russian army

We have prepared a selection of russian fakes and manipulations that were actively promoted in May. In addition to Ukraine (as usual), the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, France, Slovakia, Lithuania, Spain, the United States and McDonald's were also affected. moscow spends billions of dollars every month to feed you lies and aggressive propaganda.
Based materials from Stopfake.org, Spravdi.ua, EuVsDisinfo.eu

Fake: russian army bombed a Ukrainian base with F16 fighter jets.
Photos of the destroyed base and aircraft are being shared by russian social media channels. In fact, the image disseminated by the russians is fake, and a detailed check showed that it was generated by AI, according to the StopFake project's fact-checkers. In addition, the original source of the illustration is the Military Aviation Facebook page, which regularly publishes content generated by artificial intelligence. 
The photo also contains a number of logical inaccuracies. In particular, the aircraft with the tail section located on the cockpit, blurred silhouettes of people, markings on aircraft that are not typical for the Ukrainian Air Force, and so on. The purpose of the fake is to demoralise the Ukrainian Defence Forces and Ukrainian partners.
Fake: Dutch authorities falsified the investigation into the downing of Malaysian Boeing MH17.
"The plane was shot down as a result of a special operation by the Ukrainian Security Service to declare the 'Donetsk People's Republic' (Russian-occupied territory) a terrorist organisation." The words of former russian State Duma deputy sergei markov are being replicated by the kremlin media. We refute this fake.
In fact, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officially recognised russia as responsible for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Boeing flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July 2014: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/ministeries/ministerie-van-buitenlandse-zaken/nieuws/2025/05/12/icao-raad-russische-federatie-verantwoordelijk-voor-neerhalen-van-vlucht-mh17
During the investigation of the crash, the International Investigation Team found that MH17 was shot down by a missile fired from a russian Buk missile launcher. In 2022, the District Court of The Hague found three people guilty of involvement in the crash and sentenced them to life imprisonment in absentia.
At the same time, russia has changed its version of who shot down the Malaysian plane and how, several times, and after the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it passed a law refusing to comply with the European Court's ruling, which came into force after 15 March 2022.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Fake: Ukrainian tried to set fire to McDonald's headquarters in Chicago because of the company's return to russia.
The relevant information of the American media outlet USA Today is spread by the kremlin's propaganda Telegram channels. In fact, USA Today did not publish this video on its official website or in its social media. As Ukrinform's fact-checkers found out, the video was edited from various photographs that can be found freely on the Internet. These are mostly photos of McDonald's restaurants in the US and russia. Earlier, the company denied the information about McDonald's returning to russia: https://x.com/mcdonaldsua/status/1916145803820740987?s=46&t=LabMeGEkFwxTGSnq93EQQw
Fake: Bishops and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being massively persecuted in Ukraine.
"Churches are being seized, people are being beaten, and Satanism is 'flourishing' in the country because of the oppression by the Zelenskyy government." Vadym Novynskyi, a former member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, businessman and cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), said this in an interview with pro-russian blogger Tucker Carlson.
In fact, Novinsky fled Ukraine a long time ago, as he was accused of collaborating with russian special services, as well as other violations of Ukrainian law. Now he is hiding abroad (in countries friendly to russia) and has been systematically promoting kremlin narratives, especially on religious issues, since the beginning of the full-scale war.
The facts:▪ No "ban" on the Orthodox Church in Ukraine has been adopted. The Verkhovna Rada has only passed a law restricting the activities of religious organisations affiliated with the aggressor state of russia. This is not about faith, but about the safety of Ukrainians.▪ Criminal cases have been opened against religious figures not for their 'faith', but for specific illegal actions and assistance to russian special services. Most of the clergy of the UOC-MP are involved in investigations for pro-russian propaganda, justification of aggression, collaboration and spreading enemy narratives. These are legal proceedings, not religious repression.▪ There are no confirmed cases of "seizure of churches with weapons". In most cases, we are talking about legal transfers of religious communities to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine following meetings. Clashes, if they occurred, were localised and often provoked by priests of the UOC-MP who refused to leave the community's property.▪ The phrases about "Satanism" in Ukraine are absurd and rhetoric on the verge of religious hysteria. This is a deliberate exaggeration intended to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience. Novinsky does not provide any evidence for this.
By the way, the kremlin leadership often manipulates this topic in its statements and justifies its armed aggression against Ukraine by "the need to protect Orthodox Christians from Nazis and Satanists".

anti-russian sanctions

Manipulation: people of Slovakia are in favour of lifting anti-russian sanctions
russian media quoted a representative of the russian Foreign Ministry, maria zakharova: "The ruling circles of European countries should hear the opinion of the people of Slovakia on the cancellation of anti-Russian sanctions. The republic has long understood the harmfulness and senselessness of such restrictions."
Earlier, the media reported that a petition requesting a referendum on the lifting of anti-russian sanctions had been submitted to the office of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini. As noted, it collected approximately 400,000 signatures.
It should be noted that this information campaign was organised by Pavol Slota, the leader of the pro-Kremlin Fatherland - National Party (DOMOV - Národná strana), which has no representation in elected bodies. In November 2024, he announced that his party, in cooperation with the Slovak Renaissance Movement, had collected almost 400,000 signatures on a petition. In fact, 395,401 signatures (according to the leader of the Slovak Renaissance Movement, Robert Švec) were collected by campaigning only on social media and party websites. The Fatherland party's Facebook page has approximately 34,000 followers, and Pavol Slyta's Telegram channel has 1,258 followers. According to Similarweb, the party's website was visited 269 times in the last 4 weeks. The website of the Slovak Renaissance Movement has slightly better figures: 5243 visits in 4 weeks.
There was no option to sign the petition online. The signature sheet was offered to be downloaded, filled in and mailed. Slovakia has a population of approximately 5.5 million people (slightly more than 1% of the EU population), of whom almost 1 million are minors. So, we are asked to believe that without any media campaigning, they managed to get the signatures of approximately 8.8% of the country's voters by post. Therefore, the petition that zakharova and the kremlin media are trying to pass off as "the opinion of the people of Slovakia" is unlikely to have any real serious support. Earlier, we wrote about how the Slovak authorities are trying to hide their personal failures and mistakes with anti-Ukrainian propaganda and the fight with the European Union for russian preferences.

Keith Kellogg. Zelenskyy

Fake: US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg has published data on Zelenskyy's billions of dollars.
Social media users have spread the information that the US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg allegedly published data on the billions of dollars in assets of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (about $50 billion in cryptocurrency and $38 billion in offshore assets). However, no one indicates the source, when and where Kellogg published this information.
Stopfake conducted an investigation and found that the only publication in 2025 in which Kellogg mentioned Zelenskyy was dated 28 February. And it had nothing to do with the Ukrainian president's "financial situation". A search for the keyword "Ukraine" also yielded no results in this regard.In addition, no US or international media outlets reported on Kellogg's "scoop". Therefore, we conclude that these social media posts about Zelenskyy's wealth were simply invented by russian propagandists as another attempt to discredit support for Ukraine.
As for the official information on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's income and property, it can be found in the annual presidential declaration: https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/fe128e63-b1e4-4201-b181-3116fcf4324b. It is public in accordance with Ukrainian law. The declaration for 2024 is expected to contain no data on billions of dollars. 

conflict in Ukraine. Russophobia

Fake: Europe wants to prolong the conflict in Ukraine for another four years.
poland.news-pravda: "Europe wants to prolong the conflict in Ukraine for another four years by any means necessary, regardless of people's lives".
This disinformation story aims to portray the EU's position as one that supports the continuation of the war in Ukraine and to contrast it with other states that "stand for peace". At the same time, russian propaganda tries to divert attention from the fact that the war is russia's initiative. There is no evidence to support this theory. Recently, EU leaders supported a plan by the US and Ukrainian presidents for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to address humanitarian issues and start a diplomatic process to resolve the conflict. Two months have passed since then, but russia has not agreed to a real peace.
Fake: Europe uses Russophobia to divert attention from its economic woes.
Sputnikglobe: "Europe is fuelling Russophobia to divert attention from the EU's economic woes and justify the bloc's decline, which is leading to increased defence spending. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasised that speculation about Russia's preparations for an attack on Europe is groundless and absolute nonsense. As the EU members are still quarreling with each other over a number of pressing issues, Russophobia seems to be the only theme that unites them."
This disinformation story is a direct response to the EU's Reshaping Europe/Ready 2030 programme (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_25_790). In this way, russian propaganda is trying to stir up dissatisfaction with it among the European audience. At the same time, any criticism of russia or actions that harm the kremlin's interests are labelled as "Russophobia".
The EU's measures to increase military spending are intended to increase Europe's self-defence capabilities, which is an adequate response to russia's aggressive actions on the continent. Claims about the EU's "economic troubles" ignore the factual evidence of the EU's massive economic capabilities: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=EU 
russia's threat to Europe is real. This has been proven by the invasion of Ukraine, dozens of sabotage operations across the continent, and numerous attempts to destabilise several countries through election interference, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns. The latest annual reports of civilian or military intelligence services of Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Latvia, Sweden and Finland conclude that russia's current course of restructuring poses a real military threat to the EU and NATO countries for several years.

russian propaganda. RT reporters

Manipulation: The deportation of RT reporters proves that Western Europe has neither democracy nor a free press.
russian propaganda used the incident with the deportation of RT reporter Chay Bowes from Romania to discredit European democratic institutions. The World Press Freedom Index indicates that Europe has the best global score. According to the latest Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Western Europe had the highest index score of any region and was the only one to improve its overall score in 2024.
This disinformation story is based on a gross distortion and exaggeration of the facts. According to the Romanian Border Police, officers at Bucharest airport conducted a mandatory security check for all travellers. It turned out that Bowes "was banned from entering Romania" (due to sanctions against the RT media holding company, where Bowes works). Bowes "was informed of the situation and also received instructions on how to legally appeal".
Bowes has long been identified as a source of disinformation in Ireland and other European countries. His employer, RT, which is subordinate to russia's intelligence services, has been identified as a key element in interference in Romania's 2024 presidential election. Therefore, preventing this media outlet from operating in Romania ensures a freer electoral process, not the other way around.https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/rt-russian-state-media-waging-covert-info-war-biden-admin-says-rcna171081 https://fpc.org.uk/networks-of-influence-decoding-foreign-meddling-in-romanias-elections-a-collaborative-investigation-into-disinformation-campaigns-and-influence-operation/ 
Fake: Pavel Durov exposes how European mafia stole Romanian elections from George Simion.
The pro-kremlin media invented the story of fraud in the recent Romanian elections to further destabilise the democratic processes in France and Romania. While it is true that Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that he was asked by the French secret services to censor opposition Telegram channels in Romania.
In fact, the French Foreign Ministry denied Durov's accusations of trying to influence the elections in Romania: https://x.com/francediplo_en/status/1924138188722815052?s=46&t=LabMeGEkFwxTGSnq93EQQw
The ministry recalled that the first round of the presidential election in Romania, which took place in December 2024, was cancelled due to digital and financial interference by Russian special services. This was confirmed by investigations by the Romanian authorities and the European Commission. "In this context, the recent accusations against France are only a distraction from the real threats of interference against Romania. France calls on all Romanian political actors to show responsibility and defend democracy," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In April, at the kremlin's request, Telegram blocked many russian channels that criticised its leadership.
The purpose of this disinformation is to promote the kremlin's narrative of alleged EU interference in the Romanian elections. In this way, the kremlin diverts attention from the fact that it was its structures that actively interfered in the electoral process in Romania in 2024 and 2025, as proven by law enforcement agencies and courts in the country.

Blaze Metreveli. head of MI6. war Ukraine and russia

The kremlin continues its information aggression against anyone who does not submit to it. Particular attention, of course, is paid to Ukraine. June also saw an increase in disinformation about the United States and individual figures, as well as Israel, against the backdrop of the conflict with Iran. In addition, the Baltic states, Poland, Finland, French President Emmanuel Macron, the head of British intelligence MI6, and even South Korea were traditionally targeted. An overview of russian lies for June 2025 is available in our article.
Based materials from Stopfake.org, Spravdi.ua, EuVsDisinfo.eu

Fake: the new head of British intelligence MI6 has Ukrainian roots, and her grandfather served in the Nazi SS division ‘Galicia’.
This is what the kremlin's propaganda media write about in their Telegram. In fact, the new head of MI6, Blaze Metreveli, is of Georgian origin, as confirmed by official biographical data. The false information about Metreveli's Ukrainian roots was spread by Lviv historians, but on 19 June it was refuted: researchers established that it was about another person with the same surname: https://zaxid.net/kerivnitsya_britanskoyi_rozvidki_ne_pohodit_z_simyi_ukrayinskih_ostarbayteriv_n1612868
In reality, there is no evidence or documentation linking her family to the SS Division ‘Galicia’ or any Nazi formations. In other words, russian pseudo-media and pro-kremlin figures spread this falsehood without evidence, based on speculation and fabricated details.
Fake: The war between Ukraine and russia is a conflict between two brothers.
This was stated in an interview with the WSJ by vladimir medinsky, an aide to President putin. "It's like a conflict between two brothers, older and younger, about which of them is smarter and more important. This conflict, unfortunately, deepens our differences, and therefore we want it to end as soon as possible", said the representative of the russian dictator.
In reality, russia uses the rhetoric of ‘brotherly peoples’ to justify its encroachment on Ukraine's sovereignty. This narrative is particularly dangerous for the international community: when they hear about ‘brotherly peoples,’ foreigners perceive the war as an ‘internal conflict’ or ‘misunderstanding’ rather than an act of aggression and invasion.
The kremlin's statements about its readiness for a peaceful settlement are false, as they completely contradict russia's actual actions. moscow has not yet abandoned its goal of capturing Ukraine and continues its attacks on the front lines and aerial terror of peaceful Ukrainian cities. And Ukrainians have never been a brotherly people to russians. For more than three centuries, various russian leaders have encroached on Ukrainian territories, pursued genocidal policies and tried to suppress any resistance to the imperial regime (as they have done with other indigenous peoples in the post-Soviet space).

president of South Korea

Manipulation: South Korea's newly elected president said that Zelenskyy ‘provoked’ russia.
Pro-russian sources are spreading the message about the ‘first statement by the new president of South Korea: "Lee Jae-myung said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy provoked russia and that the Ukrainian president does not understand politics". Some publications also mention the assassination attempt on Lee Jae-myung in 2024: propagandists even speculate that the politician was attacked for advocating the lifting of sanctions and dialogue with russia.
In fact, the quote being circulated dates back to 2022. At that time, Lee Jae-myung did indeed criticise Zelenskyy during a televised debate. However, immediately afterwards, he apologised for this in a Facebook post: "If my words, contrary to my intentions, caused misunderstanding among Ukrainians, then I failed to express myself correctly. I did not want to humiliate the Ukrainian leader and his people." 
Although Lee Jae-myung is currently opposed to transferring weapons to Ukraine (which has previously received only humanitarian aid from South Korea), he has expressed his willingness to join in the post-war reconstruction. The newly elected South Korean president also plans to continue selling weapons to Europe.  Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in turn, congratulated Lee Jae-myung on his appointment: "I value our friendship with the Korean people and the Republic of Korea's unwavering support for Ukraine. I wish you success and look forward to working closely with you to achieve peace and prosperity for both nations."

Ukrainian army. Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Fake: Ukraine has allowed minors to sign contracts with the army.
Media outlets affiliated with the kremlin spread news that Ukraine had allowed teenagers aged 17 and older to sign contracts with the armed forces. The authors of the fake news quote Ukrainian MP Ruslan Gorbenko, who allegedly stated that serving in the army under contract is now permitted from the age of 17. However, in his speeches and publications, MP Gorbenko did not mention lowering the age requirement. In fact, Ukrainian law does not allow persons under the age of 18 to sign up for military service.

Fake: Zelenskyy is using civilians as a ‘human shield.’
russian media outlets are writing about the ‘tactics’ of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He allegedly admitted that he is not evacuating civilians from Ukrainian cities in order to make it more difficult for the russians to capture them. However, russian propagandists do not refer to Zelenskyy's speeches, but to the personal reflections of former Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinskyy, who is under investigation on charges of treason and collaboration with russian intelligence. In addition, Dubinskyy is under US sanctions for interfering in the 2020 presidential election and participating in the russian disinformation campaign. However, the quote cited by the russian media does not even belong to Dubinskyy himself: he simply reposted on his Telegram channel a publication from another channel created in October last year called MAGA, which spreads russian propaganda.
Other publications did use the Ukrainian president's interview without specifically citing the source. However, fact-checkers managed to establish that the first distributor of this fake news was blogger Anatoliy Shariy (who has been actively working for the kremlin for the past five years, which is why he had to flee Ukraine). His post was based on an excerpt from an interview the Ukrainian president gave to French TV channels TF1 and LCI in December 2022. In it, Zelenskyy says: "The state must provide corridors and opportunities for evacuation. But I want to tell you for sure that if the city is empty, it will be very easy to capture." 
Even from this quote, it is clear that Zelenskyy is not refusing to evacuate his citizens. Further on in the interview, Zelenskyy adds: "We will hold on. We do not have slavery. We have a democratic society. When people want to leave, they can afford to do so, and that is normal."
In other words, the claim that the Ukrainian authorities are not evacuating people from frontline cities is completely untrue. Evacuation is being carried out in all cities close to the front line. Currently, this is happening on a voluntary basis. Mandatory evacuation to safe regions applies only to children accompanied by their parents. At the same time, evacuation crews are subjected to shelling by the russian army every day.

Pentagon website. Van Gogh's chair

Fake: Ukrainian hackers attacked the Pentagon website.
kremlin Telegram channels spread false claims that the ‘Ukrainian branch’ of Anonymous claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on the Pentagon website. ‘The damage is estimated at $120,000,’ russian propagandists claim.
After these events, STOPFAKE checked the Wired publications referenced by the authors of the fake news. As expected, there is no Wired report about the involvement of the ‘Ukrainian branch’ of Anonymous in the cyberattack — the story was completely fabricated by the russian fake news factory.
The screenshot circulating on the Internet is a fake. As of 14 June (US Flag Day), a search for the keyword ‘Anonymous’ on the Wired website yields five articles, but none of them contain any reference to a ‘Ukrainian attack’ on the Pentagon website. Neither the US Department of Defence nor any reliable media outlet has reported such an incident in recent days. russian propaganda regularly exploits the brands of reputable Western media outlets to lend credibility to its false stories. 

russian economic. Sanctions against russia

Fake: Sanctions have turned russia into an economic superpower.
“The EU has already imposed 17 rounds of sanctions on Russia. Now it threatens to tighten its sanctions against Russia’s energy and financial markets. But the effect is likely to be limited. The EU’s 17 rounds of sanctions have failed to break the Russian economy, which testifies to its incredible stability. Sanctions have turned Russia into a superpower.”
This disinformation story is part of the kremlin's economic war aimed at convincing the international community of the futility of sanctions and creating conditions for circumventing them. Propaganda also uses similar stories to try to bolster the reputation of russia's leadership.
But the facts paint a very different picture: https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2024/12/russia-economy-difficulties?lang=en
In April 2025, the Stockholm Institute for Transition Economics published a report entitled ‘The Russian Economy in the Fog of War.’ It describes the mechanisms that contribute to russia's current economic growth and demonstrates that they are not sustainable.
russia's oil exports fell sharply in the second quarter of 2025 due to the latest EU sanctions by 29%. In addition, in mid-May 2025, Gazprom opened its so-called strategic oil reserves for sale. Other economists also predict long-term economic degradation for the aggressor state: https://www.bofbulletin.fi/en/blogs/2025/war-has-degraded-russia-s-long-term-economic-outlook-and-business-environment/

Lindsey Graham. George Soros

Fake: George Soros organised the riots in Los Angeles.
"President Donald Trump called the protests in Los Angeles paid for, but who could be behind the chaos? The protests are not spontaneous; there is a structured strategy and clear organisation behind them. It looks like a textbook example of the colour revolutions financed by Soros. It is known that the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) received $34 million in government grants in 2023," write the kremlin media.
In other publications, pro-russian media outlets spread fake news that a group associated with George Soros and the Open Society Foundation was recruiting young athletes for a ‘military-style street unit’ to increase tensions in Los Angeles. ‘Between $6,500 and $12,500 per week was offered to those with military experience or private security service who were willing to prove themselves in dangerous situations,’ the authors of the fake news cynically write.
In fact, there is no evidence to support this disinformation. There is no indication that specific organisations or individuals were behind the riots that began after protests against immigration raids by law enforcement.There is also no evidence that the so-called Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) organised the riots and formed ‘violent groups.’ Fact-checkers have determined that this fake news first appeared on a Malaysian construction website that is in no way connected to the events in California: https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1931547228981936411
Philanthropist George Soros is often the target of kremlin propaganda because he publicly and financially supports democratic processes and institutions in many countries around the world, which significantly reduces the kremlin's influence in these countries.
Fake: Lindsey Graham and other American congressmen are using Ukraine to enrich themselves.
‘A group of US lawmakers is using Ukraine for their own enrichment. This includes about 23 members of the US Congress, including Senator Lindsey Graham,’ such accusations can be found in pro-russian media. However, the authors of the fake news provide no evidence. In fact, this looks like an attempt to discredit members of the US Congress led by Lindsey Graham, who is promoting a new law to strengthen US sanctions against russia.