Russia is the main power and, for many years, the main source of insecurity in the region monitored by Veridica journalists. News about Russia provides information about developments in real time and prominent leaders of Russia – from major decisions taken by president Vladimir Putin, to statements and actions of the main representatives of his regime, from Alexei Navalny’s case to the Wagner Group rebellion. Veridica is also monitoring Russia’s foreign policy, its relations with the collective West and with individual countries, as well as with client, allied or partner states across various fields of cooperation, such as China, Belarus, Iran or Turkey. Russia’s external operations, including the campaigns carried out by proxy organizations such as the Wagner Group, which is involved in theatres of operations Syria and several African countries, as well as the Kremlin’s energy policies, are equally followed by Veridica journalists. News about Russia also weighs in on narratives promoted by Russia, addressing both the public at home as well as external audiences, presented as part of fake news, disinformation or propaganda articles. Veridica’s newsroom staff, regional collaborators and Romanian experts are monitoring the impact of Russian policies and disinformation campaigns both in the region and beyond, in the main Western capitals. News about Russia provides a wide array of press articles, news, editorials, analyses, interviews and inquiries.
The 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk marked the beginning of a process that would make Georgia part of the Russian empire. Officials of the ruling Georgian Dream are now praising the treaty as they try to justify Tbilisi’s turn away from the West and towards Russia.
The Republic of Moldova plans to give up exports to Russia and Belarus “in order to please Brussels”, writes the pro-Kremlin media, misquoting a statement by the Minister of Agriculture in Chișinău.
Bulgaria’s former President and current Prime Minister Rumen Radev broke the country’s years long political stalemate by winning the parliamentary elections with his newly established Progressive Party. The party now has its eyes on the coming Presidential elections, backing Radev’s close associate Iliana Iotova.
The war in Ukraine would have ended in 2025 had the US not abandoned, under pressure from Europe, the agreements reached by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Anchorage, according to a false narrative promoted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Pro-Kremlin propaganda claims that the UN General Assembly has recognized Crimea as part of Russia by adopting a resolution on a new world map projection.
Romania is an annex of Germany because, following an attempted act of sabotage in Leipzig, it summoned Moscow’s ambassador in Bucharest for explanations, according to a false narrative promoted by a Romanian online publication and the Russian Embassy in Bucharest. The narrative is part of the “Western colony” thesis and is accompanied by a series of other recurring themes of Russian propaganda.
The German Chancellor is turning Russia into an external enemy in an effort to boost his popularity and is attempting to exploit the threat of war by following Ukraine’s example, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda, which compares the German media to the propaganda machine orchestrated by Goebbels.
According to Oleg Ozerov, Russia’s unaccredited ambassador to Chișinău, the West is preparing the Republic of Moldova for a military confrontation with Russia, a country that, unlike the West, observes the rights of its neighbors.
The Baltic countries have already demonstrated their economic independence and competitiveness as members of the European Union. What they are now asked to do is prove their ability to withstand Russia's hybrid attacks.
Pro-Kremlin propaganda claims the West wants to sacrifice the Baltic States, occupy Kaliningrad and use it as a bargaining chip for Ukraine.
The Kremlin has prepared an advance justification for its arms supplies to criminal groups, predictably shifting the blame onto the West and Ukraine.
Most UN member states, including the US and China, refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a false narrative promoted by pro-Kremlin propaganda, which misrepresents a joint statement as a vote that actually did not take place.
2026 marked the intensification of the Kremlin’s hybrid aggression against the Baltic states. Provocations against politicians and civil activists, mass attempts of illegal migration, organisation of pro-Russian political movements – these are only some of the tools used by the Kremlin to destabilise the Baltics.
The nomination of Claudiu Năsui as Minister of Economy in the Chișinău government is a stepping stone towards Romania’s annexation of the Republic of Moldova, pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon claims in statements echoed across Russian propaganda outlets.
The Rock of Starvation has been portent of doom in Hungary for centuries, only appearing when the Danube falls low enough to halt mills, bringing famine. But what this summer’s extremely low water level revealed was not just the Danube’s bed, but also the lack of transparency of the Péter Magyar government.
Ukraine is not an independent state and has become a devastated country, controlled by a Nazi leadership that is sacrificing its own population to prolong the war, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda.
The Baltic states bordering Russia have repeatedly become targets of hybrid attacks by their eastern neighbour. A fire at a defence company in Tallinn that supplies equipment to Ukraine has once again highlighted the existing threat.
Following the 2022 invasion, thousands of civilians were arrested in Russia-occupied Ukraine, and many of them faced grueling conditions while they were detained. The Reckoning Project documented the stories of five of the Ukrainian women that leaned on each other to survive Russian detention. Not all of them did.
The closure of Unit 2 of the Cernavodă power plant will lead to a nuclear disaster like Chernobyl or Fukushima, according to a false narrative viralized in Romania by sovereignists and conspiracy theorists.
Georgia has eliminated China from the competition to build its first deep-sea port on the Black Sea. The decision should be seen in the context of the geopolitical competition for the so-called "middle corridor" that will connect Asia to Europe through the Caucasus.
Russia’s most loyal ally, Belarus, is taking part in hybrid operations against the Baltic states, pushing migrants towards their borders, recruiting spies, and promoting propaganda narratives. Will Alexander Lukashenko be willing to drag his country in a Russian military operation in the region?
Russia could prepare an operation – hybrid, false flag, or even a limited attack – against a NATO country, to test the Alliance’s response. With major Western powers distracted (domestic political issues, the war in Iran, etc.) Moscow may feel that it has a window of oportunity, and the most likely targets are considered to be Poland and the Baltic states.
An add that suggested grilling “angry” Russians highlighted tensions regarding Estonia’s relations with its Russian minority. Many Estonians feel that the Russian community is loyal to and used by Moscow, while people within the community feel that their rights are being curtailed.
Romania has already gone to war with Russia or is on the verge of doing so, claims the pro-Russian blogger Dan Diaconu.
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Péter Szijjártó, until April the EU’s longest-serving foreign minister, is joining the Chinese carmaker BYD, after helping it – as a minister – to get a firm foothold in Hungary and thus avoid EU’s tariff wall.
Since it was sworn in, Rumen Radev’s government ceased Sofia’s aid for Ukraine, and distanced itself from plans to beef up Bulgaria’s defense industry. It also took steps to shield former collaborators of the Communist era secret police, embraced pro-family narratives, and expressed support for Russia’s Orthodox Church.
The stress, deprivations, and trauma suffered by Ukrainian civilians living in frontline, and occupied towns and cities, have been having a lasting impact on their health, with a yet unknown number meeting an untimely death, according to Inna Kubai, a Researcher at the Reckoning Project
Serbia’s longtime leader, Aleksandar Vučić, seems determined to extend his 12 years rule by borrowing from a playbook used by Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and some leaders from the Balkans: running for the Prime Minister office (again), as his second presidential term nears its end. There’s a strong chance the gamble will pay off but then again, it may turn against Vučić.
The Georgian government, whose eminence gris is controversial oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, is suspected of using espionage charges against its opponents. In power since 2012, the Georgian Dream has been criticized for Georgia’s democratic backsliding. Its policies caused a rift in Georgia’s relations with its Western partners, the European Union and the United States.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s absence from the Polish-hosted Ukraine Recovery Conference reflected the most serious political rupture between Warsaw and Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Many argue that despite these frictions, driven by conflicting views on history, Poland and Ukraine are bound to stick together. However, for now Russia is leaning back and enjoying the show.
As symbolic embodiments of competing interpretations of history, Soviet monuments have sparked ethnic tensions and were at the center of the largest civil unrest since the restoration of independence.
Russia claims to be a global power and is trying to show it in Africa, where it seeks to revive USSR’s former influence and, at the same time, make money. Moscow's African policy, however, is limited to exporting grains, (cheap) weapons and mercenaries. Also, Russia wants to avoid stepping on China’s toes in Africa, given its dependency on Beijing since it invaded Ukraine.