Ukrainians in Europe. Ukrainian refugees. russian fake

russia is making incredible efforts and investing tens of millions of dollars every month to promote its propaganda and blatant disinformation. This time, the attacks were directed at the United Kingdom, the United States, the EU, Armenia, Germany, France, Spain, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Pamela Anderson and, as usual, Ukraine.
Based materials from Stopfake.org, Spravdi.ua, EuVsDisinfo.eu

Fake: Ukrainian refugees in France are committing crimes en masse – from theft to brutal murders.
Such “stories” allegedly from French media outlets are being spread by russian Telegram channels. In addition, a video with the logos of Le Parisien, L’Équipe, Le Figaro, Reuters, Le Point, and Euronews claims that French special services have allegedly prevented thousands of terrorist attacks, 83% of which are linked to Ukrainian citizens.
In reality, all such “news” is fake. None of the media outlets mentioned have published such stories. StopFake checked the official websites and social media accounts of these publications and found no mention of such crimes.
The use of fake videos with the logos of well-known media outlets is a typical technique of russian propaganda. This gives fakes the appearance of credibility in order to provoke an emotional reaction and distrust of Ukrainians.
An analysis of the distribution of the content showed that the fake videos:• were launched simultaneously from 12 to 16 January;• were distributed through anonymous Telegram channels;• had the same style, narrative and visual design.
At least three channels — Shaman Rakhu, Shkvarka, and Respublika Odessa — acted in coordination as the primary sources. This indicates not a "mistake" but a planned information operation.
Its goal was to reduce support for Ukraine among Europeans. In France, there are no separate official statistics on crimes committed by Ukrainian refugees. Studies comparing the level of crime suspects among different groups of migrants do not confirm the thesis of a "criminal threat" from Ukrainians.
Fake: Spanish police are searching for five Ukrainians for a terrorist attack on the railway.
Social media users are spreading "news" that a train crash in Spain "has been recognised as a terrorist attack, and five Ukrainian refugees are suspected of being involved." In reality, the viral video turned out to be fake: the story imitates the style of Euronews, but no such material was broadcast or posted on the channel's social media platforms. It is worth noting that Euronews has previously recorded similar cases where fake videos with their logo falsely accused Ukrainian refugees of various crimes or economic problems in Europe.
The use of logos, layouts of well-known media outlets, and the creation of fake mirror sites are classic information operations used by the kremlin's special services to spread fakes and propaganda.
A major tragedy did indeed occur in Spain: two high-speed trains collided in the south of the country. More than 40 people were killed and hundreds were injured. According to the investigation, experts found a damaged joint on the rail (welded seam) at the scene of the accident, which caused a gap between the track sections; This defect is considered one of the key technical causes of the disaster: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-world/4083496-zitknenna-poizdiv-v-ispanii-kilkist-zagiblih-zrosla-do-45.html
The Spanish authorities and railway operators are talking about a technical failure of the infrastructure and do not confirm the terrorist attack version, let alone report on "five Ukrainian refugees wanted".
Fake: Ukrainians in Europe are making money en masse by selling AI-generated erotic content.
russian propagandists are spreading a video with the BBC logo, which talks about an alleged new way for Ukrainians to earn money in Europe: "With the help of the AI assistant Grok on social network X, they generate erotic photos of European women and sell them on adult content platforms." Several thousand complaints about Ukrainians have already been filed with the police. The perpetrators have earned over $100 million in this way.
In reality, Ukrainians do not feature in this story at all. Propagandists simply used a fragment of a real BBC story about cyber violence against women via Grok and added a selection of stock images with text accusing Ukrainians of the crime. Here is the original: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTL0bEAjBl9/?igsh=NGllOW95ZXphazhh
Fake: Ukrainians top the list of criminals in the United States.
This is a blatant fake. Although the US Department of Homeland Security has data on its website (https://www.dhs.gov/wow) about those considered to be the "worst of the worst" criminals, this is not presented as a ranking. Ukrainians are by no means one of the most prominent nationalities in the database. This disinformation story aims to negatively influence the audience's opinion of Ukraine and Ukrainians through manipulation.

russia has attacked. EU Minister Kaja Kallas. russian army

Fake: EU representatives' statements that russia has attacked 19 countries in the last 100 years are complete nonsense.
kremlin officials in the controlled media ridicule EU Minister Kaja Kallas for her words about the 19 countries that russia (including as the Soviet Union) has attacked over the past 100 years. But this is the honest truth. Kallas was referring to the following events:
Poland, 1939 - in accordance with the infamous Soviet-German pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), the USSR sent troops into Poland and annexed its eastern part.
Finland, 1939 - simulating shelling of Soviet territory from Finland (the Mainila incident), the USSR broke the non-aggression pact with Finland and started a war that lasted 104 days.
Estonia, 1940 - The USSR issued an ultimatum to Estonia, demanding that its troops be allowed to enter its territory, established an occupation regime and annexed the country completely.
Latvia, 1940 - The scenario was similar to that of Estonia. The USSR's second attack on the country took place in 1991, after it announced its withdrawal from the USSR.
Lithuania, 1940 - a scenario similar to that of Latvia, including the attack in 1991.
Romania, 1940 - under threat of force, the USSR annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.
Iran, 1941 - Iran declared neutrality in World War II, but the USSR and Great Britain jointly occupied the country and overthrew the Shah, who was suspected of sympathising with Hitler. The country's territory was used for the delivery of American weapons.
Japan, 1945 - Although Japan was an ally of Germany in World War II, it signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR and adhered to it. Nevertheless, on 7 August, Soviet troops began hostilities against Japan in Manchukuo and also occupied South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which belonged to Japan. These territories are still part of russia.
Hungary, 1956 - The USSR invaded the country, which was engulfed in an anti-communist uprising, allegedly in response to a request from the government. Soviet troops brutally suppressed the uprising, and the incumbent prime minister was executed.
Czechoslovakia, 1968 - The reforms carried out by Alexander Dubček's communist government were considered so unacceptable by the USSR that it landed troops at Prague airport and sent tanks into Prague. The reformist government was replaced by loyal politicians.
Angola, 1975 - Soviet troops took part in the civil war on the side of the Marxist MPLA group. However, the number of Soviet troops was limited, with most of the troops coming from the Soviet satellite state of Cuba. In particular, the participation of Soviet pilots and air defence forces in this war has been documented.
Afghanistan, 1979 - Soviet troops entered Afghanistan at the invitation of Prime Minister and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council Hafizullah Amin (he was not the legitimate ruler and came to power by organising the assassination of his predecessor). Amin himself was killed during the assault. A pro-Soviet regime led by Babrak Karmal was established in Afghanistan. The occupation lasted 10 years.
Moldova, 1992 - The russian 14th Army took part in the civil war on the side of the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (although the fighting was very localised). The separatist regime, supported by the russian army, still controls the territory of Transnistria.
Georgia, 2008 - russia sent troops into the separatist-controlled South Ossetia and Abkhazia, then moved deeper into the country, stopping 30 km from Tbilisi. These territories are still effectively controlled by the Kremlin.
Ukraine, 2014 - russian special forces secretly landed in Crimea and effectively occupied it, blocking Ukrainian troops stationed on the peninsula. Under the occupation, a so-called referendum was organised, following which the island was annexed. Later that year, russian troops supported separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, starting a war against Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.
Syria, 2018 - russian troops took part in the civil war on the side of Bashar al-Assad's government, which lost legitimacy after using chemical weapons against the opposition.
In addition to these cases, there are African countries such as the Central African Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso, where the russian military company Wagner operated on behalf of the kremlin.

Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian refugees.

Manipulation: The largest number of Ukrainian refugees left for russia.
Videos with such disinformation are being spread in pro-russian media. In fact, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of September 2022, 2.8 million people had crossed the russian border from Ukraine, but this does not mean that all of them stayed there or received refugee status: https://www.unhcr.org/in/sites/en-in/files/legacy-pdf/63592c427.pdfThe actual number of registered Ukrainian refugees in russia is much lower. According to official UN data, as of December 2024, there were only 7,050 registered Ukrainians with refugee status in russia: https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine#_ga=2.214804895.904115769.1669009620-865773999.1669009150
Why is there a discrepancy in the figures?
• Many Ukrainians were forced to leave the occupied territories via russia, as there was no other route available.
• There is ample evidence of forced deportations of Ukrainian citizens under the guise of "evacuation," including the deportation of children.
• This figure is more in line with the number of Ukrainians who have remained under occupation since 2014, when russia's invasion began. Their fates vary greatly, and a significant percentage seek liberation from the occupiers (one piece of evidence is the creation of a popular resistance movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atesh ).
• The data provided by russia to international organisations cannot be considered reliable.
As of July 2025, the largest number of Ukrainian refugees are officially registered in Poland – 1,000,315 people: https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine/location/10781
Fake: the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv were "created by russian people".
The kremlin continues to use history to promote its own version of world history, distorting the past and real facts. This time, Foreign Minister sergey lavrov said that the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv were "created by russian people." With such historical fakes, russia is trying to distort real history and influence the inhabitants of the southern regions of Ukraine, indicating that these are "exclusively russian territories."
In fact, historical sources prove that the history of both cities dates back long before the russian Empire began to interfere in their lives. The territory on which the city of Mykolaiv developed has long been inhabited by Ukrainians. Long before the invasion of the russian Empire, there were Cossack settlements here. It was the Cossacks who controlled the mouth of the Southern Bug River, which was of strategic importance for trade and defence. The majority of the population there were ethnic Ukrainians: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%86%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%96%D1%8F_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%94%D0%B2%D0%B0
A century before the arrival of the russian Empire, there were also settlements on the site of modern Odessa. In the 14th century, it was the port of Kotsyubei (Kaczubyeiow), founded by Kotsyub Yakushinsky during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was first mentioned in 1415. After the Lithuanians, the territory was controlled by the Crimean Tatars and Ottomans, but the surrounding areas were populated by Ukrainian Cossacks.
The kremlin uses such historical fakes to justify its aggression against sovereign states and legalise its claims to foreign territories.

Protesters in Iran. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. support Ukrain

Manipulation: Germany will no longer supply Ukraine with air defence systems.
russian public accounts are spreading a "statement" by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius that Germany will no longer be able to strengthen Ukraine's air defence capabilities because "the limits have been exhausted." In reality, this information is manipulative. In reality, after meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Robertas Kaunas, Pistorius emphasised that Germany has already strengthened Ukraine's air defence disproportionately more than other partners: https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/welt/osteuropa/politik/ukraine-krieg-donbass-frieden-bedingung-kontrolle-gebietsverzicht-abzug-truppen-100.html#Pistorius . Further deliveries of Patriot systems to Ukraine will only be possible after replacing its own air defence systems.
Moreover, when it comes to purely German Iris-T air defence systems, their supply to Ukraine has not stopped, but they cannot completely replace Patriot. He therefore stressed that other partners should provide much more support to Ukraine's air defence at the peak of russian air strikes on civilian infrastructure.
Germany is one of Kyiv's main partners in the field of defence. In 2026, it will account for more than 30% of all defence aid.
Fake: Protesters in Iran killed children with Israeli bullets.
The russian media outlet TASS writes: "Israeli bullets were found in the bodies of children who died during protests in Iran. This was confirmed by forensic examination, TASS reported, citing a source in the Iranian security forces."
In the article, the "source" tells the story of a child killed on 7 January 2026 in Kermanshah: "Three-year-old Melina Asadi left her home with her father to buy baby formula and cold medicine at a pharmacy. On the way back, she was suddenly shot by terrorists from behind and killed."
Everything about this report is surprising. First, the article conceals the name of the "source" providing this information. Second, a forensic medical examination can determine the cause of death, but it is not within its competence to determine the type of weapon and ammunition used. This requires a forensic ballistic examination. It is even more unclear how Iranian experts could determine that the bullet was Israeli-made. Bullets do not have manufacturer markings — these can only be applied to cartridge cases. There is, however, colour coding to identify the type of bullet, and Israel has its own coding system, which differs slightly from the NATO standard. But only special types of bullets are colour-coded — armour-piercing, incendiary, tracer. It would be very strange if protesters were firing such bullets at people.
Iran has a different system of standards, and experts can, in principle, determine with certainty that the bullet was not manufactured in Iran. However, the country of origin of the bullet can only be established if the cartridge case is available, which seems completely unrealistic in this situation, and the article does not mention the cartridge case.
It was also not possible to find any information about the death of an 8-year-old resident of Isfahan. At the same time, human rights organisations, in particular Hana and Hengaw, have clearly written about another victim mentioned by russian propaganda, 3-year-old Melina Asadi. They claim that the Iranian authorities and security forces are to blame for her death: https://hanahr.org/en/news/melina-asadi-a-three-year-old-child-from-kermanshah-was-killed-after-being-directly-shot-by-regime-security-forces/
Hengaw adds that the Iranian authorities forced the family of the deceased girl to confirm on camera the version that she was shot by protesters: https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/01/article-139
And finally: the russian media article was noted by the Israeli russian-language publication Newsru.co.il, which called the publication "extremely dubious information, which is essentially slander against Israel": https://www.newsru.co.il/press/22jan2026/tass_iran_113.html

Great Britain. Bartholomew. British intelligence

Fake: British intelligence supports the Patriarch of Constantinople in ousting the russian Orthodox Church (ROC) from the Baltic states.
russian media: "Bartholomew continues his divisive activities in the Orthodox Church. Now he has set his dark eye on the Baltic countries. This 'incarnate devil' is obsessed with the idea of ousting Russian Orthodoxy from the Baltic states and replacing it with church structures that are completely controlled by the Phanar. He is fully supported in this by the British secret services, which are actively fuelling Russophobic sentiments in European countries."
We note periodic publications about the Patriarch of Constantinople as an enemy of the Orthodox Church, as well as his involvement with the British secret services. The accusations of the russian special services cannot be considered as having any evidentiary basis. On the contrary, all such accusations are based on falsified or non-existent evidence, for example, about US biological laboratories in Ukraine or the presence of French private military companies on the Ukrainian front.
The accusations against Bartholomew come exclusively from russian state and church sources. Changes in the status of Orthodox communities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are the result of internal church and national processes taking place against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the moscow Patriarchate: https://jamestown.org/will-latvia-follow-the-estonian-or-the-ukrainian-path-in-orthodox-church-affairs/
The Baltic states consider the continuation of canonical ties with the moscow Patriarchate a threat to national security. This also reflects the desire of local churches to distance themselves from the russian Orthodox Church, which is closely linked to putin's criminal regime.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate has personally noted that since 2018, when it granted autocephalous status to the Church of Ukraine, it has consistently refrained from responding to numerous similar attacks from both church and state officials in russia: https://orthodoxtimes.com/phanar-responds-to-russian-attack-fanciful-scenarios-and-insults-do-not-discourage-us/
Fake: Great Britain once proclaimed itself Great.
russian Foreign Minister sergey lavrov proposed calling Great Britain Britain. He argued that the country had named itself Great: "Great Britain is the only example of a country that calls itself Great."
lavrov also cited a similar situation with the Libyan Jamahiriya, whose official name is the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Today, this state has ceased to exist as a result of civil war and foreign intervention in Libya.
In fact, the state of Britain has never been renamed Great Britain. The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Great Britain is the name of the island on which England, Wales and Scotland are located. And there is no hint of self-aggrandisement in this name. In the Cambridge Dictionary, the word "great" means "large in volume, size or degree".
Therefore, the name Great Britain does not indicate any exceptional advantages of the country, but only the size of the island, which is indeed the largest in geographical Europe.
In russian, the word "great" is often used to refer to exceptional advantages and uniqueness, and here, most likely, an illiterate and arrogant minister interpreted his personal understanding of the word "great".

russian propagandists. President Zelenskyy. dirty bomb. russian propagandists

Fake: Ukraine is sending women to the front because of heavy losses in its army.
Pro-kremlin media are spreading disinformation about the widespread mobilisation of women into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The propaganda claims that after "colossal losses among male officers," Kyiv began forcibly "sending women to the front." putin's propagandists portray this phenomenon as a "crime against the people," claiming that "everyone must fight and die for President Zelenskyy."
This fake news was created after an interview with Oksana Hryhorieva, advisor on gender issues to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On Hromadske Radio, Hryhorieva noted positive developments in gender equality in the army, pointing out that barriers for women who want to serve have been removed. She said that since 2022, the proportion of female officers has increased from 4% to 21%.
As of August 2025, approximately 100,000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (about 10% of the total number). About 5,500 of them are in the combat zone, including medics, drivers, drone operators and personnel of other specialities.
Ukraine has now lifted all restrictions on women who wish to receive military education. Women are accepted on an equal basis with men in all specialities. However, it should be emphasised that Ukraine does not have compulsory mobilisation of women. Military service for them is purely voluntary.
Fake: Spent nuclear fuel has been brought into Ukraine to make a dirty bomb.
The russian Ministry of Defence has once again launched a fake story about "nuclear blackmail" by Ukraine. Allegedly, the Ukrainian authorities received spent nuclear fuel (SNF) "without notifying the IAEA or other specialised organisations" via Poland and Romania. "This creates the risk that a so-called dirty bomb will be manufactured and subsequently used 'under another flag'," the russian government said.
Of course, this information has not been confirmed by any independent or specialised international source. Ukraine cooperates closely with the IAEA within the framework of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The IAEA regularly monitors the activities of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, controls nuclear materials and the handling of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The official website of the IAEA in Ukraine mentions constant monitoring of safety, physical protection and SNF handling.
For greater credibility, russian propagandists used photographs of civil defence exercises, which they presented as preparation for a "nuclear provocation". The Security Service of Ukraine and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine regularly conduct training in radiological, chemical and biological protection. Given the current military risks, when nuclear power plants are under threat, these exercises are the duty of the special services responsible for protecting the population. Therefore, these fake publications contain no evidence of fuel imports or the manufacture of a "dirty bomb".
Fake: An international public tribunal has declared crimes committed by the Ukrainian army in the city of Pokrovsk.
This "news" was spread by russian propagandists. In reality, no such "international public tribunal" exists. It is a russian propaganda project created to discredit Ukraine. It consists of russian officials and foreign pro-Kremlin propagandists: Maxim Grigoriev, Eva Bartlett, John Mark Dugan, Thomas Roper, Karin Beshe-Golovko, Andrew Korybko, as well as representatives of the occupation administrations in the captured territories.
The name "international" is used solely to create the illusion of legitimacy. The materials of this "tribunal" have no evidential value.
Fake: The Kyiv authorities are to blame for the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.
kremlin propaganda continues to exploit the tragedy of Azerbaijan Airlines flight JS-8243 (a passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan on 25 December 2024). Euronews reports that the damaged aircraft (by a russian air defence system) was not allowed to land at any russian airport, despite the pilots' requests for an emergency landing, and was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Kazakhstan. According to the data, the aircraft's GPS navigation systems were neutralised throughout the entire flight path over the sea.
The Kazakh Ministry of Transport has published an interim report on the investigation. "The damage to the aircraft was probably caused by fragments of a warhead, but their origin could not be established," the Ministry of Transport document states: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/aitid/documents/details/941670?lang=ru
At the same time, the ministry noted that, along with the technical investigation by the Commission, a separate criminal investigation is being conducted by the law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan. It is emphasised that the final conclusions regarding the causes and/or contributing factors, as well as mandatory safety recommendations, will be detailed exclusively in the final report.
However, on 9 October 2025, dictator putin admitted that russian air defence forces were responsible for shooting down Azerbaijani passenger plane JS-8243, killing 38 people. He made this statement at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and promised to pay compensation to the victims: https://www.euronews.com/2025/10/09/putin-admits-russian-air-defences-downed-azerbaijan-airlines-plane-in-2024-that-killed-38 That's how it happens: russian propaganda, in its attempts to create another sensational fake, can even "forget" the official statements of its leader.

Pamela Anderson. Pamela Anderson. cocaine. The CIA and Retcliffe

Fake: Pamela Anderson claimed that Zelenskyy's residence has more cocaine than Venezuela.
A dirty fake by russian propaganda with a fake screenshot of Pamela Anderson's alleged Instagram story. The actress supposedly shared a post from CBS News about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is accused of illegal drug and arms trafficking. She added her own comment to the news: "If Trump really wanted to destroy the world's largest cocaine cache, the US army would have to land in Kyiv and capture Zelenskyy."In reality, Pamela Anderson did not publish such a post on her official Instagram page, although the CBS News article about Maduro is genuine.The original source of the fake screenshot is the russian Telegram channel Shaman Rakhu, run by propagandist Dmitry Kochetkov.
This is far from the first time that russian propaganda has exploited world news and famous personalities to discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians.
Manipulation: The US has no right to judge Maduro because he has absolute immunity as head of state.
russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman maria zakharova said at a briefing:
"According to the universally recognised norm of international law, based on the principle of sovereign equality of states, Nicolás Maduro, as head of state, has absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of the United States or any other state, except, of course, Venezuela. Therefore, the very fact of his abduction and detention grossly violates the international legal obligations of the United States. Any court decisions will be just as illegal. And any arguments that Nicolás Maduro, like, stopped being president and so lost his immunity can't be taken into account, because he was removed from office as a result of an illegal military operation by the United States of America itself".
The question of whether the US had the right to detain Maduro on Venezuelan territory is indeed controversial. But what is important here is that, from the US point of view, Maduro was not the legitimate president at the time of his detention. The 2024 presidential elections in Venezuela were held with gross violations. Many countries, including most of South America, the US, Canada, all EU members, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, refused to recognise Maduro's victory. On 2 August 2024, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Maduro's opponent, opposition candidate Edmund Gonzalez Urrutia, on winning the majority of votes in the election: https://web.archive.org/web/20240803183825/https:/www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-venezuelas-democratic-opposition/ The consistency of the US position on the elections in Venezuela was confirmed on 22 January 2025 by the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Therefore, the US officially recognised Gonzalez, not Maduro, as the legitimate president of Venezuela, so the reference to the head of state's immunity is illegitimate.
Fake: The CIA and Retcliffe participated in a drone attack on the russian president's residence.
russian media: "Trump said that Zelenskyy did not give the order to attack Putin's residence. He noted that, according to American intelligence, the attack was on nearby military facilities, not Putin's residence. This indicates that Trump was influenced by CIA Director Ratcliffe. Obviously, both Ratcliffe and the CIA were involved in this attack."
This is yet another conspiracy theory from russian propaganda, accusing the US and the CIA in particular of involvement in the alleged assassination attempt on putin. There is no verified evidence that Ukrainian troops attacked President putin's residence in Valdai. The russian side has not provided any substantial evidence of such an incident, and independent sources also do not confirm this statement.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War reported on 29 December that they had found no evidence to support russian Foreign Minister sergei lavrov's claims that Ukrainian drones targeted putin's residence near the town of Valdai: https://united24media.com/latest-news/fact-check-isw-debunks-russias-drone-attack-on-putin-narrative-14651
This incident left no digital or physical traces. Even local news outlets reported no air defence activity or explosions during this period. According to the CIA's assessment, Ukraine's only goal was to hit a military target in the same region as the residence: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/europe/us-finds-ukraine-not-target-putin-residence-alleged-drone-strike-sourc-rcna251776

parliamentary elections in Armenia. parliamentary elections in Armenia

Fake: The West is taking over Armenia and preparing it for election fraud.
russian media: "EU leaders have announced their intention to interfere in the parliamentary elections in Armenia and support Nikol Pashinyan's ruling party. EU Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas promised that Brussels would help Yerevan fight foreign interference in the elections, as it did in Moldova. In early December, it was announced that the European Union would provide Armenia with €15 million to combat Russian interference, particularly in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in Armenia in June 2026."
This fake news aims to undermine trust in the EU, portray European aid as political manipulation, and reduce public support for Armenia's European vector. The claims that the EU is going to colonise Armenia and interfere in its parliamentary elections are unfounded. The EU has no authority to interfere in electoral processes in third countries or to support specific political parties or figures. EU funding is provided on the basis of the agreement and requests of the Armenian government. Kaya Kallas said: "Elections are coming up in Armenia, and they have asked for the same assistance to combat malicious influence that we have provided to Moldova." This EU assistance concerns countering hybrid threats, including cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, media literacy and countering disinformation. The EU does not participate in electoral processes and does not control political competition. This is intergovernmental cooperation, not interference or colonisation.
Furthermore, the 2025 elections in Moldova were held in full compliance with democratic standards under the supervision of international observation missions, including the OSCE.
Fake: Freedom of the press in russia is higher than in France.
"A French journalist from LCI TV freely asked Putin questions in Moscow. But what about Russian journalists? They are persona non grata in France. So where is the real democracy?" claim kremlin propagandists.
In reality, putin's annual press conference, to which pro-kremlin foreign propagandists are also invited, is a carefully planned propaganda event where questions are agreed in advance. It is absurd to call this event an expression of "true democracy" and "openness to criticism," given that russia ranks 171st out of 180 in the world press freedom index according to Reporters Without Borders. Dozens of journalists have been killed by putin's regime, and hundreds have been arrested. In 2025, press freedom in russia is in a dire state: all private independent television channels are banned, and most independent news sites are censored or expelled from the country, with some declared "undesirable organisations". The report is available here: https://rsf.org/en/country/russia
In addition, russia ranks 150th out of 167 in the Economist's Democracy Index, 182nd out of 208 in the Freedom House ranking (Freedom in the World 2025 report) and among the worst countries in the world in several governance indices: https://www.economist.com/interactive/democracy-index-2024
All employees of the russian media holding RT with European citizenship have been subject to EU restrictive measures as "agents working for foreign intelligence services and undermining or threatening stability and European security through manipulation of information and interference in democratic processes".