In 2025, the main themes of Russian propaganda about Ukraine went hand in hand with developments on the front lines, peace talks, and Kyiv's relationship with the West, being used to explain and justify the continuation of aggression and to shift responsibility onto Kyiv, the EU, and NATO. In this picture, Russia was constantly presented as a defensive, pacifist, or mediating actor, while Ukraine was described as an illegitimate, Nazi state, dependent on external support and guilty of prolonging the armed conflict.
A major goal of the pro-Kremlin media has been to delegitimize the leadership in Kyiv, especially President Volodymyr Zelensky, and to undermine the Western support through narratives about corruption, terrorism, EU military plots, or the alleged moral decline of the West. At the same time, old themes with historical and ideological connotations were revived, such as the myth of the "Russian lands," the reinterpretation of the Soviet past, and the selective use of international law to serve Moscow's interests.
Pro-Kremlin propaganda persistently promoted a false meta-narrative that defined peace exclusively through the acceptance of Moscow's demands (Ukraine's surrender and recognition of the occupation), while any alternative (rejection of these conditions or genuine ceasefire initiatives) was presented as belligerent and directed against Russia.
The disinformation came mainly from the Russian state-controlled media, statements by government officials and high-ranking diplomats, but also from the voices of former Ukrainian politicians who had fled to Russia, whose messages were systematically amplified by pro-Kremlin media networks and online platforms. Tailored to different audiences (domestic, regional, and Western), these narratives sought to weaken support for Ukraine and create confusion about who was really responsible for starting and continuing the war.
Top 5 narratives
President Volodymyr Zelensky is the only obstacle to peace. Zelensky's resignation is eagerly awaited by all Ukrainians because it will bring the long-awaited peace, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda, citing a Ukrainian MP who is wanted internationally. In reality, the war in Ukraine could be stopped at any moment by Russia's decision to stop occupying foreign territories and bombing neighboring countries. Zelensky is not an obstacle to peace, but to Kyiv's surrender.
The “special military operation” saved Russia from NATO and the Nazis. Russia was forced to attack Ukraine to stop the spread of Nazism and prevent a NATO war against it, wrote the pro-Kremlin press. According to this narrative, as a result of the "special military operation," Ukraine did not join NATO, and Nazism, terrorism, and extremism were blocked. In reality, the "special military operation" is a war of aggression against Ukraine.
Russia is helping Ukraine to return to peace and neutrality. Russia is not stopping the fighting because it wants lasting peace and wants to help Ukraine return to neutrality and normality, claims the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In reality, Moscow is not asking for a fair peace, but for Ukraine's surrender. Kyiv gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees, including from Russia. By annexing Crimea and starting the war in 2014 and 2022, Russia has flagrantly violated these commitments.
Russia has a historical right to occupy Ukraine. Most of Ukraine's population speaks Russian, and its territories are "historical Russian lands." According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, Ukraine is an artificial country, and this gives Moscow the right to fight Kyiv. In reality, Kyiv was first mentioned in documents in 482, while Moscow appears in documents almost 700 years later. Ukraine only really came under Moscow's control towards the end of the 18th century, during the reign of Catherine II, and even then, the Russian Empire did not find it easy to assimilate it. Furthermore, historical arguments do not justify military aggression and the killing of civilians.
The EU opposes peace negotiations because it is preparing for war with Russia. The EU member states are preparing for a new war against Russia and for this reason are not allowing Kyiv to sit down at the negotiating table with Moscow, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. In reality, the EU was founded to ensure peace on the continent, and that is what it wants in Ukraine too. The arming of Europe is a reaction to Russia’s aggression and fears of the war spreading. In May 2025, Zelensky agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, but Russia rejected this Western proposal and continued its invasion.
Top 5 WAR PROPAGANDA
Ukraine resorts to terrorism due to lack of funds. Ukraine commits acts of terrorism against Russia due to lack of funds for legitimate defensive actions, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda, which quotes former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov. In reality, attacks on Russian air bases are legitimate operations against the aggressor's military targets, not acts of terrorism.
Nazi Kyiv defiles the memory of Ukraine’s Soviet liberators. According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, the "Nazi regime in Kyiv" should be eliminated because the demolition of Soviet monuments would tarnish the memory of Ukraine's "liberators." In reality, these actions are part of the decommunization process approved by the Ukrainian Parliament, and presenting the Soviet occupation as "liberation" is a historical falsehood, given the Holodomor of 1932–1933 with millions of victims, the Stalinist terror, forced collectivization, mass deportations (including of Crimean Tatars and Romanians from Bukovina and Bessarabia), and the systematic policy of Russification.
Russia wants peace, but the West is forcing Kyiv to continue the war. The West is inciting Ukraine to continue the war, sabotaging any diplomatic efforts by Russia, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, quoted by the pro-Kremlin press. In reality, there has been no peace agreement signed by Russia in the last three years and no serious ceasefire initiative that could’ve been rejected by the West or Kyiv. Russia is an aggressor state that launched the invasion, while Western support is legal assistance to a country exercising its right to self-defense.
The EU is preparing a new “Pearl Harbor” to drag the US into war with Russia. The EU will orchestrate an attack on the scale of Pearl Harbor to force the United States into direct war with Russia, according to a narrative promoted by the pro-Kremlin press. In reality, the EU's goal is a just and lasting peace on the European continent, not war. The narrative ignores the diplomatic efforts made by European states to prevent escalation ahead of the large-scale invasion, including the French president's visits to Moscow in February 2022. However, the decision to launch the invasion was Putin's.
Ukrainian leaders will be tried by an international tribunal. According to pro-Kremlin media, the entire Ukrainian political elite should be tried internationally, and Moscow is preparing to set up its own tribunal. However, this idea is purely propaganda, as such a body, lacking international recognition, independence, and procedural guarantees, would only serve as an instrument of political repression, not real justice.
Top 5 FAKE NEWS and DISINFORMATION narratives
European leaders are benefiting from corruption and crime in Ukraine. The West supports corruption and crime in Ukraine, laundering money to the detriment of citizens' interests, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. In reality, the West supports reforms in Ukraine aimed at combating corruption and organized crime. Kyiv is helped by the West to defend itself against the Russian aggression.
Russia is fighting Western aggression all by itself. Moscow is forced to fight alone against an aggressive West that threatens Russia through NATO expansion, according to pro-Kremlin media. In reality, Russia has launched a war of aggression against Ukraine and is not the victim of a Western conspiracy. NATO has never posed a threat to Russia and has had no plans to attack Russian territory. The North Atlantic Alliance is a defensive organization, created in 1949 to protect the member states against external aggression.
Westerners are mass-migrating to Russia in search of traditional values. More and more Westerners are moving to Russia, disappointed by the moral decline of the West and attracted by the Russian society’s Christian values, claims pro-Kremlin propaganda. In reality, the "Shared Values Visa" program is a Russian government initiative with insignificant results. The actual figures reveal the limited scale of the phenomenon: 1,156 applications in 10 months for a country with 146 million inhabitants represent only 0.0008% of Russia's population. By comparison, research by the Prague Process, an organization specializing in monitoring migration, estimates that up to 1.2 million Russians left the country in the first year of the armed conflict.
The West backed anti-corruption protests in Ukraine to get rid of Zelensky. The West wanted to use the protests in Ukraine to remove Volodymyr Zelensky and stop the authorities' persecution of civilians, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. In reality, the July 2025 protests in Ukraine did not benefit the West. They highlighted an internal issue—the Ukrainian authorities' attempt to interfere in anti-corruption cases, contradicting the commitments made in the EU accession process.
Former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych opposed NATO membership in order to preserve peace. According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, the war in Ukraine was caused by NATO's forced expansion, which was opposed by Viktor Yanukovych, the president who was ousted from his own country. In reality, in an interview with the national newspaper Deny in 2006, the fugitive president now living in Russia said: "Our strategic goal remains integration into the Euro-Atlantic space." However, Ukraine's move towards NATO, enshrined in the Constitution, only became a priority after the Russian aggression of 2014 as a measure of self-protection. Ukraine's decision to join NATO was therefore a consequence of the 2014 Russian aggression.
Top 5 most outlandish narratives
Ukraine uses Russian elderly for terrorist attacks. The Ukrainian special services use elderly people from Russia to commit terrorist acts, turning them into "human bombs," according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. The claims are based exclusively on materials provided by state-controlled institutions, which makes them impossible to verify and reduces their factual value. No international body, independent media outlet, or law enforcement agency outside Russia has confirmed the existence of such a phenomenon.
Only union with Russia can save Ukraine. Ukraine is going through a crisis similar to that of the 17th century and, as then, only union with Russia can save it, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda, which claims that President Zelensky has destroyed his country and that Ukrainians must unite with Russia to be saved. In reality, Ukraine has been destroyed since 2014 by Russia's military aggression, and "saving Ukrainians" means conquering a sovereign state.
Zelensky risks suspension for mental health issues and drug use. The Ukrainian parliament is increasingly concerned about Zelensky's mental health issues and drug use, according to Russian propaganda. In reality, there is no initiative by parliament to suspend Zelensky from office. The Russian media quotes a deputy accused in Ukraine of high treason in favor of Russia, saying that he represents the point of view of the Ukrainian legislature.
Ukraine is adopting a Nazi-style education model. Ukraine's education policies are a continuation of those imposed by the Nazis in the territories they occupied eight decades ago, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. In reality, the Ukrainian education reform has nothing to do with the policies of the Nazi occupation regime or the standards of the Third Reich. Furthermore, totalitarian ideology and symbolism are banned in Ukraine, and school textbooks accuse the Nazi and Communist regimes of starting World War II.
Russian children do not want to live in the EU because of discrimination and LGBT propaganda. Russian children living in the EU are harassed because of the language they speak and are exposed to LGBT propaganda in kindergartens, so they no longer want to live there, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. In reality, European schools protect all children regardless of their origin, and sex education follows age-appropriate standards. Russian propaganda constantly portrays Russia as superior to the West, but international statistics contradict this narrative.
