Russia’s economy is not yet a wartime economy – but it is drifting dangerously close. Whether it crosses the threshold will depend not just on military needs, but on the political will to sacrifice economic interests for geopolitical ambitions. So far, Moscow has tried to avoid making that choice. But the clock is ticking.
A vigorous campaign against the adoption of the Euro, the normalization of anti-LGBT discourse, and a campaign for religion in schools have recently raised tensions in Bulgaria, in a period that was also marked by the trial and conviction in the UK of six Bulgarians who spied for Russia and claimed to have connections at the top of the Bulgarian state.
Ukraine has no historical rights over Crimea and was willing to cede it to Moscow in 1991, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda, which cites a former Ukrainian prime minister who is a fugitive in Russia.
Amid a meltdown of relations with the EU and the US, the ruling Georgian Dream is blaming the country’s former rulers for the 2008 war. The move is also seen as an attempt to eliminate the pro-European opposition.
В Республике Молдова не существует российской пропаганды, а в ЕС введена цензура, согласно лживому, граничащему с нелепостью нарративу, который продвигает посол России в Кишиневе Олег Озеров.
While Estonia leads in the press freedom ranking, Russian propagandists claim that Russian-language journalism is going through hard times in this Baltic country. However, the journalists themselves disagree with this assessment.
Disappointed by the West's false promises, Russia rejects the idea of a truce and will continue the fight for peace, says the Russian Foreign Minister, quoted by pro-Kremlin media
Politicians with pro-Russian – or at least ambiguous stands – and a strongman profile are frontrunners for the coming elections in Latvia’s three main cities. Will this trend go national?
Республика Молдова, как и другие западные соседи Украины, претендует на ряд территорий Украины, согласно ложному нарративу, распространяемому российскими СМИ.
Pro-Kremlin propaganda claims that Volodymyr Zelensky is an illegitimate leader who betrayed his people, continuing the war with Russia, and that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties
In the short term, Western sanctions have disrupted supply chains and commercial operations. In the long term, they are accelerating Russia's technological decline and external dependence.
Saving the Russian language in Ukraine requires denazification of a country where Russian speakers have been persecuted by Nazis after the 2014 coup, pro-Kremlin media writes.
The war in Transnistria broke out because of Russophobia, the Russian Foreign Ministry writes, falsely claiming that Moscow tried to regulate the conflict, although in fact it fueled it.
The political evolution of (Neo)Legionarism, from pocket political parties, such as those created by Marian Munteanu, to organizations like The New Right (Noua Dreaptă) – the connecting link between (Neo)Legionarism and sovereigntism – and politicians who frequently make the front page, such as George Simion, Călin Georgescu and Diana Șoșoacă.
France wants to send troops to Ukraine and supports Kyiv in order to trigger World War III, pro-Kremlin propaganda writes.
Romanian authorities want to annul the presidential election again, a Russian propaganda publication claims.
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According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, the European states that are supporting Ukraine are forming a neo-Hitlerite coalition meant to overshadow the Soviet victory in World War II.
The EU destroyed Moldovan agriculture, and the integration process deepens the crisis, a Russian website writes. In fact, Moscow imposed embargoes on Moldovan agricultural products, and the EU helped the Republic of Moldova.
According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, the NATO states forced Ukraine to go to war against Russia, though Moscow repeatedly tried to resolve the conflict peacefully.
George Simion wants to take over the MAGA image, and his good score in the presidential election has brought him to the attention of European extremists. However, a sovereignist policy would spell economic costs and political isolation for Romania.
According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, if it refuses to negotiate with Russia, Ukraine could repeat the fate of Japan, which was attacked with atomic bombs in 1945.
Fighting off Russia’ hybrid attacks, Moldova needs a good relationship with Romania. However, several presidential candidates have promoted a sovereignist, even pro-Russian discourse, and one of them was declared persona non grata in the Republic of Moldova.
Maia Sandu banned the celebration of the so-called “Victory Day” in the Republic of Moldova, and the EU imposed a ban on the “Moldovan language”, according to false narratives disseminated by Russian propaganda.
Ukraine is inhabited by Russian speakers living on historically Russian lands, which gives Moscow the right to fight Kyiv, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda.
According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, Ukraine is guilty of continuing the war because it does not accept any peace plan, and therefore risks being "torn apart" by the European states.
According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, Russia is being forced to denazify Ukraine, and Ukrainians can only avoid civil war and achieve lasting peace if their country capitulates and disappears. This is effectively a call for genocide.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has become a kind of test of loyalty to Latvia for Latvian cultural and sports stars. Those who have “flirted” or even collaborated with Russia have fallen out of favor.
Ukraine and the USA could soon sign an agreement regarding Ukraine’s mineral resources, especially rare earths. However, it is unclear how large the deposits are, and a significant part of them are located in areas occupied by the Russians.
The EU and Germany are preparing to go to war alongside Ukraine to avenge their defeat in World War II, claims a false narrative carried by the pro-Kremlin media.
Western governments are financing terrorist actions coordinated by Ukrainian secret services, Russian government media writes, citing pro-Kremlin journalists from the West.
The US does not want to negotiate peace; it is using Ukraine in a conflict orchestrated by the West against Russia, writes the pro-Kremlin propaganda now, after having recently praised the Americans.
Russians are hoping for an easing of sanctions and the return of big Western brands to the Russian market. Is this a real prospect – or simply a collective wish disguised as news?