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”.

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.

A photo of a document is being circulated online, which talks about the decision of the Sumy District Council to include the Russian city of Sudzha and Sudzha District into the Sumy District as a separate territorial society.

In fact, this document is a fake. On its official Facebook page, the Sumy District Council announced that it is not considering the decision to include the city of Sudzha and the Sudzha district of Russia into the Sumy district of the Sumy region. There is no draft corresponding decision on the council's agenda. Moreover, this issue is not within its competence. The decision to establish and change the boundaries of districts and cities is made by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the proposal of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

In the end, the session of the Sumy District Council for today, August 8, 2024, was not planned and, accordingly, was not held, although this is the date in the fake document.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council also stated that the document distributed online is fake.

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 Kremlin continues to pour a lot of resources into propaganda aimed at children in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Thus, one of the tools for promoting Russian propaganda is the so-called “youth forums”, in which Russians and collaborators try to attract as many young people as possible, promising children great career prospects and obtaining “competencies for self-realization in Russia”. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

These days, in the temporarily occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region, preparations are underway for the second “Young South” forum, where the organizers intend to bring children from all temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. According to the occupiers’ estimates, 800 participants should attend the “forum” in Berdiansk, writes the Center for National Resistance. Russian propagandists from actors, bloggers and other Kremlin figures should also come there.

The real purpose of such measures is:

– ideologically indoctrinate children in the TOT, promoting hatred of Ukraine among them;

– strengthen control over teenagers and young people through a network of youth organizations;

– promote loyalty due to promises of illusory “prospects”;

– strengthen the influence of the occupation administrations on all spheres of life in the TOT.

Russia continues to implement policies aimed at changing the national self-identification of Ukrainian youth. For example, in February 2024, the Russians took Ukrainian children from the TOT of Ukraine to the so-called World Youth Festival, where, in particular, they promoted the idea of joining Russian youth organizations “on a voluntary-compulsory basis”.

During this year, Russia has stepped up a disinformation campaign against France and the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, which begin on July 26. In November 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned about fake news regarding the Olympics on Telegram and other social networks, which was confirmed at the time by the head of IOC communications Christian Klaue. Material with examples of such news was prepared by fact-checkers of the Norwegian organization Faktisk.

According to a June 6 Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) report, Russia has been conducting influence operations for more than a year to influence the perception of the Olympics in France, attempting to “disrupt, discredit and humiliate the international competition in the eyes of participants, spectators and global audiences”. This, in particular, is associated with the fact that Russian athletes are prohibited from competing at the Games under the Russian flag. MTAC gave disinformation campaigns that spread fakes about the 2024 Olympics, the names Storm-1679 and Storm-1099. The Paris Olympic Games have been one of Storm-1679's main targets since last summer. MTAC chief Clint Watts told The New York Times that the cables are often the source of fake news in these campaigns, circulating for several days before disappearing. When fake content is checked by accounts or fact-checking resources with large followings, it gets more views and reaches new audiences. Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins noted that fact-checking may lead to wider dissemination of content, but it does not help Russian propagandists much.

Microsoft cites several examples of disinformation in this campaign, including deepfake videos that were allegedly created by prominent news media and security institutions. One such video, purportedly from French TV channel France24, attempted to show that 24% of Olympic tickets sold were returned due to fears of terrorist attacks in Paris. Another video purportedly from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reinforced this message. It claimed that the CIA was allegedly warning of a major terrorist threat in the Paris metro. A CIA spokesman told American news outlet CBS News that the video was fake and had no connection with the agency. The video was also distributed by the English-language version of the Russian “online newspaper” Pravda, part of the Russian propaganda media network. The propagandists also created a fake documentary called Olympics Has Fallen, using the identity of the streaming platform Netflix and the voice of Tom Cruise, created using artificial intelligence. The video also included fake five-star reviews from prominent media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and the BBC. The mockumentary was subsequently removed from YouTube.

Norway's top fact-checking organization, Faktisk, and hundreds of other media outlets and fact-checkers around the world have been targeted by a Russian disinformation campaign in which a significant portion of emails asking to fact-check Olympics news have been coming from fake addresses over the past few months.

There have been precedents for the concentration of Russian propaganda efforts and disinformation campaigns around the Olympic Games. For example, during the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, the opening ceremony suffered a cyber attack carried out by Russian intelligence officers in an attempt to create the impression that it was the work of North Korea.

In this case, the purpose of Russian disinformation is to undermine confidence in France, the IOC and the Olympic Games, as well as to create a negative image of the host country on the international stage. In addition, in this way they want to cause panic and create the illusion that international events without the presence of Russia are not important and relevant.

The Russian occupiers systematically erect memorials to their fallen soldiers in populated areas of the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine. Such memorials have already appeared in the villages of Rykove, Stavky, Mykhailivka and other places in the Kherson region. Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council drew attention to this.

Usually these are plates with the names of the occupiers, stylized as Soviet monuments of the Second World War. Sometimes old Soviet monuments are repurposed as these war memorials. The opening of such facilities is accompanied by propaganda campaigns with the participation of officials of the occupation administrations and relatives of the victims.

The main goal of these actions is to reinforce the message “Russia is here forever” and try to legitimize the occupation. Propagandists strive to create the impression that “the land watered with Russian blood” supposedly belongs to Russia, thereby sacralizing the Russian presence. In addition, such actions are aimed at increasing the morale of Russian troops and the population, showing the “heroism” of the dead occupiers, as well as an attempt to impose on the local population the opinion of the inevitability and duration of the occupation.

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 occupation administration of Luhansk, under the guise of “educating the younger generation”, is militarizing Ukrainian children and teenagers, preparing them to participate in the war on the side of Russia. Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council drew attention to this.

They found out that for ideological influence, the occupiers are attracting Chechen fighters of the Akhmat battalion, who created a military camp in the Luhansk region called the Akhmat Academy of Friendship of Peoples. This camp is personally run by Ramzan Kadyrov and his close circle. The goal is not only education using “patriotic” values, but also training future fighters for the Russian army.

At the camp, children are indoctrinated and trained in military affairs, in particular, combat tactics, using weapons and assisting the wounded. The program includes intensive training, physical conditioning and special exercises aimed at developing other skills necessary to participate in military operations. In addition to physical and military training, much attention is paid to propaganda and ideological education in order to form a distorted perception of reality in children and subordinate their consciousness to the ideas of Russian aggression. This approach violates international standards for the protection of children's rights and makes them a tool for political and military purposes.

The purpose of such camps is to prepare Ukrainian teenagers for service in the Russian army and participation in hostilities against Ukraine. With the help of this camp, Russia seeks to create a new generation of “Kadyrov” — loyal adherents of the regime, ready to carry out orders unconditionally.

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.