Veridica has been monitoring the war in Ukraine and its consequences at local, regional and international levels. Ever since the start of the large-scale invasion, Veridica journalists have been publishing news, analyses, editorials, video materials and have debunked hundreds of fake news, disinformation and propaganda narratives about the war in Ukraine. Veridica is closely following developments on the frontline, the main battles of the war, the statements of political and military leaders, updates about the war crimes committed in Bucha, Kherson and Izium. Our focus is also on international initiatives aimed at supporting Ukraine, including through deliveries of weapons from the West and the transfer of military know-how. Diplomatic, economic, political and humanitarian efforts meant to offset the fallout from the war on the civilian population are equally covered in Veridica articles. Our network of regional contributors constantly monitors crises generated by the war, such as the refugee and energy crises. The impact of disinformation campaigns related to the war in Ukraine, the division of public opinion in ex-Soviet countries in Central and Eastern Europe are permanently scrutinized by Veridica’s team of regional journalists, who provide regular editorials and analyses on these topics. Our contributors have been reflecting the consequences of the war in such countries as the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Georgia.
The fear of war with Russia is taking a psychological toll on Latvians. Authorities are trying to reassure them, pointing that Moscow lacks the capacity to wage war against NATO.
The West cannot defeat Russia because it is inferior in technological and military terms, pro-Kremlin propaganda writes, trying to minimize Western support for Ukraine.
Russia will create a buffer zone on Ukrainian territory to protect its civilians from Kyiv's bombings, according to pro-Kremlin media developing an idea voiced by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Moldovan servicemen might fight in Ukraine under French flag, the Russian media writes, commenting on the signing of a French-Moldovan security agreement.
The capitulation of Ukraine and its reunification with Russia is the only viable peace plan, says former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, cited by the pro-Kremlin propaganda.
Realitatea TV, RTV and journalists known for spreading false narratives have presented and AI-generated story as a media investigation, claiming Ukraine is funded with capital raised from selling “Putin” teddy-bears.
Following Russia’s victory against Ukraine, the government in Kyiv will operate out of exile, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda, which also states the West will launch a war against Russia.
With elections looming this year, Georgia’s éminence grise, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, returned to politics. Shortly after that, a new, pro-Russian premier was appointed.
The Kyiv regime is literally selling the land of the country, says pro-Russian blogger Dan Diaconu, taking over fake news that circulated last year in the ex-Soviet space.
Kyiv is sending its soldiers to certain death, and they are calling on civilians to stage protests in the country's capital to stop the war, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda.
Civilians in Avdiivka received the Russian liberators with arms wide open, pro-Kremlin propaganda writes. In fact, the city was destroyed by the Russians and the civilian population fled their advance.
The Ukrainians and the West are making the same mistakes on the front as Hitler did and, just like him, will lose the war, writes the pro-Kremlin propaganda, resuming several false narratives promoted in the past.
Elections in Belarus were anything but free, with no opposition candidates or independent observers, and a government disinformation campaign designed to instill fear. The opposition managed, nonetheless, to get its message to at least part of the electorate, and in spite governmental efforts, turnout was lower than expected.
Bulgaria’s pro-Russian far-right has been increasingly vocal and provocative, as it tries to take advantage of tensions within the pro-European, pro-Ukraine ruling coalition.
Russia is upping the stakes in its long game against NATO, as it put Estonia’s prime minister on a wanted list and unveiled plans to increase the number of troops deployed at the border. Experts think that, within 3 to 10 years after the end of the war in Ukraine, Moscow would be able to attack a NATO country.
Two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many Poles fear their country may be next on Putin’s bucket list.
Russian propaganda is constantly adapting its narratives in the context of the war in Ukraine, and as overt propaganda loses its effectiveness, it increasingly turns to disinformation and truncating part of the truth.
The Euromaidan protest in Ukraine was a coup staged by fascists and Russophobes, in the wake of which Ukraine risks disappearing as a state.
The head of European diplomacy has stated that Russia will defeat Ukraine in three months, writes the Russian state press, taking out of context and "enriching" a statement by Josep Borrell.
The USA will sustain a strategic defeat in Ukraine, pro-Kremlin propaganda claims, despite the fact that the United States are not involved in the war
Putin has so far avoided a confrontation with the women who demand the return of servicemen from the front in Ukraine. History shows that Russian women are capable of causing trouble for authoritarian regimes.
Ukraine launched missile strikes on Moldova, Russian propaganda claims, turning Ukraine’s use of anti-air defenses into an act of war against Moldova. The article also ignores the fact that Russia was the one that violated Moldova’s sovereignty and its airspace.
Russia has not won the war so far because, unlike Israel, which is killing civilians in Gaza, is only bombing military targets in Ukraine, pro-Kremlin propaganda claims.
Vladimir Putin recycled a number of Russian propaganda narratives to justify the invasion of Ukraine and portray Russia as a victim of Western aggression. The false narratives were also doubled by blatant lies, such as the one that Russia did not threaten to use its nuclear weapons, or the promotion of revisionist theses, according to which Romania, Poland, Hungary (and Russia) have the right to take back territories from Ukraine.
Russia is protecting the inhabitants of Novorossiya, a Russian historical territory occupied by Ukraine, against neo-Nazism, according to propaganda theses that are again reiterated into public space while Putin is preparing for his reelection.
Warnings about a possible Russian attack against NATO have increased lately. Is the threat imminent, or is it just being used to increase readiness?
The International Court of Justice says that Ukraine started the war in Donbas and Russia is not the aggressor state, according to Russian propaganda, which interprets a decision of the Court in the Hague.
NATO has biological laboratories in several ex-Soviet states, and its laboratories in Ukraine produced ticks and pathogens used to attack Russia, pro-Kremlin propaganda writes.
“All that was and is the property of the Romanian nation must be returned within the borders of the same state”, said Claudiu Târziu, the chairman of AUR’s National Council. To Russian propaganda, Târziu’s statement is solid gold.
In the Baltic countries, parties traditionally defending the interests of the Russian-speaking minority are suffering losses as the war has alienated some of their voters.
The leader of a far-right party in Hungary has laid claim to Transcarpathia, shortly after the AUR party in Romania lodged a similar claim to Northern Bukovina. The thesis is typical of Russian propaganda.