Russia: Latest news, analysis, video interviews, video reports

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.

Libya, ten years after the outbreak of the first Arab Spring war
Libya, ten years after the outbreak of the first Arab Spring war

The Libyans who took to the streets on February 17, 2011 had been called to a "day of rage." A little later, the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi - who at the time was the longest-lived but also the most eccentric tyrant in the Arab world - would be called the "February 17 Revolution." In retrospect, that is the time when the Arab Spring turned into the great war for the Arab world.

While on the European path, Vucic creates the pro-Russian narrative in Serbia
While on the European path, Vucic creates the pro-Russian narrative in Serbia

What makes Serbia interesting to anaylze when it comes to Russia's influence is the already formed pro-Russian public opinion. Therefore, the question arises whether Russia in Serbia has a need to invest in strengthening its influence when public opinion is already in its favor. It is enough to look at the cover pages of the Serbian daily press where you can often see Vladimir Putin, as well as the media reporting on Russia so you can get the impression that the pro-Russian narrative is possibly created by Serbian journalists and editors. It means that pro-Russian narrative is not sponsored or created by Kremlin.

Vuk Velebit
16 Feb 2021
DISINFORMATION: Sanctions have strengthened Russia’s economy and the EU supports Russophobia in Ukraine and the Baltics
DISINFORMATION: Sanctions have strengthened Russia’s economy and the EU supports Russophobia in Ukraine and the Baltics

Sergei Lavrov claims that European and American sanctions had no ground or effect, and the deterioration of the Brussels-Moscow relations occurred as a result of the EU's direct support for the coup in Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine, the EU and the US have criticized Russia for its proven support for the Donbass mercenaries and denounced the illegal, internationally unrecognized and unprecedented in post-War Europe annexation of Crimea.

Marin Gherman
16 Feb 2021
Who keeps alive the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova? (Part II: Russia’s leverage)
Who keeps alive the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova? (Part II: Russia’s leverage)

The EU has extended an economic lifeline to Transnistria, the underlying idea being that this would help avoid conflict in that region. Russia is no longer Transnistria's main economic partner, but still has considerable levarage in the region.

FAKE NEWS: Maia Sandu and Zelensky have agreed to attack Transnistria
FAKE NEWS: Maia Sandu and Zelensky have agreed to attack Transnistria

According to a Telegram post of a Russian TV station, the president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, is considering a military attack on the separatist region of Trasnistria and has tried to rally Kiev’s support. The story has prompted a true media frenzy in Chișinău and Moscow, having been redistributed by a large number of media outlets. Chișinău authorities have dismissed this scenario, which they say carries little weight.

FAKE NEWS: The Americans want to attack Russia, but their tanks are as bad as the Nazis’
FAKE NEWS: The Americans want to attack Russia, but their tanks are as bad as the Nazis’

American tanks couldn’t invade Russia and would be facing the same difficulties German armored divisions did during the Second World War. This fake news underscores narratives about the attack plans of NATO and the USA, while also referring to metanarratives linked to the Second World War.

The humiliation of Europe and Putin’s machismo
The humiliation of Europe and Putin’s machismo

During the visit to Moscow of the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, a visit marked by quite a few controversial moments, Russia announced the expulsion of three EU diplomats in an act of public shaming that has infuriated many people.

FAKE NEWS: The Biden administration is drawing a
FAKE NEWS: The Biden administration is drawing a "black list" of religious leaders worldwide that are opposing the LGBT agenda

Conservative circles in the United States are writing that the new Democratic President of the United States, Joe Biden, has allegedly signed an executive order that will promote homosexuality as a central element of US foreign policy and, moreover, "blacklists" will be drawn up of world religious leaders who oppose the LGBT phenomenon. It would also target American ultra-conservative organizations that have links with Romania.

FAKE NEWS: Ukraine will lose territories for blocking pro-Russian television stations
FAKE NEWS: Ukraine will lose territories for blocking pro-Russian television stations

Ukraine could face the loss of new territories after the closure of three pro-Russian TV stations, RIA Novosti quotes the former Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, as saying. The news is fake: Saakashvili never referred to the loss of territories, but merely said Russia could use the ban on the TV stations as a pretext for new acts of aggression.

Marin Gherman
09 Feb 2021
Who keeps alive the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova? (Part I)
Who keeps alive the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova? (Part I)

Transnistria a reprezentat în ultimele trei decenii una dintre cele mai mari enigme din Europa de Est și continuă să fie un studiu de caz aparte, fiind unul dintre primele conflicte înghețate din spațiul ex-sovietic și apoi un model pentru cele ce au urmat în jurul bazinului Mării Negre.

FAKE NEWS: Maia Sandu wants to abolish free media
FAKE NEWS: Maia Sandu wants to abolish free media

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, only mimics her attachement to democratic and European values and if she could, she would establish an authoritarian regime in which freedom of expression would be limited. This fake narrative, originating from the Socialist circles, was also used during the elections campaign. 

FAKE NEWS: Ukraine bans “The Master and Margarita”
FAKE NEWS: Ukraine bans “The Master and Margarita”

Authorities in Kiev have banned an edition of Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita”, but online media in Russia treated the information as a total ban on this literary work.

The first Biden – Putin talk: a „privet” like a „niet”
The first Biden – Putin talk: a „privet” like a „niet”

On January 26, Joe Biden spoke for the first time with Vladimir Putin as President of the United States. The two had known each other for years, but their conversation does not seem to have been a discussion between two friends meeting again, or an exchange of pleasantries between the heads of two states who want to make a first contact and test the waters.

Why Does Moscow Still Believe in Dodon's tears
Why Does Moscow Still Believe in Dodon's tears

Perdant în recentele alegeri prezidențiale din această toamnă, Igor Dodon încă se agață de putere în interiorul Partidului Socialiștilor din Moldova (PSRM), dar și în fața susținătorilor săi externi de la Kremlin.

Fake news: Ukraine punishes the people of Crimea and leaves them without water
Fake news: Ukraine punishes the people of Crimea and leaves them without water

Ukraine punishes the Crimean people for choosing to join Russia, blocking the North Crimean Canal. Kiev says that the existing water resources in Crimea are sufficient for the needs of the population, and the purpose of the North Crimean Canal, is to carry water to industrial facilities.

Marin Gherman
02 Feb 2021
The Wagner Group: the “no man’s army” fighting Russia’s hybrid war
The Wagner Group: the “no man’s army” fighting Russia’s hybrid war

The more hybrid our reality gets, the more hybrid warfare becomes. The statement is Russia’s latest informal creed, underlying a disproportionate war waged abroad. For that, the country has been using a “no man’s army”, and its best-known avatar is the Wagner Group.

Marin Gherman
27 Jan 2021
FAKE NEWS: NATO wants to invade Kaliningrad and make money for American corporations
FAKE NEWS: NATO wants to invade Kaliningrad and make money for American corporations

NATO has an aggressive stance towards Russia and is training to invade the region of Kaliningrad. However, the real goal of the Alliance is to make money for the big American defense corporations, claims the Kremlin’s propaganda arm, Sputnik.

DISINFORMATION: The Russian minority in Moldova, under fire from the Constitutional Court and President Maia Sandu
DISINFORMATION: The Russian minority in Moldova, under fire from the Constitutional Court and President Maia Sandu

Socialists and supporting media in the Republic of Moldova have snapped after a Moldovan Constitutional Court ruling threw out a law granting special status to the Russian language. They’re describing the ruling as an attack on the Russian minority, the idea circulated being that the country’s newly elected president, Maia Sandu, is held responsible for this attack, thus going back on the promises made in the election campaign.

FAKE NEWS: There are fascists in the Ukrainian army, ready to kill Russian-speaking comrades
FAKE NEWS: There are fascists in the Ukrainian army, ready to kill Russian-speaking comrades

The Ukrainian army has far-right Russophobic extremists who worship the controversial World War II leader Stepan Bandera. The idea appears in recent news, but it is one of the main narratives used by the Russian propaganda ever since the beginning of the Euromaidan.

FAKE NEWS: Soros wants to besiege Russia by capturing the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Armenia to use as his first pawns
FAKE NEWS: Soros wants to besiege Russia by capturing the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Armenia to use as his first pawns

George Soros is behind the 30-year-old assault on ex-Soviet space. Soros’s network orchestrated the color revolutions in the mid-2000s, and more recently has taken control of Moldova and Armenia, seeking to capture other states as well in order to besiege Russia.

FAKE NEWS: The Ukrainian army is fed Russian-made potato mash
FAKE NEWS: The Ukrainian army is fed Russian-made potato mash

In late 2020 and early 2021, some news agencies have published a story according to which Ukraine’s potato supplies have run out, and in order to feed its own army Kiev is buying potatoes and potato mash from Russia. The news has deeply confused public opinion. On the one hand, Kiev made it very clear it opposes Russian aggression in Donbass (the Ukrainian Parliament has recognized Russia as an aggressor state), while on the other hand this fake news released by the press portrays Ukraine as incapable of providing the most basic necessities (food!) to its own army.

Marin Gherman
12 Jan 2021
From Sofia With Love: Bulgaria-Russia relations are challenged after espionage claims
From Sofia With Love: Bulgaria-Russia relations are challenged after espionage claims

Once Moscow’s most reliable satellite in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria expelled six Russian diplomats for spying since October 2019. Is Sofia trying to step out of Moscow’s shadow, or merely creating a smoke screen for affairs on a different level?

The feud between Chisinau and Moscow. What lies behind the quarrel between Maia Sandu and Vladimir Putin
The feud between Chisinau and Moscow. What lies behind the quarrel between Maia Sandu and Vladimir Putin

Russia uses an aggressive rhetoric to disguise its lack of ideas and even real interest in Moldova. Transnistria – a pawn for future exchanges, tightly controlled by the Sheriff

Armand Goșu
08 Jan 2021
FAKE NEWS: Maia Sandu and the RAND Corporation plan to destabilize Transnistria
FAKE NEWS: Maia Sandu and the RAND Corporation plan to destabilize Transnistria

The president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, is the target of attacks launched by the Kremlin regarding the escalation of the conflict in Transnistria. After she reiterated Chisinau’s stand on the withdrawal of the Russian troops illegally stationed in the Republic of Moldova since the Dniester War of 1992, high-ranking officials in Moscow have accused her of destabilizing the situation in the region. The article also resumes the narrative according to which Maia Sandu was brought to power by the West.

FAKE NEWS: Between the COVID virus and the Sputnik V vaccine, Russophobic Ukraine would prefer the former
FAKE NEWS: Between the COVID virus and the Sputnik V vaccine, Russophobic Ukraine would prefer the former

The Kremlin and pro-Russians promote the narrative that Sputnik V is rejected for ideological reasons, even if Ukrainians could die

FAKE NEWS: The Soviets did not invade Eastern Europe jointly with Nazi Germany. The invasion was not followed by a military occupation. The USA maintains an occupation force in Europe
FAKE NEWS: The Soviets did not invade Eastern Europe jointly with Nazi Germany. The invasion was not followed by a military occupation. The USA maintains an occupation force in Europe

Russia's ambassador to Bucharest, Valeri Kuzmin, reinterprets history from the perspective of the Soviet-era Cominternist theses and accuses the USA of invading Europe.

FAKE NEWS: Ukraine is a false state whose collapse is bound to continue
FAKE NEWS: Ukraine is a false state whose collapse is bound to continue

Narratives on the “inevitable” collapse of Ukraine, based on the concept of “false state”, have been promoted by Russia since the Euromaidan protests of 2014. After the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Russian and pro-Russian media in Ukraine and in the Russian-speaking world is seizing every opportunity and story to recall that Ukraine is “a false state” that can collapse at any time. Oftentimes the information is deceiving, and the statements of certain experts / politicians are taken out of context.

Marin Gherman
05 Jan 2021
FAKE NEWS: The West and Ukraine do not want peace in Donbass
FAKE NEWS: The West and Ukraine do not want peace in Donbass

The publications refer to a meeting organized by the Russian delegation at the UN, which was also attended by representatives of the separatists and some permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council who, in this way, reportedly showed their support for Moscow’s initiative.

Marin Gherman
08 Dec 2020