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: Ukrainian Minister Sybiga has called on the US to agree to all of Iran’s demands and pay reparations.
Pro-russian sources are circulating a fabricated quote attributed to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga. However, the post contains no primary sources, references to official ministry statements or reliable media outlets. Propagandists add their own interpretation: “The head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding that the US abandon its own geopolitical interests in favour of Ukraine’s.”
In reality, Andriy Sybiga has never made such statements. The Ukrainian government’s position on developments in the Middle East is public and well-documented, and fundamentally differs from what russian propaganda claims.
When, on 28 February 2026, the US and Israel launched a joint operation against Iran’s nuclear programme, Sybiga stated that the Iranian regime ‘had for many years been one of the main sources of regional and international destabilisation’ and expressed his conviction that its downfall would ‘significantly improve security in the region and the world’.
The minister also repeatedly emphasised that it is Iran that is “facilitating the crime of aggression against Ukraine” by supplying russia with military UAVs and technologies that putin’s regime “systematically uses to kill people and destroy critical infrastructure”.
The fabricated ‘quote’ attributed to Ukraine’s top diplomat is part of a wider, coordinated campaign aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its leadership in the eyes of both international and domestic audiences. The fake quote creates an image of an incompetent and arrogant Kyiv, which allegedly demands that its partners submit to its interests and provokes conflicts even with its allies. Furthermore, this fabricated quote fuels the narrative, that support for Ukraine is allegedly waning due to the ‘war with Iran’ and that allies are losing interest in Ukraine.
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).
Fake: Zelenskyy first supported the attack on Iran, and now opposes.
In fact, no change in the position of the President of Ukraine regarding the strikes on Iran has occurred. He really supported the American-Israeli operation on February 28 in his official statement. Later, on March 13, Zelenskyy met with the hereditary prince of Iran in exile by Rezo Pahlevi and actually repeated his thesis of two weeks ago: “The power vertical has really suffered significant losses, and it is important that the Iranian regime won nothing and that people in Iran get more protection of life and opportunities to determine their own destiny.” 
At the same time, he added that Ukraine is ready to help with this for its part. Namely, send to the region of Ukrainian air defense specialists. Zelenskyy stressed at a meeting with journalists: “It is not about the presence in military operations. We are not fighting Iran. It is about protection and expertise on our part on how to fight “Shahheda”. 
No claims that he did not support American and Israeli strikes on Iran, Zelenskyy did not.
Fake: in France panic on the energy market, the country’s leaders are thinking about the restoration of imports of russian gas.
In fact, these thoughts are broadcast by pro-russian French figures, such as pseudo-journalist Olena Kondratieva-Salgero. It is often cited by russian media as the voice of France. In addition, the topic of restoring the supply of russian energy carriers was discussed publicly by some representatives of the French business, but only in the context of the upcoming end of the war in Ukraine. 
Propagandists’ claims about panic in the French energy market are also significantly exaggerated. The French CAC 40 index against the background of energy risks increased by about 1.9-2%. The Chairman of the Bank of France Francois Vilruis de Galo noted that the French economy as a whole does not feel significant threats due to geopolitical events in the Middle East, and warned that decisions on interest rates should not be made only due to energy-price fluctuations. There is volatility in stock markets, but there are no signs of panic, such as fuel shortage, queue, energy disconnection, no.
Fake: Iran attacks the US and Israel with missiles transferred to Ukraine.
Pro-russian media distribute false video on social networks with the logo of the American edition USA Today. It states that among the debris of the missiles, which were attacked by Israel and the US base in the Middle East, found details of weapons transferred to Ukraine within the framework of military assistance. The authors of the video assure that NATO’s weapons are allegedly “redished on the black market”. The video also provides a comment by ISW (Institute for the Study of War) expert Parker Hampel that “Ukraine has put up high-precision weapons for sale on the black market”. 
This video is completely fabricated. There is no such news on the official USA Today platforms. To give disinformation the appearance of reliability, propagandists stylized the video under the branded format of news videos USA Today. However, in the original materials of this media, every image and video fragment is always accompanied by a signature indicating location and source, while in the fabricated video these signatures are absent. 
Fictional is also Hampel's comment from ISW. Neither his official LinkedIn account, nor the latest analytical report by ISW, according to his authorship, contains any mention of Ukraine’s sale of weapons on the black market. 
The key argument denying the fake is the composition of the Iranian missile arsenal. Iranian armed forces for attacks on U.S. and Israel objects use their own ballistic missiles, as well as drones of their own production. There are no American or shells in this arsenal. Iranian missiles are largely derived from Soviet, russian, Chinese and north korean technologies, not from American systems. Therefore, even if Iran somehow received an American ballistic missile, it would be technically impossible to use it. 
The narrative about the “NATO black arms market” is quite old and has been repeatedly refuted by StopFake journalists.
Fake: Iran destroyed a warehouse containing Ukrainian weapons in the UAE.
A statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was circulated by media outlets controlled by Tehran. The authors of the fake news also claim that 21 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the strike. However, no evidence is provided. In reality, Georgiy Tykhyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that this is a fabrication: “This is a lie; we officially refute this information.” 
According to him, Iran regularly resorts to such disinformation campaigns — that is, it operates according to the same logic as russian propaganda.
The kremlin buys Arab Telegram channels for information attacks on Ukraine.
Owners of Telegram channels working for the Arab audience began to receive requests for the placement of anti-Ukrainian videos. This is how it looks in practice: some "Ksenia" from the account "Tsukerok" offers Arab bloggers to post a video on "failure to comply with agreements between Ukraine and Arab countries that are being hit by Iranian drons "Shaheds". 
Materials provide ready - it remains only to publish and submit as "news". That is, fake content is being prepared in the kremlin, and then the special services simply buy its placement in channels with an Arab audience, so that it looks like organic opinion of the local population. 
The goal is to undermine trust in Ukraine in the region at the moment when diplomatic and economic ties between Ukraine and the Gulf countries are actively developing. In fact, the russians are shocked by the successes of Ukrainian diplomacy in Zatoka – and resort to the only thing that is well-known: discrediting.
russia helps Iran to prepare missile strikes through satellites and cyberattacks.
According to Reuters, at the end of March, russian satellites conducted at least 24 shootings in 11 countries of the region. Under the sight – 46 objects: US military bases, airports and oil infrastructure: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-supplies-iran-with-cyber-support-spy-imagery-hone-attacks-ukraine-says-2026-04-07/ 
Ukrainian intelligence recorded that after part of such shootings Iran carried out missile and drone strikes. Between moscow and Tehran, there is probably a constant channel of intelligence transmission. In parallel, they coordinate cyberattacks: hacking groups of both countries cooperate through Telegram and beat on telecommunications and critical infrastructure. Among these groups are Z-Pentest Alliance, NoName057(16), DDoSia Project and Handala Hack. In particular, the russian satellite filmed Prince-Sultan base in Saudi Arabia a few days before the Iran strike on March 27.
Fake: Ukraine resells Western weapons to the Gulf countries.
Social media users spread the idea that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly secretly resells Western weapons, including the purchased by Germany, to the Gulf countries. 
In fact, propagandists deliberately mixed two unrelated processes: military assistance to Ukraine by European allies and cooperation between Kyiv and the Gulf countries on anti-pilot protection. At the end of March 2026 Zelenskyy signed a 10-year security cooperation framework with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan. However, the subject of these agreements is the technologies and improvised systems of Ukraine to combat drones. These agreements do not provide for resale of weapons received from partners. More than 200 Ukrainian specialists were sent to the region for training local personnel: there are the same Iranian drones Shahed, which russia attacks Ukraine, attack both the Gulf countries, and in real combat conditions Ukraine has developed a unique experience of intercepting them. Zelenskyy himself explained the logic of exchange: “Kyiv shares skills and technologies in exchange for financial support of its own defense industry, which now only works half and has the potential for growth” (https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/video/2026/03/27/volodymyr-zelensky-s-exclusive-interview-with-le-monde-on-the-war-in-ukraine_6751879_4.html). 
In addition, Berlin controls the "appropriate program of monitoring the end-use" of military equipment supplied to Ukraine." Allies know this, but similar fakes russia is trying to influence a part of Western citizens who are not interested in details, but react only to loud headlines.
Based on materials from EuVsDisinfo.eu, Stopfake.org. Spravdi.ua