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 city of Mariupol in Donbass is turning into a concentration camp, blocked by Ukrainian soldiers and paramilitary groups, the Russian press reads, quoting representatives of the separatist militias of Donetsk and Luhansk. In reality, the humanitarian corridors are blocked by Russian soldiers who are firing at critical infrastructure.
The media and social media users in Ukraine have mobilized in order to encourage the population to resist and spread information about the war from Kyiv’s perspective as much as possible, including in Russia. It is interesting to note how Ukrainians have intercepted messages and symbols used by the Kremlin’s propaganda, including in the information war against Ukraine.
The recognition of the separatist republics in Donbass, which was an intermediate step towards the total invasion of Ukraine, could prove to be one of Putin's biggest mistakes and the beginning of the end for his regime.
The Transnistrian war officially broke out on March 2, 1992, at a time when there had been violence for several months. The war was the last - and bloodiest - stage of a conflict in the former USSR between reformist forces, which in the republics had taken the form of national emancipation movements, and conservative ones, which wanted to maintain a Soviet empire with its capital in Moscow. The newly formed Russian Federation intervened in the war to maintain a bridgehead in the former province / Union republic.
The public in Romania and Europe is inoculated with the fear of war so that Russia can be denigrated, the Russian press censored and arms sellers made rich. These false narratives are promoted by the controversial journalist Ion Cristoiu, who also says that the same “techniques” were used to terrorize the population during the pandemic.
Despite the government's censorship and the triumphant image of the war that the Kremlin sells to the public, the Russian independent media is trying to accurately report on both what is happening on the ground and the possible consequences of Vladimir Putin's war.
A neighbor of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova is directly interested in the way the war in Ukraine is unfolding, for both military and humanitarian reasons.
The Republic of Moldova has violated its neutrality status since it allows NATO to deliver weapons to Ukraine, currently at war with Russia, which invaded this country on February 24. This false narrative is promoted by politnavigator.net, which references a commentary of a Russian expert.
The tension between Russia and NATO put forward the question on how Bulgaria’s army can be reformed after decades of neglect and whether the country is the alliance’s “weak link”. PM Kiril Petkov looks like he’s on a solitary mission to prove this is not the case.
The Kremlin wants to strengthen its de facto power in Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria by speeding up the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of the region who have not acquired it yet. And while at it, Moscow is completely ignoring Chisinau.
The United States does not consider Russia is invading Ukraine by sending troops to the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, since it didn’t adopt harsher sanctions. This false narrative is promoted by Sorin Roșca Stănescu, a journalist known for being involved in criminal investigations, and whose articles regularly reference narratives similar to those publicized by Russian propaganda.
The Pro-Kremlin media in Russia and in the self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine have launched a series of false narratives about the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Donbass, which was allegedly staged by Kiev to “justify” its attacks on Russian-speakers.
NATO is flooding the Republic of Moldova with weapons in an attempt to boost its partnership with this country. The purpose of NATO is to drag Moldova into a war with Russia. These false narratives are promoted despite the fact that Moldova’s NATO accession is not up for debate.
The West is escalating the situation in Ukraine, the main Kremlin propagandists keep on claiming, while Russia has amassed troops and equipment near its border with that country. The narratives are aimed at making the West responsible for the situation in Ukraine and justifying the Russian aggression.
Upsizing the NATO forces in Romania doesn’t makes any sense, as Russia does not intend to attack other states and promotes peace, according to the Russian MFA spokesperson. She ignored, however, the very reason for strengthening NATO's presence in the East: Moscow's aggressive policy.
The Western media misleads public opinion regarding the crisis in Ukraine, which in fact is one its diversions. These false narratives are promoted by one of the most controversial Romanian journalists, Ion Cristoiu, and amplified by the Kremlin’s mouthpiece, Sputnik.
Amid rising Russian-Ukrainian tensions and accusations against Moscow for surrounding Ukraine militarily, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukrainian officials were bound by the Minsk peace deal to negotiate with the separatists in Donbass, and Kiev's counterarguments were termed as propaganda in the style of Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Propaganda during the Nazi regime.
Ukrainians expect anything from Russia and know that if it attacks them again, they will have to defend themselves, not wait for help from elsewhere, according to the a.i. charge d’affaires of Ukraine in Bucharest, Păun Rohovei. In an interview granted to Veridica and Breaking Fake News, the diplomat warned that a new invasion would be extremely costly for Moscow.
Ukraine is being pushed by the US towards war, and the Americans want to deploy in that country missiles targeting Russia, according to narratives promoted by the main Russian TV channel. It also claims that the fate of Ukraine will be decided by negotiations between the great powers.
Vladimir Putin is a good Christian, but his image has suffered because of Russophobia. These false narratives are based on statements made by the Archbishop of Thomis, Theodosius, and amplified by Sputnik. At the same time, the idea that Putin and Russia have nothing to do with Communism, which was imposed by the West, is also promoted.
British special troops have been deployed to Ukraine to organize diversions and escalate the situation in Donbass, according to the pro-Kremlin media, which resumed a string of narratives about a Western attack on the Russian-speakers in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
Romania has appointed Cristian-Leon Țurcanu, a NATO expert, as its designated ambassador in Chișinău. Țurcanu will replace Daniel Ioniță, a vehement supporter of unionism. The narrative is launched in the context of a broader regional crisis, Russia having ramped up its disinformation over an alleged NATO threat to ex-Soviet space.
The crisis in Ukraine is also marked by an increased output of false narratives meant to discredit NATO and undermine confidence in it. Romania has also been the target of such narratives – claiming that it’s preparing for war, mobilizing its reservists, has a weak army, equipped with outdated equipment, etc. Veridica talked to the head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of National Defense, Brigadier General Constantin Spînu, about the efforts made by the army to fight back the disinformation that targets it.
NATO enlargement is a threat to Russia, and the United States is arming and preparing Ukraine for war, says the Kremlin's main propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov in a nearly two-hour show that reflects the Kremlin's views on international politics.
The Western Balkans appear to be playing an increasingly important role in Russia's plans. Through its leverage in the region, Moscow is able to generate enough problems that require the attention of the West and diminish its ability to manage crises elsewhere - for example in the former Soviet Union.
Romania will be partitioned by its neighbors if it decides to fight alongside NATO in a war against Russia. This false narrative was launched on the Romanian media market with a view to eroding public confidence in NATO, and to demonstrate that Russia is not the aggressor in the current crisis in Ukraine.
“Russia is the last country in the world that would want a war with Ukraine”, the Kremlin-affiliated media writes, accusing Kiev of seeking to trigger a conflict. This false narrative is at odds with the situation on the ground, where Russia (a country that already attacked Ukraine in 2014) has amassed a sizable force.
NATO is threatening Russia and is rallying a sizable force close to its borders, the Kremlin-linked media claims. In fact, NATO is merely consolidating its eastern flank, in response to Russia’s threats, whereas the troops the Alliance has mobilized represent a fraction of the over 100 thousand troops Moscow has massed.
The military equipment Ukraine got from the United Kingdom is obsolete and/or out of commission, according to a piece of fake news carried by the Russian media. The United Kingdom is one of the NATO countries that, in the context of an impending Russian invasion, has provided Ukraine with deadly equipment in order to defend itself.
The crisis in Ukraine has generated a great deal of concern in the Republic of Moldova as well, considering that a possible conflict might also spread to its territory, in Transnistria.
The Republic of Moldova is preparing to relinquish its neutrality status and hand over control over its armed forces to NATO, according to a false narrative carried by the Russian media. In fact, Moldova has merely renewed its Action Plan with NATO, a periodic process that has nothing to do with neutrality or NATO accession.
Romania threatens the existence of the Republic of Moldova, although it is a weak state that will lose all its influence when NATO, caving in to Russia’s pressure, will shut down its bases on Romanian territory. The narratives are launched in the context of growing regional tensions and Russia’s requests that NATO should pull back to the West.