European pensions. support for Ukrainian refugees. Euronews report. kremlin propagandists

russian media are spreading disinformation about the presidents of France and Ukraine, citing Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Allegedly, investigators have uncovered a corruption scheme worth billions of euros surrounding the contract for the purchase of 100 French Rafale fighter jets. Among the suspects are a group of French and Ukrainian officials and military personnel. 

This disinformation operation began with the publication of a copycat website posing as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and containing a fabricated story about alleged corruption by Ukrainian and European leaders. The domain of this website is registered for 15 January 2026. Furthermore, this story is implausible because the contract for the Rafale fighter jets has not yet been approved – there is only a letter of intent (signed in 2025). The estimated cost of the contract could be around €20 trillion, but it will only be implemented after 2035.
On 23 January 2026, the French Army General Staff warned of a possible disinformation attack by a foreign government: https://x.com/EtatMajorFR/status/2014655509920358410 The French government believes that this attack is the work of the russian network Storm-1516, led by American pro-kremlin activist John Mark Dugan. One of the key themes of this network's operations is corruption in the Ukrainian government and among its allies. In this way, they are trying to undermine confidence in Ukraine and in projects related to its support.
Fake: The European Commission will spend €7 billion on propaganda and bot farms.
There is ‘news’ circulating online that the European Commission is allegedly planning to allocate an additional €7 billion for propaganda: paid experts, bot farms and the purchase of information influence. As proof, the publications provide a screenshot of a German-language article from Apollo News.
In fact, the original article mentions neither bot farms nor paid experts. In fact, the Apollo News article entitled ‘More money for civil society organisations: European Commission plans mega-funding programme to combat disinformation and foreign influence’ states that the European Commission plans to create a large new fund, AgoraEU, by 2034. This fund will be aimed at financing civil society organisations and think tanks in the fight against disinformation and foreign influence. At the same time, the publication notes that the specific mechanisms for distributing funds and the criteria for selecting organisations remain unclear, and some critics allegedly fear that this money could be used to promote certain political narratives under the guise of protecting ‘reliable information’. 
Therefore, the publication is indeed sceptical about the initiative. However, it is important to note that Apollo News is an ideologically biased right-wing media outlet that is often criticised for its low journalistic standards, mixing facts with value judgements, and spreading unverified information. For example, the publication's founder admitted that none of the publication's 15 staff editors have a journalism education and has repeatedly spread false information on the topic of migration. 
According to journalism professor Gabriele Hoffacker, Apollo News belongs to the ‘right-wing tabloid media’ that deliberately uses so-called ‘trigger topics’ — in particular gender, migration, and abortion — for the political mobilisation of certain social groups. In addition, the editorial board consistently opposes ‘the strong role of the state and socialism as its main enemy,’ so it is not surprising that the European Commission's initiative to increase government control over the spread of disinformation is not to their liking. But even with this stance, the publication didn't accuse the European Commission of bribing experts or organising bot farms, but just talked about whether it makes sense to invest in these kinds of projects.
russia is once again accusing Europe of doing what it does itself, namely investing state funds in propaganda. The russian government actively finances bot farms and the creation of fake websites, as well as recruiting foreign experts to voice pro-kremlin narratives. The most famous of them are recorded in our database.
Based on materials from Stopfake.org, EuVsDisinfo,eu