Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 5 million Ukrainians have crossed the Romanian border, fleeing the war. Most chose to go further west, but some decided to stay here. Officially there are 90 348 of them, but the real number could be much higher. Before arriving in Romania, many only knew what Soviet and Russian propaganda had told them, so they were amazed at what they found and how they were received. With all the help they get, however, there are problems, as the refugees find it difficult to integrate due to language barriers and many still feel the psychological impact of the drama they have been through.
Of the 57 thousand women drafted into the army, only 6,000 remain on the frontline, the rest having been killed or taken prisoner, the Russian media writes, accusing president Volodymyr Zelensky of killing his own people in the Russian-Ukrainian war. In fact, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, only 101 women were killed in action, and many of those enrolled didn’t even see combat, as they work for auxiliary structures of the Armed Forces deployed to various regions of the country.
On February 24, 2022, the free world woke up to a dystopia. It had believed in peace more than it did in the signs of war, and had invested Putin with its good faith, just as it had done with Hitler in the years leading up to World War II. Russia has reintroduced large-scale war into a post-modern, hedonist society whose instincts were weakened by peace and prosperity, thus restoring evil to a global standing. Prior to the launch of the invasion, Europe hadn’t seen an interstate conflict in over 75 years. Any counterfactual examination is obviously pointless, but still, the question remains: how could the West fail again to foresee the predictable advent of a totalitarian regime with fascist overtones and the start of a new war in Europe?
Russian servicemen sent to the frontline in Ukraine are trying to flee the war and dodge military service, and the authorities respond by putting them on trial, the Russian independent media writes. Independent journalists also look at the Kremlin’s response to the defeats sustained by the Russian army in Ukraine: it fashioned a “crisis propaganda”.
Ukraine’s military campaign on the territory of Crimea is tantamount to the USA declaring war on Russia, and Moscow may answer by bombing Washington, the Russian government media writes, quoting a Moscow official. In fact, Ukraine is entitled to recapture this territory, and the international community has never recognized the illegal annexation of Crimea or it being part of the Russian Federation.
Romania intends to annex the Republic of Moldova and part of the territory of Ukraine, and NATO is supporting it militarily, according to a false narrative carried by the Russian media. Another narrative is that, in turn, Poland, seeks to annex part of the western regions of Ukraine. The false narratives start from theses, spread for years by Russia, regarding the artificial nature of the Ukrainian state and the aggressiveness of the West.
As Czech presidential elections are nearing, populist parties are trying to gain support from pro-Russians by exploiting the issue of Ukrainian war refugees. Most Czechs continue to view refugees positively, but a growing minority believe they are a burden.
A subjective interpretation of an editorial signed by the renowned American diplomat Henry Kissinger, recalling the narrative line promoted by Vladimir Putin prior to the start of the aggression against Ukraine, aims to justify the speech of the former Romanian Foreign Minister Andrei Marga, from mid-September, in which he says that Ukraine must cede territories to Russia, Romania, Hungary and Poland in order to obtain peace in the war with Russia. In reality, Kissinger detailed a diplomatic scenario imagined by him in spring, meant to provide a solution to reach peace following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
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According to the Russian state media, Ukraine is selling electricity to the Republic of Moldova, and the country's leadership is getting rich, while Ukrainians are left to live in cold and darkness. In reality, Kyiv stopped exports on October 11, after the first phase of missile attacks, and the Republic of Moldova is supported during this crisis by Romania.
The Russian independent media writes that Russian special services have developed a new propensity for “preventing” terrorist attacks perpetrated by Ukrainian “nationalists”. Journalists also note that the Kremlin’s official channels are still followed by Russians in the European diaspora, although they have been banned at EU level.
According to a propaganda narrative carried by the pro-Kremlin media, German society is outraged by the EU's decision to provide financial assistance to Kyiv in the context of the war, with such discontent reflected in the pages of national newspapers. In reality, only a few comments from Die Welt newspaper were selected and presented as the opinion of all Germans. Also, the news translated into Russian was intentionally misrepresented.
Crimean Tatars were the first victims of Russian aggression in Ukraine and continue to be persecuted by Moscow, according to Kiev's Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Japarova. In an interview with Veridica, Japarova, who coordinates the strategy of the Crimea Platform and is responsible, among other things, for public diplomacy and the relationship with international organizations, explained how Russia violates the Geneva Conventions and why its crimes in Ukraine can be considered a genocide.
The economic sanctions imposed on Moscow, including the capping of oil prices, do not affect the Russian economy but cause a major economic crisis in the West, according to a false narrative spread in Romania. In fact, sanctions are being felt in Russia on a wider scale, and even though economic growth in the western world has slowed down a bit, it has not stopped.
The losses sustained by Ukraine’s army are so huge, that Ukrainian pupils are forced to donate blood for the servicemen, according to a propaganda narrative disseminated by the Russian media. In fact, underage children are forbidden from donating blood in Ukraine, and the authors of this false narrative made other errors that clearly prove the story was fabricated.
Thousands of Polish and Romanian servicemen are fighting against Russia wearing the Ukrainian military uniform, according to a former American intelligence officer, quoted by activenews.ro. In fact, no country has sent regular troops to Ukraine, and the support and assistance provided to help Ukraine resist the Russian invasion consist in weapons and equipment only. The ex-officer in question, Scott Ritter, is known for spreading fake news and was handed a prison sentence for corruption of minors.
The Government in the Republic of Moldova has been accused of having given in, once again, to the blackmail of Russia and Transnistria when it accepted to deliver all Russian gas imports to Tiraspol in exchange for electricity. As a matter of fact, for the time being Chișinău authorities don’t have too many alternatives at their disposal in terms of electricity and natural gas supplies, and any projects already launched with a view to diversifying Moldova’s energy sources need time to be implemented.
The conflict in Ukraine is a civil war involving the same people, formally divided into two different states, according to the Russian state media, citing a State Duma deputy from Vladimir Putin's party. In reality, the war in Ukraine is a military aggression by Russia, against a neighboring state and people, condemned by the international community.
Millions of Ukrainians headed to Romania when Russia attacked their country. Instead of a land of poor and hostile bandits, as the propaganda had described it, they found the help and shelter they needed - even if there were also marginal voices spreading, as everywhere in Europe, disinformation about refugees. Some of them stayed, others moved on. Veridica has the stories of some of them, from the first days of the war until now.
Kyiv politicians want to prolong the war against Russia indefinitely in order to accumulate as much wealth as possible, the Russian government media writes, quoting a commentary published by a left-wing German newspaper. In fact, Ukraine expressed willingness to take part in peace negotiations, but later rejected the idea due to Moscow’s ultimatums and its attacks on civilian objectives, also as a result of victories obtained on the ground by the Ukrainian army.
The meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers held in Bucharest over November 29-30 was not overlooked by Russian officials, nor propaganda media. Moscow interpreted the event in its own, different key, without however introducing new elements in terms of rhetoric. The allegations brought to the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance are the same: NATO has reached beyond the purposes it was originally designed for, it is promoting an all-out war against Russia while using the territory of other states, it is supplying Kyiv with weapons, prolonging the war indefinitely.
The authorities in Chisinau are reselling to the EU, at higher prices, part of the natural gas supplied by Gazprom, according to a false narrative in the Russian media. In reality, Chisinau supplies Transnistria with all the gas it currently buys from Gazprom and uses other sources for the consumers on the right bank of the Dniester.
The United States and its Western allies have been arming Ukraine since 2014 in order for it to start a war with Russia, writes the Russian press, which resumes, in another form, the narrative according to which the West and Ukraine are responsible for the war. In reality, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and the provision of arms to Kyiv was a reaction to Russia’s aggression.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are mobilizing only Russian speakers in the southeast, so that once they are dead Kyiv can bring Ukrainian speakers from western Ukraine to these depopulated areas, reads a propaganda narrative disseminated by the Russian government media. In fact, losses on the battlefield prove that the army comprises many servicemen from western Ukraine, and the percentage of eastern recruits have gone up due to their resistance to Russia’s large-scale invasion.
The Russian independent media writes that losses among the ranks of the recently mobilized will soon reach 100 thousand people, but that’s not going to stop Putin. On the contrary, the Russian president will send every young recruit to the frontline as well. Independent journalists also tell the story of a couple recently arrested in Sweden, tied to the Russian military intelligence and the people who poisoned Sergey and Yulia Skripal.
Russia is careful when bombing Ukrainian infrastructure because it knows this brotherly people does not support the neo-Nazis in power, reads a false propaganda narrative published by Russian media. The article quotes a controversial American political theorist, known for spreading countless conspiracy theories and for his enthusiastic support of Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has displaced a huge number of Ukrainian refugees. Millions of people fled Ukraine, heading to other European countries, although many chose to relocate to some of the country’s safer areas. Russia has been trying to turn this crisis to its advantage. In EU countries, it has been promoting false narratives designed to generate public hostility towards Ukrainian refugees. In the case of Ukrainians relocated at national level, Russian propaganda sought to focus on fueling public unrest and internal tensions.
The Russian independent media writes that a record-high number of inmates has disappeared from Russian prisons, after having been enrolled by Putin’s friend in the war against Ukraine. On the other hand, focus groups commissioned by the Kremlin reveal that the population opposes the war, contrary to the Kremlin’s wishes. Russian journalists also describe how generals guarding Putin want to use priests, hypnotists and psychics to bolster his protection.
Originally developed as surveillance aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – commonly known as drones – underwent a number of transformations, from aircraft used to carry out tactical airstrikes to weapons included in the arsenal of modern warfare, the same as artillery and aviation. Drones play a key role in the war in Ukraine as well, where in recent weeks they have been primarily used as instruments of terror.
With its sovereignty at the mercy of the great Western powers, Romania is now turning itself into a doormat for Kyiv and dismissed its Minister of Defense, Vasile Dâncu, just because he spoke of peace, according to the former Prime Minister, Viorica Dăncilă. The narrative very much resembles Russia's, according to which Ukraine - the country under attack - is the one that does not want peace. Viorica Dăncilă has also promoted the false narrative that Ukraine undermines Romania’s agriculture and, implicitly, its economy.
The war in Ukraine is not going well for Russia and the regime of Vladimir Putin, who threw his country into the affair. Although Putin forced all his people to say in February 2022 that Ukraine must be destroyed, the final decision was his and he will answer for it, alone or with others. And that’s why many Western and Russian analysts started wondering whether Putin's “reign” is coming to an end and who might succeed him.
According to the ruling of the International Court of Justice, Russia was not involved in the downing of aircraft MH17, which was transiting the airspace of Donbas in 2014, pro-Kremlin media writes. In fact, the Dutch tribunal has recognized Russia’s involvement in this crime against civilians.
