provocation in the Middle East. war in Iran. Oil Prices. russian news. russian fake

Pro-russian media report that Ukraine sends military experts to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE: "Qualification of these specialists raises doubts. The real goal of Kyiv in the Middle East is to prepare a provocation against Russia. The question is only in terms and scales". Propagandists are trying to use the war in the Middle East in their interests and seriously launch fakes on this topic.

In fact, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on March 11, 2026 that Ukrainian specialists in countering drones began work in the Gulf countries that were attacked by Iran. It is about Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and the American military base in Jordan. Ukrainian specialists provide advice and support in the air defense issues of these countries, since Ukraine has a unique and modern experience in this topic. Since 2023, Ukraine is almost daily attacked by Iranian combat drones such as Shahed of russian production. During this time, the Ukrainian military has developed a successful tactic of countering this drones. Therefore, Ukraine has offered its experience and expertise to protect the countries with which partnerships have.
Fake: russian energy is unalternative to the EU.
russian propagandists write: "The West has been wrong in the strategy - without Russian energy resources can not do. Despite the sanctions, Russia managed to maintain internal stability and strength of the national currency, as well as to continue exporting oil. At the same time, the countries that have broken economic ties with it were most affected". 
In fact, it is an ancient and deceptive mantra about Europe’s inevitable dependence on russian energy carriers, which the kremlin has been promoting since the beginning of the 21st century. Imaging an apocalyptic landscape, the goal of this disinformation story is to push the population of EU member states to advocate the lifting of sanctions against russia, which are imposed through the invasion of Ukraine. 
This story again appeared in the media space in the context of a 30-day U.S. permission to buy russian oil and oil products that have already been stuck in the sea. The war in Iran has led to a rapid increase in oil prices. This is a narrow, temporary easing of sanctions aimed at stabilizing the world energy market. 
Europe is much better prepared than in 2022. The combination of emergency coordination, diversification of supplies, reduction of demand and faster departure from fossil fuels helped to overcome dependence on russian energy carriers, the revenues from which the kremlin uses exclusively for military aggression and destabilization in the EU. In particular, imports of russian crude oil to the EU fell by 90% since the invasion. European officials emphasize that resolving the new energy crisis by returning to russian energy resources will only strengthen russia’s geopolitical dependence and military ambitions against the EU itself.
Fake: 70 French soldiers killed in Iranian strike on Abu Dhabi military base.
The network is distributed a video with the logo of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which claims that the French government allegedly hides the death of 70 French military personnel in the attack by Iran on their military base in Abu Dhabi. 
Such a message does not correspond to reality. This video is a fake, and the information attributed to ISW is fictional. The Institute for the Study of War did not publish such materials in its official sources. In real video, the Institute’s analysts’ staff in detail and consistently disassemble specific military or political trends, based on open sources and intelligence data. In the same case, it is about compilation of photos that do not contain links to sources or any data confirming the information. The latest video on YouTube channel of the research center was published two months ago – even before the beginning of escalation in the Middle East. 
As regards the attack on the military base in Abu Dhabi, international media wrote that the hangar was damaged as a result of the attack. No reports of the dead among French personnel or damage to ships were reported in any media. French authorities officially reported only one victim among French military as a result of attacks in the region. 
Cascade of fake based on AI about the war with Iran causes chaos on the Internet. 
NYT journalists found more than 110 such materials in only the first two weeks: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/14/business/media/iran-disinfo-artificial-intelligence.html They show fictional missile strikes, non-existent destruction of cities, attacks on American ships or "military protests", which were not actually. 
At the same time, real video of war is spreading on the network – thanks to smartphones and social networks, the conflict is visible almost in real time. But real footage is usually much less dramatic than AI-created videos. ▪ The researchers note that a significant part of the content is promoting pro-Iranian narratives – for example, trying to show Iran’s military superiority or the great loss of its opponents.
▪ Experts emphasize that new artificial intelligence tools allow you to create convincing fakes almost free. ▪ The scale of such content is already exceeding what was observed at the beginning of a full-scale war of russia against Ukraine. ▪ As a result, social networks form a kind of alternative “reality of war”, where exaggerated explosions and dramatic scenes spread faster and gain more attention than real footage from the scene.
So, we see the trend that the Iranian regime adopts methods of information warfare from russia. It is likely that the Kremlin provides support in this direction (except for the exchange of military technologies, expertise and intelligence).
Based on materials from EuVsDisinfo.eu, Stopfake.org