Ukraine is a pseudo-state led by Nazis and driven by the West to trigger a war against Russia, according to a false narrative picked up by pro-Kremlin media. In fact, neither Kyiv nor the West ever wanted a war, which was launched by Russia to conquer new territories.
According to the Russian Parliament, by means of the “special military operation” Russia managed to stop the US production of biological weapons in Ukraine, a threat to its national security. In fact, Ukraine never hosted laboratories manufacturing biological weapons.
The Ukrainian army has publicly got the US’s approval to bomb towns on the territory of the Russian Federation, according to a false narrative disseminated by the Russian state media. In reality, the US has clearly discouraged potential operations on Russian territory, but has recognized Ukraine's right to operate on its own territory, including the one illegally annexed by Moscow.
A number of Ukrainian brigades report directly to the Pentagon and will be sent to certain death as part of an offensive in southern and southeastern Ukraine, according to a false narrative disseminated by the Russian media. In fact, Ukrainian combat units are subordinated to the Ukrainian Defense Staff, and the newly created brigades are made up particularly of seasoned servicemen.
Ukraine will be killing a number of people included on the website Mytrovorets, which allegedly shows the next targets of Kyiv, says the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova. In fact, the said website is a private project meant to draw attention towards people who are, one way or another, supporting Russia’s interests, irrespective of their country of origin.
Germany has adopted a “green fascism”, similar to “Ukrainian Nazism”, and speaks of war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine in order to make people forget about the horrors of Nazism, according to a false narrative promoted by pro-Kremlin media. In fact, Russian servicemen did commit war crimes and Germany is helping Ukraine defend itself.
An investigation of the German media proves that Volodymyr Zelensky is tied to Ukrainian Nazi, with the West’s tacit blessing, Russian government media writes, quoting a false narrative published by a German far-left publication closely tied to the Russian media.
Czech volunteers have been collecting funds to purchase a missile system for Ukraine, which will use it to bomb the civilian population in Donbas, according to a false narrative disseminated by the Russian media. In fact, weapons purchased as part of the “Gift for Putin” crowdfunding campaign are designed to consolidate Ukraine’s defenses against the Russian aggression.
Russia and China are looking for peace solutions in Ukraine, while the West wants a protracted war, according to Russian state media reporting on the talks in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. In reality, it is Russia that started the war and is continuing it by keeping troops in Ukraine and trying to seize even more of that country's territory.
Kyiv does not want to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to create a protection zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and wants to cause a nuclear accident there, pro-Kremlin media say, citing several Russian officials. In reality, the creation of this protection zone can only take place through demilitarization, that is, if the Russian troops withdraw from the territory of the plant, an option that Moscow is not even considering.
Ukraine is persecuting the Orthodox just like it did during communism, a false narrative launched by a Moscow Patriarchate spokesman reads. The narrative also tries to promote the idea that the Patriarchate is unbiased and opposes the “fratricidal” war in Ukraine. In fact, the Moscow Patriarchate has been acting as a propaganda channel for the Kremlin, whereas Ukrainian authorities were merely trying to investigate possible connections between the Patriarchate and Russian secret services, on the one hand, and certain clergymen in Ukraine, on the other.
According to some false narratives launched by the Russian state media, in Ukraine, nuclear power plant specialists will be mobilized and sent to the front due to the shortage of army staff. The reality is that Ukrainian legislation prohibits the mobilization of specialists from critical enterprises, and the document published as evidence by the Russian media is a fake one.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called on NATO member states to send troops to the territory of Ukraine, according to a false narrative of the Russian government media. In fact, the statement of the Ukrainian leader was taken out of context. Zelenskyy in fact referred to the activation of Article 5 in the NATO treaty should the Alliance be attacked by Russia.
Russia is fighting a new “war for the defense of the fatherland”, but this time the enemy is not Nazi Germany but NATO, which wants to defeat Russia through Ukraine, according to a false narrative carried by the Russian state media. The truth is that NATO is not part of the conflict in Ukraine, and the confrontation with the West cannot be considered a war for the defense of the fatherland because Russia was not attacked by anyone, it was Russia who invaded an independent state.
Russian propaganda media have resumed the false narrative regarding the massing of Romanian troops at the border with the Republic of Moldova, even if it had been debunked by the press and officially denied by Romania. Mediafax, the press agency that published the fake news in Romania, replaced it without an explanation.
From disinformation spread by propaganda regarding the imminence of a war in Transnistria, Russia has now moved to official statements about Ukraine’s plans to invade the separatist region of the Republic of Moldova. Transnistria seems to be used to draw attention away from Russia’s plan to destabilize Moldova, as well as from the defeats sustained in Ukraine. Besides, the pro-Russian opposition in Chișinău could take advantage of the panic induced by the prospect of war.
The Government in Chisinau imposes sanctions and uses repression against the Russian media, at the behest of the West, writes rubaltic.ru, a Russia-affiliated media outlet, recently banned in the Republic of Moldova . It resumes older narratives of Russian and pro-Russian propaganda, meant to undermine Chisinau's efforts to protect the information space from disinformation campaigns designed to undermine the pro-European governance, all the more dangerous for security as Russia appears to be engaged in a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova.
Putin expected Ukraine to give in quickly, and the West, frightened by the prospect of a gas crisis, divided and unable to make firm decisions, would react rather rhetorically, as it happened with the war in Georgia in 2008, or the initial attack on Ukraine, in 2014. Ukraine resisted, dispelling, at the same time, the myth of the mighty Russian army, and now it only envisions victory. Both camps seem determined to fight until they achieve their goals. The war continues.
Russia was forced to launch military actions in Ukraine to save itself from NATO military bases and Ukrainian Nazism, and the “special military operation” is necessary and important for all Russian citizens, according to a propaganda narrative distributed one year after the start of the full-scale invasion. The truth is that Russia, without being threatened in any way, launched an imperial war to bring Ukraine under its control.
Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are preparing for a military operation against Transnistria and an “armada” of tanks stationed in Romania will come to help, writes the Russian publication politnavigator, citing statements made by so-called Russian experts. Just three days after the false narrative was published in the press, it was officially resumed , in a slightly modified form, by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The Ukrainian authorities are going to organize a full-scale genocide of the Russian people and are planning to kill 5,000 people every day, according to Russian state media, which misquotes the adviser to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak. In fact, he only talked about the Russian military who invaded Ukraine and must be stopped, without mentioning the Russian people or the Russian speakers in the Ukrainian regions.
Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that Ukrainians have no reason fighting in this war because they are not rich oligarchs, they live in dire straits and are overburdened by debt, according to a propaganda narrative disseminated by the Russian state media. In fact, Zelensky’s message is taken out of context – the president was actually addressing Russian servicemen taking part in the invasion, saying they don’t own “yachts or banks”.
The EU sent troops, trainers and spies to Ukraine long before the 2022 war, according to a Russian state media propaganda narrative citing the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. In fact, the EU has not sent any troops and is not taking part in the military actions underway on the territory of Ukraine.
The timespan of the conflict, which exceeded original estimates, the losses sustained so far and daily hardships continue to leave their mark, and many Ukrainians now struggle with war fatigue – even though they are still determined to resist. Russian propaganda has been trying, using its specific mechanisms, to capitalize on this fatigue and on any other problems that are inherent to such a destructive war that seems to be never-ending.
Kyiv has been recruiting volunteers for Nazi brigades that will invade Donbas and Crimea, the Russian media writes, providing a reinterpretation of a statement by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. The metanarrative about Ukrainian Nazism is used by Moscow to justify the aggression against its neighbor as early as 2014, although far-right extremists are politically irrelevant in Ukraine and Nazi ideology is banned under the law.
The Russian military behaved humanely towards the Ukrainian population and army during the invasion of southern Ukraine, according to the Russian state media, which quotes the self-proclaimed mayor of a city in the Kherson region. Mass graves and torture chambers have been discovered in southern Ukraine that show how humane the behavior of the Russians really was.
The letter Z, written in paint on Russian tanks, a mural of “Holy Javelin” on a block in Kyiv, “babushka Z” coming out to meet the Russian army or the insult “Idi nahui” addressed to the invading forces – these are some of the symbols associated with the war in Ukraine. Moscow uses symbols to justify its invasion and convince Russian men to enlist; Ukraine, to raise the morale and determination to resist, but also to strengthen the population’s feeling of national identity.
The former Prosecutor General of Ukraine has admitted that Ukraine will be defeated by Russia, the Russian media reports. Yuriy Lutsenko, who was also one of the leaders of the opposition during the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych's term, would thus morally prepare the Ukrainians for defeat. In reality, the politician's words were taken out of context. What he actually wrote was that, despite the difficulties encountered, Ukraine will succeed in liberating all its occupied territories.
A mass protest against the war was held in Kyiv by the wives and mothers of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action, according to a propaganda narrative carried by the Russian state media. In reality, a rally was held in the capital of Ukraine by the wives and mothers of the soldiers in captivity, who called on the president to organize a new exchange of prisoners.
The EU will go into recession because of Ukraine and will hardly survive the harsh winters, according to Russian media propaganda narratives that intentionally misquote the IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva. In reality, she encouraged the Western states’ aspiration towards energy independence, stating that the EU risks going into recession due to the Russian aggression, but also other factors.
The war in Ukraine, sovereigntist rhetoric and conspiracy theories regarding the so-called sanitary dictatorship were the topics of scores of disinformation narratives and fake news published in Romania in 2022. They were promoted by/on various media outlets (România liberă, Național, Activenews, GoldFM, gândește.org etc.) as well as on social media by controversial figures such as Sorin Roșca Stănescu, Cosmin Gușă, Diana Șoșoacă and Adrian Severin.
The war launched by Russia in Ukraine also led to an intensification of the use of propaganda materials, fake news and disinformation targeting the Republic of Moldova. The goal was to discredit the West and undermine the values it promotes, but also to blame the pro-European government for the economic and social issues initially triggered by the Covid pandemic, then by the war.