the ban on the UOC (MP) is fake”

In fact, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in April 2024, 83% of Ukrainians believed that the state should interfere in the activities of the UOC to some extent. In particular, according to 63% of respondents, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be completely banned in Ukraine. That is, Ukrainians, on the contrary, express significant support for the relevant measures.

“Pope Francis has sharply condemned the Church's law”

The Pope did comment on the new Ukrainian law on the activities of religious organizations linked to Russia. However, his words were different from those cited by propagandists. Pope Francis stated that “not a single Christian church should be abolished in Ukraine”. He expressed concern about religious freedom, but did not “harshly condemn” the law, as Russian sources claim.

It should be noted that the Vatican seeks to maintain dialogue with all parties, including Moscow. This often leads to cautious formulations that are distorted by propagandists.

“There is a persecution of religion in Ukraine”

In reality, Ukraine is taking action against religious organizations associated with the aggressor country, not against religion in general. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is historically linked to the Russian Orthodox Church and has proven ties to Russia. A study by the State Service for Ethnopolicy and Freedom of Conscience found that the UOC remains an organization centered in Russia. Therefore, the ban on religious organizations with a leadership center in the aggressor country is aimed at preventing foreign interference through these institutions, not at “persecuting believers”.

“All who are for are enemies, all who are against are friends”

Boxer Oleksandr Usyk, once “praised” by Russian propagandists as a “bearer of the Orthodox faith”, has supported Ukraine's policy of countering Russian influence. The propagandists' messages are now aimed at discrediting Usyk as a person who allegedly changes his beliefs and actions depending on circumstances and influence, thereby undermining his authority among the audience.

Read also: After nine months, the parties will only take up positions for battle. How the law banning religious organizations linked to Russia will work – MediaSapiens – Detector Media.

Recently, the Polish segment of the TikTok social network has stepped up the distribution of anti-Ukrainian materials, the Center for Countering Disinformation reports.

Among the large number of TikTok accounts duplicating narratives in line with Russian propaganda, the following can be highlighted:

Martwyobywatel – the profile contains many videos discrediting Ukrainian refugees, as well as videos directed against the Ukrainian language. Narratives about the “Ukrainization of Poland” and the “displacement” of Polish culture by Ukrainians are spread here.

19_illegal_06 (SIEWCA_PRAWDY) – the page spreads anti-Ukrainian messages and memes to humiliate Ukrainians and discredit the Ukrainian political leadership. They fuel the narrative of the “Banderization of Poland” and promote hatred towards Ukrainian refugees.

Asherbur (Asher Burov-Şǔraev) – the page is run by a Russian citizen who lived in Lublin and now probably lives in Israel. The profile publishes videos on the topic of resistance to the “Ukrainization of Poland”, and also tries to portray Ukrainians in the worst possible light. There are also videos praising Putin and justifying Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Polakpatriotaa – the profile contains narratives that are beneficial to Russia, directed against the Polish leadership, EU politicians and Ukrainians. Some publications by the account's authors try to intimidate Poles with the possibility of Poland's participation in the war against Russia. They spread the slogan “This is not our war” and call not to help Ukraine.

Previously, we wrote about how far-right movements in EU countries use TikTok to support Russian propaganda messages.

The administrators of one of the anonymous Telegram channels complained that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation blocked the site they created for a foreign audience. On it, propagandists in six languages spread Russian propaganda, especially about Russian attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure in Ukraine. The administrators called it a “crime against freedom of speech” and an attempt to “shut the mouths” of everyone who “tells the truth” about the events in Ukraine. They say that the fact that the FBI blocked them confirms that they are “on the right track”.

In reality, however, blocking the site is an important step in the fight against disinformation, not a restriction on free speech. Instead of providing “objective information”, as the site’s authors claim, it has been manipulating facts in an attempt to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and discredit the actions of Western countries supporting Ukraine in the war. Disinformation spread by sites like this undermines international security, incites hatred, and destabilizes the situation.

The US actions are aimed at protecting truthful information and preventing the influence of fake news that threatens public order and security. Blocking such resources helps reduce the influence of propaganda campaigns aimed at distorting real events and misleading people.

The FBI has uncovered one of the Kremlin's largest networks for spreading disinformation and propaganda. This was reported by the Telegram channel Ukrainian Offensive based on a published document prepared by federal agents to support a lawsuit to confiscate a number of Internet domains. It describes an extensive network of clone sites and one-day news resources, such as the fictitious BBC California. The agents also managed to identify and translate into English Russian guidelines for bots and distributors of fake information.

According to their information, the network is headed by one of the most influential Kremlin officials, Serhii Kyryienko, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. With the help of organizations such as ANO Dialog and the Institute for Internet Development, Russia has created a huge network of sites-clones of large media outlets in different languages. These sites publish fictitious news along with copies of real materials, creating the impression that the source is reliable. The methods pay special attention to the dissemination of fake information in the Ukrainian language with reference to Ukrainian resources, emphasizing the importance of the language issue. The network does not even limit itself to publishing materials that are unfavorable for the Russian Federation, since the main goal is to create the illusion of division and polarization of society.

Researchers at the Detector Media Research Center have joined the Alliance4Europe report, created by an international group of disinformation experts, which provides information on how Operation Doppelganger continues to operate, especially on social media.

Russian propaganda continues to produce new fakes about the events in the Kursk region. The Center for Countering Disinformation has discovered another wave of false publications aimed at discrediting Ukraine.

“Ukrainian Nazism”. One of the fakes concerns a supposedly British TV channel, which counted 1000 cases of the use of Nazi symbols by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. This is a completely fabricated story, since no British media resource has published such information. The purpose of this fake is to reinforce old Kremlin narratives about the “Nazi” character of the Ukrainian army and to create an image of an enemy that allegedly poses a threat to civilization.

“Torture of Russian prisoners”. This is a fake video in which Ukrainian soldiers are accused of abusing Russian prisoners. Such materials have repeatedly proven to be fakes, and they are aimed at demoralizing the Ukrainian military and justifying the cruelty of the Russian army. It is also supposed to intimidate Russian soldiers so that they do not surrender.

“Stolen Headphones”. Propagandists are spreading a story about looting by Ukrainian soldiers, claiming that a “resident of the Kursk region” allegedly tracked her stolen headphones to the Sumy region. This fake is aimed at creating a negative image of the Ukrainian military, but there is no evidence to support its veracity.

“Training of the military in school”. The enemy claims that Ukrainian military personnel were trained in a school in the Zhytomyr region for operations in the Kursk region. This information is part of a strategy aimed at destabilization and preparation of the information base for possible missile strikes on peaceful targets.

“Civilian atrocities”. Russian media are spreading “testimonies of refugees” from Kursk, where they accuse Ukrainians, without evidence, of mass murder and abuse of civilians. The propaganda fabrication even mentions the French flag raised by “foreign mercenaries”. This is another attempt to denigrate the Ukrainian Armed Forces and frighten both the Russian population and the international audience.

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.

A clip with a TSN TV presenter is being distributed online. He claims that Europe has announced a new tranche for a pension supplement for Ukraine's Independence Day. Ukrainian pensioners will see their pensions increase, and the average supplement will be from UAH 2,300 to UAH 5,600. And to receive the increase, the TV presenter calls on people to follow a link to a special Telegram channel.

VoxCheck analysts have established that this video is fake. Using a special tool, AI Speech Classifier, it was possible to see that the audio recording itself was created using a neural network. That is, the propagandists used the original video from TSN, but superimposed their own audio track.

The EU also did not announce any tranche of additional payments to pensioners and other privileged categories for Independence Day. No media outlet published similar information.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The Center for Countering Disinformation has highlighted a number of messages spread by Russian propaganda following Russia’s massive missile strike on Ukrainian territory on August 26.

The Ukrainian authorities allegedly withdrew almost all air defense systems from the rear to support the operation in the Kursk region, which allowed Russia to hit its targets unhindered.

This message is an attempt to discredit the Ukrainian military leadership, accusing it of negligence and irresponsible use of resources. Propagandists are trying to create the impression that the operation in the Kursk region is unjustifiably risky, and that the Ukrainian air defense is unable to protect the rear areas due to the fact that it was “thrown” to the front. This is another attempt to undermine confidence in the Ukrainian army, fueling doubts about its ability to ensure the safety of citizens and critical infrastructure.

Ukraine seems to have saved on the use of air defense systems in order to hide the theft of funds allocated for the restoration of energy infrastructure and shift responsibility to the actions of the Russians

The aim is to discredit the Ukrainian authorities by sowing mistrust and suspicions of corruption in society. Propagandists are trying to convince Ukrainians that the government is allegedly using the war as a cover for the abuse of budget funds. In this way, they want to stir up internal discontent and reinforce the impression that the government is acting solely in its own interests, neglecting security and national interests, distracting from Russia's responsibility for the strikes.

Responsibility for the latest attacks lies with the Ukrainian authorities, who allegedly “provoked Russia” by launching an offensive in the Kursk region and thereby disrupted possible negotiations to refrain from striking energy facilities.

This message is used to justify Russian aggression, in particular, attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure. Russian propaganda attempts to shift responsibility for the destruction and civilian casualties onto the Ukrainian authorities, blaming them for the escalation of the war. It also aims to create the illusion that Russia was forced to respond to Ukraine's actions, rather than the aggressor.

The purpose of disseminating these messages is to sow doubts in Ukrainian society about the effectiveness of the government and the army, to cause distrust in the authorities, and to provoke panic and anxiety among citizens. The propaganda is aimed at weakening morale, disuniting society, and reducing the willingness to resist aggression. This is part of a broader strategy of information warfare, which aims to undermine Ukraine's internal stability and discredit it on the international stage.

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.

Russians in the temporarily occupied territories continue to train teachers in schools, which are today cells of Russian propaganda, for the school year 2024-2025. The Center for National Resistance reports this.

Future and current teachers are instructed by Russian “teachers” from the “Knowledge” group. One of the tasks of this propaganda structure, which has existed since the times of the USSR, is to promote propaganda among educators and students in the temporarily occupied territories. Accordingly, the lectures focus on the importance of changing children’s self-identification and cultivating “patriotism” in them for Russia.

The CNS adds that according to international law, a deliberate policy of changing the self-identification of an ethnic group is a sign of genocide.

We previously wrote that Ukrainian students in the occupied territories are taught a subject about “Russian values”.