Why is it important to counter Russian propaganda and fakes?

The US has exposed a North Korean intelligence network in the IT sector

The US Department of Justice has uncovered an international network through which North Korean IT specialists illegally earned more than $5 million to finance the DPRK's missile programme, cryptocurrency theft and personal data theft, according to TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/30/us-government-takes-down-major-north-korean-remote-it-workers-operation/

The scheme was organised by Chinese-American Zhenxing ‘Danny’ Wang from New Jersey, who is accused of money laundering, identity theft and collaborating with the North Korean regime.

The Justice Department also found that IT specialists from the DPRK were posing as Americans – between 2021 and 2024, they used more than 80 fake identities, and fictitious companies were created to provide a basis for their employment. In total, there are eight other defendants from China and Taiwan in this case. Separately, five DPRK citizens are also accused of stealing $900,000 in cryptocurrency.It should be noted that since 2023, North Korea has been a strategic partner of russia and has been directly involved in its aggressive and terrorist acts, as well as strengthening its own military/terrorist potential thanks to moscow.

North Korea places its agents in European IT companies

According to The Independent, north korea, currently russia's main ally in the war against Ukraine, is increasingly placing its agents to work remotely in European IT companies. And for cover, they often pose as... Ukrainians.

north korean agents posing as legitimate remote IT workers are increasingly infiltrating companies in Europe to investigate European cybersecurity.While the United States remains the primary target of these north korean spies, their growing activities in multiple countries are creating a global threat, the Google Grows Intelligence Group (GTIG) warned in a report.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) group is also using an evolving tactic, such as increased extortion, to place its agents inside organisations, the researchers said. Read the full article here:https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/north-korea-spy-europe-it-jobs-b2725924.html

Russians are training new propagandists in Africa

Russian intelligence services in the Malian capital, Bamako, have organised so-called "journalism schools" for future fake newsmakers, and promised the best of them jobs. According to Le Monde, 60 Malian "journalists" are being trained by the "African Initiative" and "Agence de presse", both controlled by the kremlin's intelligence services. The article notes that the selection of the ‘students’ was carried out by a Malian journalist and influencer with pro-russian views, Robert Dissa, who had previously visited moscow and the temporarily occupied 

Mariupol. In addition, the lecture involved the russian mikhail pozdnyakov, the head of the French editorial office of "Agence de Presse".According to Ukrainian intelligence, broadcasting of russian propaganda is already being conducted in more than 40 countries of the continent in six languages. Since June 2025, 'rt' has started translating content into 

Portuguese for Mozambique and Angola. At the end of the year, broadcasting Amharic for Ethiopia was launched.The number of African partner channels 'rt' has doubled in two years – from 30 to 60. More than 1,000 local journalists have been trained according to russian standards. In June, offline courses were launched in Addis Ababa.In parallel, russia opens the correspondent bureau of TASS in Senegal, Algeria, DR Congo, Ethiopia – under the control of the kremlin’s special services. It’s not just propaganda – it’s a tool of cultural and resource expansion.Unfortunately, we record that russian special services are increasingly using the audience of African countries for disinformation and manipulation. At the same time, they regularly rob the continent’s natural resources, and also deceive the African people to war.

putin legalized forced Russification

This is a blow to the languages of indigenous peoples. kremlin dictator signed a decree "On approval of the foundations of the state language policy of russia". This document is an instruction on the destruction of cultural and linguistic identity of peoples. russian was declared a “unifying factor” and “core of civil identity”."Threats" in the decree called foreign words in official communication; attempts of other

countries to restrict the spread of russian language; reduction of the spheres of the use of indigenous languages of the russian itself.

In fact, it is not about “language protection”, but about the complete russification of the entire population. The decree also provides for an increase in the number of so-called “russian centers” abroad – allegedly for popularization of language and culture. In fact, according to Ukrainian intelligence, these structures will be used as an element of soft power to expand the political and spy influence of the kremlin.

An Neo-Nazi American who fled to Russia organizes terrorist attacks in Ukraine

The Base neo-Nazi group headed by the leader who fled to russia offers money for sabotage in Ukraine, reports The Guardian. The Base was founded in 2018 and has centers around the world. Heads the group of US citizen Rinaldo Nazzaro, who fled to the russian St. Petersburg.

In its channel in Telegram, the group offers money to volunteers who agree to carry out attacks on power plants, military and police equipment, military and police personnel, 

equipment, military and police personnel, government buildings, Ukrainian politicians, as well as draw Nazi symbols in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine.The group’s activities attracted the FBI’s attention from the very beginning. Eventually, he was recognized as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries. However, now that the Trump administration has suspended the FBI from persecuting the far-right, The Base has remained uncontrolled.

russia financed Moldovan priests to influence the elections

Such conclusions of the Reuters investigation: https://www.reuters.com/investigations/holy-war-how-russia-recruited-orthodox-priests-sway-moldovas-voters-2025-09-26/ Moldovan priests paid trips to the temples of the russian Orthodox Church, issued money and cards of the russian “prom-sanctuary”. At meetings, priests were convinced of "common history with russia" and called for the spread of messages against European integration.

Priest Mihai Biku said that such group pilgrimages for about 50 people organized almost weekly since June 2025.After the summits, they were asked to create Telegram channels and write there about “threats to traditional values”. Over the year, about 90 new parish telegram channels with similar content appeared. Biku is one of those who admitted the received money from Russia ($1200), but subsequently refused to cooperate with moscow and joined the church associated with Romania.

russia has expanded the network of fake sites CopyCop

Since the beginning of 2025, the kremlin has added at least 300 new resources to hidden influence on the West. This is stated in a fresh study by Insikt Group (Recorded Future): https://www.recordedfuture.com/research/copycop-deepens-its-playbook-with-new-websites-and-targetsCopyCop (also known as Storm-1516) creates fake sites that pretend to be:

● local media in the USA, France, Canada and Norway and another countries; ● political parties and movements in France, Canada and Armenia and another countries;● “organizations from factcheking” in Turkish, Ukrainian and Swahili.

More than 200 such “media” appeared only since March 2025. Among the methods are dipfakes and fake interviews about political leaders of NATO countries. The content is created by uncensored language models based on Meta Llama 3, used directly by network operators. Researchers link the network with former American sheriff John Mark Dougan, who in 2016 received asylum in moscow. The operations are also involved “Center of Geopolitical Expertise” and the main Directorate of the General Staff of the russian Army.

Russian intelligence services are rapidly becoming more active in Germany

“Russia is not just returning to Cold War methods, it is also improving them. We are seeing a massive and aggressive increase in hybrid operations. The situation has become seriously complicated,” said Martina Rosenberg, head of Military Counterintelligence (MAD), in a comment for ntv: https://www.n-tv.de

russian agents are using third countries to infiltrate Germany, establishing personal connections for recruitment and creating hidden networks of influence through citizens with dual citizenship or family ties to russia.
Among the threats identified are attempts at espionage near military facilities, sabotage of infrastructure, drone attacks and interference in IT systems. In particular, damaged cables, metal shavings in engines, and oil in drinking water systems were found on ships of the German navy.

The US has exposed a North Korean intelligence network in the IT sector

The US Department of Justice has uncovered an international network through which North Korean IT specialists illegally earned more than $5 million to finance the DPRK's missile programme, cryptocurrency theft and personal data theft, according to TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/30/us-government-takes-down-major-north-korean-remote-it-workers-operation/

The scheme was organised by Chinese-American Zhenxing ‘Danny’ Wang from New Jersey, who is accused of money laundering, identity theft and collaborating with the North Korean regime.

The Justice Department also found that IT specialists from the DPRK were posing as Americans – between 2021 and 2024, they used more than 80 fake identities, and fictitious companies were created to provide a basis for their employment. In total, there are eight other defendants from China and Taiwan in this case. Separately, five DPRK citizens are also accused of stealing $900,000 in cryptocurrency.It should be noted that since 2023, North Korea has been a strategic partner of russia and has been directly involved in its aggressive and terrorist acts, as well as strengthening its own military/terrorist potential thanks to moscow.

Russian military intelligence has been attacking French institutions for 10 years 

France has accused russian military intelligence of a series of cyberattacks over the past decade against public and private institutions, as well as organisations involved in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This was reported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs with reference to a report by the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI.According to the French side, the hacker group APT28, associated with the General Staff of the russian Army, is behind the attacks.Among the recorded cases:

- an attack on the TV5 Monde television network in 2015;- an attempt to interfere in the 2017 elections, which were won by Emmanuel Macron;- a series of attacks since 2021 on a dozen institutions, including organisations related to the preparation for the Olympics.

The French government stressed that APT28 also constantly attacks Ukrainian infrastructure as part of russia's hybrid war against Ukraine, as well as conducts sabotage activities across Europe.The French agency for combating foreign digital interference, Viginum, has identified about 80 disinformation operations in favour of russia between August 2023 and early March 2025.The targets of these operations were the governments of Ukraine and European countries that support russia. The report particularly highlights the Storm-1516 disinformation campaign, which sought to influence the parliamentary elections held last year.

A Russian influence network attempting to destabilise Argentina has been exposed

A group of russian citizens promoted kremlin interests in Argentina, spread disinformation, manipulated public opinion, and attempted to influence the activities of foundations and activists, according to La Derecha Diario: https://derechadiario.com.ar/us/argentina/government-launches-dfi-after-detecting-russian-interference-local-organizations Argentine intelligence (SIDE) has established that the key figures are lev andriashvili and

irina yakovenko, russian citizens residing in Argentina. They received funding from moscow and established ties with local pro-russian structures.

They are linked to the La Compañía organisation, which SIDE considers part of the global operation ‘Lakhta’, previously financed by the founder of the russian ‘Wagner private military company’ yevgeny prigozhin.Similar attempts by russian spies to infiltrate Argentina have been recorded before. We are talking about artem and anna dulcev, a family of illegal intelligence agents who lived in Argentina for several years and then moved with their children to Slovenia, where they were arrested on charges of espionage.

Russia is illegally transshipping oil in the open sea near Greece

Since July 2024, the Aframax tanker IMO9247443, without Western insurance, has been illegally transshipping oil between tankers in the open sea near the coast of Greece and Cyprus. This was reported by Ukrainian intelligence. Such operations pose an environmental threat, allow the aggressor to conceal the origin of the oil, evade international control and ensure its supply to third countries in circumvention of sanctions.The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine publishes data on the vessel IMO9247443 (https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/) on the War&Sanctions platform, which the aggressor state russia uses as a floating transshipment 

hub for the supply of sanctioned oil. In total, the War&Sanctions portal database contains data on 577 such oil tankers.At the same time, Norway has imposed sanctions on fishing companies for spying on behalf of russia.

Two russian companies, Norebo JSC and Murman Seafood, are involved in reconnaissance operations against underwater infrastructure in Norwegian and allied waters, said Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.The restrictions include a ban on ships entering Norwegian ports and waters, denial of fishing licences in the economic zone, freezing of assets and a ban on financial transactions. This decision was made within the framework of the so-called ‘hybrid sanctions regime’ introduced in response to cyberattacks, sabotage and disinformation campaigns by russia.

russia used the sunken ferry “Estonia” for underwater operations

German journalists learned that the russian Defense Ministry used the sinked ferry “Estonia” for espionage and underwater operations. This writes Deutsche Welle: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/russland-spionage-ostsee-estonia-wrack-nato-li.3326685 ? reduced=trueInvestigation of WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung showed that the russian military could

violate the ban on immersion to the 1994 tragedy, where more than 850 people were killed. On the debris, it is likely that devices for navigating underwater robots were fixed.

This is responsible for a separate structure engaged in deep-water operations and the installation of spy equipment. The area of the sunken vessel is convenient for such actions - NATO military routes are nearby.Estonia and Germany said they were closely monitoring the situation. NATO and russia did not provide comments. Journalists called the place of death of ""Estonia"" a potential ground of russian special services.

The Royal Opera House in London has given Putin a gift

We are talking about the return of russian opera singer and propagandist anna netrebko. She is scheduled to participate in several productions during the 2025-2026 season. This decision has been criticised by the Ukrainian diaspora, as well as British public and cultural figures. The fact is that netrebko is known for her support of putin's regime: in 2014, she was photographed with the flag of the so-called ‘novorossiya’ and donated a million roubles to support militants in Donbas.

Ukrainian and British parliamentarians, cultural figures have spoken out against Netrebko's return to the London stage, calling on the theatre to refuse to work with putin's singer.In London, several hundred people also gathered outside the Royal Opera House: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-netrebko-london-opera-protest/33524052.html

One of the protesters, Stephen Lacey, said:"As an Englishman, I am ashamed of the hypocrisy of the Royal Opera House and how they have betrayed Ukraine. It is a disgrace to the British nation. It affects me deeply because Anna is close to putin, and russian artists are allowed to perform while Ukrainian artists are sacrificing their lives."A similar situation arose with another pro-putin figure, conductor Valeriy Gergiev, who was scheduled to perform at a festival in Italy. However, massive pressure from the public and the cultural community proved effective and his participation was cancelled. Public pressure on cultural institutions to refuse to cooperate with supporters of putin's regime is an effective tool.

RT Academy - a propaganda factory under the guise of ‘education’

According to Spravdi.ua, kremlin propagandists are launching ‘international journalism’ courses for students from Africa, Asia, China and India. Formally, this is training, but in fact it is the selection of new kremlin propagandists in the world.That is, the real goal is not skills, but influence. Instead of ethics, it's methodologies. Instead of freedom of speech, they give ‘instructions on how to talk about NATO, Ukraine and the West’.

The teachers are experienced propagandists of the RT media holding, who have been lying about Ukraine, the EU, the US, and NATO for years, as well as justifying the kremlin's crimes and masking its genocidal policy.

The academy is scheduled to open four new classes by the end of the year. To date, 2000 ‘graduates’ have been taught russian propaganda. RT establishes cooperation with universities, embassies, BRICS pseudo-educational programmes and employs its ‘graduates’ in local media around the world. The kremlin spares no expense in this regard: 79 billion rubles to RT from 2025 to 2027. In what other country is this possible? RT Academy is a tool for building a global disinformation network to influence social and political life in individual countries and regions. RT Media Holding is under US and EU sanctions.

Kremlin agents from the Storm-1516 group masquerade as journalists to attack other countries

Storm-1516 actively passed off its fake news as material from real media outlets, publishing it on fake websites styled to look like well-known media outlets, according to analysts at the Gnida Project: https://gnidaproject.substack.com/p/disinformation-update-stolen-identities?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=trueWhat is known:• At least four fake websites have been created that imitate well-known media outlets in France, Romania, Canada and Germany.• The websites published fabricated ‘news,’ including:– accusations against Moldovan President Maia Sandu;

– fake news about a French company allegedly ‘exporting nuclear waste to Armenia’;– an absurd report about the death of a doctor linked to rumours about Brigitte Macron;– a fictional story about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ‘hunting’ polar bears in Canada.
The names of real journalists were used without their consent. For example, Romanian journalist Radu Dumitrescu and French reporter Romain Fiaschetti have already stated that they have nothing to do with these publications.

There have also been attempts to discredit Norway – on the eve of the Internet Governance Forum summit, a fake website appeared reporting an ‘ecological disaster’ in the country.At the same time, Europol struck a blow against russian hackers NoName057(16).Since 2022, these hackers have carried out more than 1,000 DDoS attacks on government, financial and transport resources in EU and NATO countries. During a global special operation, more than 100 servers around the world that were used for attacks were taken out of service. Searches were carried out in more than 20 homes in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland. Two members of the group were detained. Arrest warrants were issued for 6 russian citizens, including 2 main organisers. In general, the hackers coordinated their activities through social networks, involving more than 4,000 subscribers who installed special software to participate in the attacks.

Russia intensifies disinformation campaign against Azerbaijan

President Ilham Aliyev's interview on Al Arabiya TV (Saudi Arabia) on 27 August, Oxu reports. Az: https://oxu.az/ru/politika/komissiya-mm-v-rossii-razvernuta-masshtabnaya-informacionnaya-kampaniya-protiv-azerbajdzhanaThe Commission on Countering External Interference and Hybrid Threats found that Aliyev's answer to the question about the Zangezur corridor, which was based on historical facts, was taken out of context and presented by the russians in a distorted and falsified form.The campaign is being spread through russian TV channels, news sites, social networks and pro-russian propagandists using Facebook, Instagram and X, as well as fake accounts and 

bots, supposedly on behalf of foreign citizens.A separate element is targeted advertising for the Azerbaijani segment of social networks, containing threats against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. The Commission, together with state structures, is closely monitoring these hostile actions.In addition, russia is actively manipulating the tragedy of flight AZAL 8243.We recall that on 25 December 2024, a civilian aircraft was shot down by the military over

russian territory. Thirty-eight people were killed. Now the moscow Aviation Committee is distorting the facts, concealing the deaths and rewriting key details. Fact checkers from the Dallas group conducted an in-depth investigation and found that the russians:- selectively count the victims of the tragedy,- manipulate navigation system data,- refer to the explosions as ‘effects’,- conceal the debris from the combat missile that shot down the plane.And so on. This indicates that russia is not interested in an independent investigation, but is trying to cover up its crimes. Therefore, any civilian aircraft in russian airspace could become a target. The full version of the article is available here: https://dallas-park.com/uk/pryhovaty-nepryhovuvane/

Russian intelligence services are increasingly relying on ‘disposable agents’

It is becoming more difficult for the russians to embed their own agents in Germany, so moscow has recently been using agents recruited through social media for individual operations more often. This was stated by the deputy head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany (BfV), Zinan Zelen.According to him, such recruits are called ‘low-level agents’ or ‘disposables’. They recruit primarily those who have attracted attention with pro-russian statements on social media.

They are paid for sabotage, disinformation or espionage.At the same time, European intelligence services have been noting a significant increase in the activity of russian special services for many years, Zelen said.

"Germany is in the centre of special attention", he warned. According to him, russia's intelligence services pose a long-term threat to Europe, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.It is worth noting that ‘disposable agents’ are offered high ‘fees’ for simple operations such as espionage, sabotage, arson, explosives, installation of GPS trackers, etc. This phenomenon is particularly common in Ukraine, as well as in Poland and Moldova. People of low social status or drug addicts are easy to recruit, but as a rule, immediately after completing the task, russian special services try to eliminate them to hide their involvement.

Russia and China join forces to spread disinformation and manipulation

According to the report, russia and China continue refining their manipulation tactics, with Beijing expanding its global media footprint while concealing involvement through proxies. Though operating independently, their narratives notably converged in blaming NATO for ‘escalation’.Both increasingly deploy AI tools and elaborate deception networks that function like icebergs – visible state channels above water, vast covert networks beneath. 

The full report on the EEAS website offers more insights into these fast-evolving threats.

The latest EEAS report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) threats maps out the digital infrastructure deployed by foreign actors, mainly by russia, but also by China, to manipulate and interfere in the information space of the EU and partner countries with the objective to spread disinformation, to erode trust and undermine democratic societies. This map shows how attributed channels are only the tip of the iceberg of FIMI activities as they rely with extensive covert networks of channels with hidden connections, such as Doppelganger, African Initiative, Portal Kombat or False Façade. Details here.

russia has created a new spy unit for sabotage in europe

The new unit, known to Western intelligence agencies as the Special Tasks Department (SSD), is based at the russian military intelligence headquarters on the outskirts of moscow, The Wall Street Journal reports: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/russia-spy-covert-attacks-8199e376

According to Western intelligence services, it was created in 2023 in response to Western support for Ukraine. "russia believes that it is in conflict with what it calls the ‘collective West’ and is acting accordingly, including threatening us with nuclear weapons and increasing its army", James Appathurai, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Hybrid Warfare, told the newspaper.

Russia recruits Chinese for war through TikTok ads

The russian Ministry of Defence is recruiting Chinese citizens to join a private army to fight in the war against Ukraine through various platforms, including bloggers and ads on TikTok and other social media. This was stated by Chinese prisoners of war during a press conference.
These citizens of the People's Republic of China were taken prisoner by the Ukrainian Defence Forces. Now they are calling on official Beijing to facilitate their exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war held by russia.

"To our fellow Chinese citizens who want to take part in this war, we want to say that they should not do so. Because everything we heard from the russians was a lie. And it turned out that russia is not that strong, and Ukraine is not that weak. And that's why it's better not to participate in wars at all," said Wang Guangjun, a prisoner of war.

According to both foreigners, they signed the contracts, tempted by the large one-time cash reward and subsequent monthly payments of about $2,500, but never received them. After staying on the contact line for three days, they surrendered to Ukrainians, who provided them with normal conditions. The Security Service of Ukraine is currently conducting investigations to establish all the circumstances of the Chinese citizens' participation in the war and is checking the testimony of these prisoners. So, the Chinese government is allowing russia to recruit its citizens for a war that they condemn and have even offered their own ‘peace plan’. What's next? Secret transfer of military weapons?

Disinformation operations against Italy have become a priority for the Kremlin

Italy has become a primary target of russia’s hybrid warfare due to its steadfast support for Ukraine and its alignment with NATO and the transatlantic relationship. 

This has placed Italy in moscow’s crosshairs, leading to a multi-pronged russian strategy to undermine Rome’s interests through information warfare, cyberattacks, political subversion, and strategic maneuvering in Africa.Read the full article here.

Estonia accuses Kremlin of attempting armed coup

Local pro-kremlin politicians, financially supported by russian intelligence, are behind the attempted coup. This was reported by State Prosecutor Olev-Aas.The defendants included the leader of the Koos (‘Together’) movement, Aivo Peterson, and his supporters Dmitry Roots and Andrey Andronov, who in 2022 worked on creating a ‘third line’ — a civil defence unit with firearms licences, 

which was to become an alternative to Estonia's existing defence and security structures.

The unit was formed in a Telegram group called ‘Civil Defence’. According to the prosecutor's office, in November 2022, the creation of a paramilitary group under the guise of a charitable organisation began with the aim of destabilising the situation and seizing power in the country. In correspondence with his associates, Peterson emphasised that this structure would ‘ensure security and perform the functions of the army’ in the event of a ‘power vacuum’.

Russian intelligence services behind arson attacks on shopping centres in Vilnius and Warsaw 

A Lithuanian investigation has found that the man who set fire to an IKEA store in Vilnius on 9 May 2024 was acting on behalf of russian special services. Before that, he visited Warsaw, where he and his accomplice agreed to arrange arson attacks on shopping centres in Lithuania and Latvia. The price was €10,000 and a used BMW.

The fire in the Warsaw shopping centre is also linked to russian special services.

This information was confirmed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. russian specservices are increasingly recruiting young people looking for easy money on the Internet, offering them substantial rewards for various subversive activities. In Ukraine, for example, there have been more than a hundred such cases. Very often, these are orders to manufacture and plant explosives in public places.  These cases are further proof that the kremlin is waging bloody terror not only against Ukraine but also against the whole of Europe.

Poland has recorded an increase in disinformation before the presidential election

Some of the disinformation campaigns are likely to be coordinated from russia. This is reported by Polska Agencja Prasowa with reference to the Disinformation Analysis Centre of the Scientific and Academic Computer Network (NASK): https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/raport-pap-przed-wyborami-polska-moze-stac-sie-celem-cyberatakow-i-dezinformacjiAmong the common narratives are conspiracy theories, fakes about the participation of people without the right to vote in elections, as

well as disinformation about the interference of foreign states and the influence of the European Union.According to a report by Alliance4Europe, from 4 March to 4 April, the pro-russian disinformation campaign Doppelganger focused on Poland.

Almost 300 publications were recorded that manipulatively used materials from Polish media, including nczas.com, wpolityce.pl, bankier.pl, fakt.pl.Aleksandra Wujtowicz from the Polish Institute of International Affairs explained that disinformers add links to reliable sources, hoping that most users will not open the articles themselves, but will only react to headlines or excerpts.In addition, screenshots of old news or headlines taken out of context are actively used. In the context of elections, this creates additional risks for the transparency of voting and trust in the democratic process.

The first neo-Nazi from Russia is sentenced to life in prison 

russian neo-Nazi petrovsky from the "rusich" military group has been sentenced to life in Finland for war crimes in Ukraine. vojislav torden (real name petrovsky) was found guilty of killing 22 Ukrainian soldiers and seriously wounding four more soldiers of the Ukrainian defence forces in the Luhansk region in autumn 2014, Yle reports (https://yle.fi/a/74-20141064), citing the decision of the Helsinki District Court.

The evidence included witness testimony, as well as photos and videos posted by "rusich" neo-Nazis in the public domain.

petrovsky himself took and distributed photos of the dead soldier. The Finnish police managed to detain the russian executioner at Helsinki airport on 20 July 2023.The Security Service of Ukraine noted that the joint work of Ukrainian and Finnish law enforcement agencies made it possible to collect substantiated evidence of petrovsky's guilt and sentence him to a realistic term of imprisonment. And this precedent is worthy of attention - it demonstrates that every war crime has no statute of limitations, and every criminal will be punished even after the war is over.

Austrian intelligence exposes Russian network to discredit Ukraine

russians set up the cell a few months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and a suspected Bulgarian national played a significant role in planning the disinformation campaign and acted as a contact for kremlin intelligence, according to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior.The group's goal was to influence public opinion in Austria and Germany against 

Ukraine and President Zelenskyy and to foster pro-russian sentiment. 

They were active in the media space, on the Internet, and in offline events such as the distribution of stickers or graffiti with far-right symbols and nationalist statements. They were meant to look like pro-Ukrainian activists were responsible for them.The Austrian State Security and Intelligence Agency learned about the moscow spy operation during a search of the suspect's home in December 2024. We can conclude that russia may have similar networks in any country. And so far, most national governments are not doing enough to effectively combat kremlin agents and russian propaganda.

How Russians plant fakes in foreign media

russian propaganda tried to ‘sell’ the Estonian media a fake about the alleged death of an Estonian citizen in the war in Ukraine. The editorial office of the Estonian media outlet Postimees received a letter from an unidentified woman asking for help in finding her ‘missing husband’, allegedly an Estonian citizen who fought on the side of Ukraine. She attached screenshots with ‘an offer from the Ukrainian military to buy the body of the deceased for $2000.

The journalists found that the man in the photo was fictitious. There is neither a death registration nor confirmation of the existence of such a person in the databases.

The name, documents, photo - everything is generated or chosen at random: https://rus.postimees.ee/8248999/2000-dollarov-za-vozvrashchenie-tela-pogibshego-v-ukraine-zhitelya-estonii-kak-redakcii-pytalis-po-naglomu-vsuchit-feyk This case is about the methods of russian special services to use the so-called ‘human story’ to spread disinformation, including about the participation of foreigners in the war and the ‘cruelty’ of the Ukrainian military. The aim of these fakes is to raise doubts in foreign societies, discredit Ukraine and sow distrust in official sources.

russia intensifies blackmail, sabotage, cyberattacks in the eu

russia's subversive activities in the West have become systematic. In the last year alone, russians have stepped up their subversive activities in Europe, from cyberattacks to assassinations, with the obvious aim of creating chaos and an atmosphere of fear. In March, perpetrators hired by russian military intelligence set fire to warehouses belonging to Ukraine in Leyton, east London. moscow has

also been accused of a series of arson attacks across Europe, from Polish shopping centres to a German factory. 

And as British cabinet minister Pat McFadden recently warned, russia has expanded its cyberattack campaign. For example, the attacks on Czech railways this year or the regular waves of false bomb threats. Such sabotage and campaigns of cyber and proxy attacks are aimed at dividing and demoralising Europeans, as well as trying to convey to Europeans the sense that continued support for Ukraine is having a negative impact on their lives and security. But the issue is not Ukraine, it is the fact that the kremlin wants to continue its criminal activities with impunity.

Why the Russian Orthodox Church is considered a covert spy network around the world?

What has long been obvious to the Ukrainian public about the nature of the russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is gradually becoming clear to the European establishment. The ROC is used not only as an instrument of soft power, but also as a real spy network.The OSINT agency Molfar has conducted a study from open sources, analysing 11 European countries. In the first part, we talk about 5 of them - Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

One of the examples is a russian church in Västerås, Sweden, which is suspiciously close to numerous strategic facilities. A few kilometres from the church, there is a plant for the production of nuclear fuel cells - Westinghouse Electric.

The distance between them is only 4.22 kilometres. Another strategic facility, the Västerås flygplats airport, is even closer, almost 500 metres away. A combined heat and power plant and the headquarters of the energy supplier Mälarenergi AB are located 6 kilometres from the church. And almost 5 kilometres away is the ABB Metallurgy metallurgical plant. Until 2024, the rector of the church served as CEO of NC Nordic Control AB, a Swedish company owned by russian developer pavel gerasimov (Gerda group). gerasimov owns a large number of church projects in Sweden, while he is also involved in a drug trafficking case.We recommend that you read the full study here.

Russia offers cryptocurrency for attacks on mosques in the UK

Pro-russian Telegram channels have already been implicated in cases of Islamophobic graffiti in London, and now they have moved on to openly calling for knife attacks. They also distribute instructions for making bombs and models for 3D printing weapons, The Guardian reports.Evidence of a russian connection includes the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, russian-language chat posts, and administrative accounts set to the russian language and GMT+3 time zone.

Evidence of a russian connection includes the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, russian-language chat posts, and administrative accounts set to the russian language and GMT+3 time zone.

Cryptocurrency helps russia finance its criminal operations. The Financial Times reported that the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating two companies, Smart and TGR, which acted as a financial centre for global criminals with large cash assets and sanctioned individuals using cryptocurrency.
According to the NCA, among other things, the network served ‘russian espionage operations’, and the state-owned "rt media group", which is under all Western sanctions, also uses Smart to secretly transfer money to support its activities in the UK.

Oleg Yasinsky designer of the Russian disinformation network in Latin America

Infobae has published an investigation into how the Telesur correspondent and RT columnist has set up a structure with local collaborators who replicate narratives in favour of moscow and against the West to Spanish audiences. With his clear Spanish and smiling face, Yasinsky sends each of his reports to Telesur, Chavismo's network in Latin America. In the russian media, he is presented as a ‘Ukrainian-Chilean’.Oleg Yasinsky is the head of the disinformation network that the kremlin is building in Latin America. The ‘Yasinsky Network’ has started to operate mainly in Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, where Yasinsky has more contacts.  Yasinsky is the main regional link in a much broader chain of disinformation with a global reach. It is part of a mega-structure in the russian capital that has three command centres: The Social Design Agency (SDA), the Internet Development Institute and Structura National Technologies.

These corporations are under sanctions from the European Union and the United Kingdom.Yasinsky managed to create his own network of small media outlets and collaborators (‘loyal contacts’) in Latin America. Among the media outlets that give the greatest impetus to his instructions is the long list available to Infobae: Presssenza, El Ciudadano, Summary Latinoamericano, Desinformemonos, Telesur, Estrategia, Barão de Itararé, Peoples Dispatch, Clacpi, Dialogues do Sul, Liberación, In Pirqa, Colombia Informa, La Pluma, VeritasPress, Critical Sociology, Globatium, Malaga al Día and Luis Emilio Recabarren. 

What does the russian agent ask of the editors and journalists of these media?- To create a public opinion in Latin America that Ukraine and the Ukrainian people are not as they are portrayed by the Western media, and that not all Ukrainians support the (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy regime and NATO;- To convey to Ukraine and the countries of the former Soviet Union that the voices of Latin Americans, Europeans and Ukrainians living abroad support a ‘brotherly’ people, a peaceful and friendly Russia/Ukraine.’In addition to publishing in local media, Yasinsky is also trying to create NGOs in different countries in support of the ‘other Ukraine’. Infobae's sources add that the processes are being managed from Chile, where Yasinsky usually spends a lot of time and the country where he has the most contacts (as well as a passport of that country). Read more about the investigation here.

Russia has launched a cyber attack on dozens of Italian companies and government agencies

The hackers targeted, in particular, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Monte dei Paschi, Iccrea Banca, Milan Linate and Malpensa airports, as well as the ports of Taranto and Trieste, Reuters reports: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/alleged-pro-russian-hackers-hit-20-italian-websites-cybersecurity-agency-says-2025-02-17/

In addition, the websites of several ministries, carabinieri, financial police and some transport companies were attacked, ANSA reports.
The Italian National Cybersecurity Agency claims that the pro-russian hacker group NoName057(16) is behind the series of attacks. These cyberattacks did not affect the operation of companies.
Cybersecurity officials linked the attack to a statement by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who compared modern russia to the Third Reich because of its war of aggression against Ukraine.

International Reporters gathers Kremlin propagandists from different continents 

On a moscow-funded platform, a dozen pseudo-journalists from eight different countries are promoting russia's occupation of Ukraine, military ‘successes’ and praising russia's foreign policy, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. Among them:- Adrien Bocquet - a Frenchman living in russia who spreads disinformation about the war in Ukraine in the French media;- Andrea Lucidi, a pro-kremlin Italian who demonstrated the russian invasion symbol ‘z’ and was granted ‘asylum’ in russia;- Vanessa Beeley, a British woman who collaborated with russian propagandist RT and supported former Syrian dictator Assad.

RSF also found that in the first nine months of 2024, International Reporters received more than €27,000 from the sanctioned russian organisation Dialogue Regions, as well as direct funding from the russian Ministry of Digitalisation.In addition to the above-mentioned pseudo-journalists, RSF focuses on the co-founders of the resource - victoria smorodina and Christel Neant.

viktoriya smorodina is the editor-in-chief of the International Reporters website and also runs the russian LLC Laboratory of Attention, established in October 2023, whose main activity is to finance this platform.Néan is originally from France, moved from Belgium to occupied Donetsk in 2016, and later became a russian citizen. She created the French-language propaganda website donbass insider. She is currently filming interviews and stories with local residents of the occupied cities in eastern Ukraine.In addition, according to RSF, the kremlin news agency is currently expanding its network in Africa. In 2024, it signed a cooperation agreement with the Cameroonian media group For You Media, headed by politician Serge Matomba.

The Kremlin's Doppelganger project continues to operate

Between 28 December 2024 and 5 January 2025 alone, Alliance4Europe analysts identified 288 tweets belonging to the russian Doppelganger project. During this period, information criminals spread 24 fake articles in French, German, Ukrainian and Hebrew.According to Alliance4Europe's report, all but one of the articles contain a link to a russian IP address linked to a British legal entity.

It belongs to a citizen of Ukraine. Analysts note that this requires a more detailed investigation.
The information about the incident was shared with the administration of Platform X, reputable media and European governments. However, it can already be stated that despite repeated warnings and instructions on how to track such activities, the Doppelganger operation continues to operate on Elon Musk's platform.
Read more about the Doppelganger international disinformation project here: https://euvsdisinfo.eu/?s=Doppelganger

Kremlin increases spending on censorship and suppression of independent journalism

In 2024, the kremlin introduced artificial intelligence-based censorship methods, continued its crackdown on independent journalism, tightened VPN blocking, prevented access to content on international platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook), and decided to invest more than $660 million over five years in digital control infrastructure designed to block russian citizens' access to independent information. This amount is almost 50 times the budget of russian media in exile, according to the latest report by The Fix, which is part of the JX Fund, a fund to support journalists in exile created by RSF in cooperation with the German Rudolf Augstein and Shopflin foundations.

Jeanne Cavellier, Head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Department at RSF (Reporters Without Borders):"What Russia is building is not just a national censorship machine - it is a laboratory of digital repression that seeks to become a model for other countries. Independent Russian media outlets in exile are the last line of defence against the Kremlin's large-scale propaganda operation. Abandoning them as they face increasingly sophisticated tools of repression

risks creating an unprecedented information blackout. RSF calls on European states to provide financial and logistical support, and on international donors to step up their support, as well as on tech giants to stop caving in to Kremlin pressure and ensure fair access to their platforms".russia leads the world in terms of the number of takedown requests sent to international platforms such as Google (https://surfshark.com/research/study/governments-google-removal-requests) and TikTok, with most of these requests justified on the grounds of ‘national security’. The most frequently censored topics include the number of russian casualties in the war in Ukraine, war crimes of russian soldiers, russian intelligence operations and kremlin disinformation campaigns.

Russia regularly transfers weapons to third countries for acts of aggression

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that about 70 percent of the weapons found in the possession of the Hezbollah terrorist group during Israel's military operation in southern Lebanon were russian-made. According to the markings on some of the samples, the weapons came from Syria. One of the missiles had a label in russian stating that it had been transferred to the Syrian Ministry of Defence. 

As IDF experts found out, some of the russian weapons were manufactured in 2020 and sent to southern Lebanon. Other samples, according to the markings, were produced in the 1980s. putin, when providing weapons to Assad, knew full well that they could fall into the hands of Hezbollah. But this eloquently confirms the kremlin's strategy of increasing chaos in all regions of the world. Earlier, we wrote about an investigation that confirmed russian arms supplies to the Yemeni Houthis, as well as the kremlin's strategic cooperation agreement with North Korea.

Russia is trying to bring Poles and Ukrainians into conflict against the backdrop of a natural disaster

A number of videos of dubious quality and false posts in which Poles allegedly blame Ukrainians for their troubles after the September flood spread online.Main topics:• Ukrainians are looting Polish shops (there were indeed cases of looting in Poland, but the participation of Ukrainians was not confirmed in any of them);

• Poles cannot stay in a hotel, fleeing from a natural disaster, because all the places are occupied by Ukrainians (there is no mention of Ukrainians in the original posts);

• the money collected for the injured Poles will be given to the Ukrainians (in fact, Poland allocated significant financial aid to the affected citizens - only the first tranche is almost €5 million, and the EU allocated another €5 billion to Poland).The Polish Research Institute NASK, which monitors disinformation on the Internet, believes that russia may be behind these fakes. And the Polish military officially accused the kremlin of conducting the IPSO against the background of the flood.

Russian special services are recruiting Europeans with pro-Russian views to Telegram

The messenger, originating from russia, has become a tool for illegal networks recruiting young men in EU countries for the purpose of murder and sabotage. According to Western security services, the kremlin's special services are involved in these illegal actions.As indicated in the investigation by OCCRP (an international non-governmental investigative journalism organization that covers topics related to organized crime, corruption, etc.), one of these cases was an appeal to the fictional character Valery Ivanov, who was

offered money for sabotage through the "Hello Bot" account - attacks on NATO military facilities or assassinations.

Similar Telegram channels are actively advertised in pro-russian media, including the "grey zone" channel (mercenary media of the Wagner group, russia). This method of recruitment has a low success rate, but is cheap for russia and can create chaos in Western societies, which is one of the main goals of the kremlin. Read the full text of the investigation here: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/make-a-molotov-cocktail-how-europeans-are-recruited-through-telegram-to-commit-sabotage-arson-and- murder

Western investors in Russian majors

The Molfar OSINT agency conducted an investigation into a large russian company in the oil and gas sector. Specialists analyzed about 30 of the largest russian oil and gas companies ("Rosneft", "Gazprom", "Lukoil" and others). Among their owners and investors were many European and American companies.

Perhaps that is why some in the United States and Europe react so painfully to Ukraine's attacks on russian factories that supply the criminal terrorist army and the kremlin's special services. And, obviously, there are influential forces in the democratic world that are directly interested in the existence of putin's dictatorship, because they have a good percentage of it.Read the full investigation here (in English): https://molfar.com/en/blog/zahidni-investory-u-rosiiskii-nafti

In the Baltic countries and Poland, 8 sabotage attempts by Russia were recorded

This year, the Estonian Security Service detained 13 people for desecrating several national monuments and vandalizing the cars of the interior minister and a journalist.In Latvia, in February, two men tried to set fire to the Museum of Occupation, and in Lithuania, in May, an IKEA store caught fire. This is reported by VSquare: 

https://vsquare.org/russia-sabotage-operations-baltics/Last year in Poland, a group of criminals was convicted of espionage for russia and planning

to blow up the railway, which was used to deliver aid to Ukraine.What these cases have in common is that saboteurs are often recruited through the Telegram app.In addition, the special services of the USA and Germany prevented an attempt on the life of Armin Papperger, the general director of the arms concern "Rheinmetall", which was being prepared by the special services of the russian Federation. Here is the CNN post.russia regularly confirms its terrorist nature and recognizes no borders for its own subversive activities.

The Russian Orthodox Church is expanding its sphere of influence

In the confrontation with the West, russia is looking for allies among the countries of the Global South, in particular in Africa. Recently, the russian Orthodox Church (ROC) joined these efforts. On December 29, 2021, the ROC established its own exarchate in Africa, which should cover all African countries. Its activity is already visible in almost 30 African countries.The ROC is primarily a tool of the russian authoritarian regime (in particular, in 2022, the ROC officially blessed its military to kill Ukrainians), and its actions should be viewed in the context of russian policy and the strategic goals of the kremlin.

In Africa, the russian Orthodox Church pursues several goals:● to increase the loyalty of the local population to russia, to the russian language and propaganda;● to strengthen the position of the ROC in its struggle for a dominant role in world Orthodoxy;

● create additional platforms and communication channels to promote the economic interests of the kremlin,
strengthening the activities of russian mercenaries, special services and agents;● to turn African students into advocates of russia in the world.But all this is hidden behind peaceful slogans and colorful manipulations. The Church presents russia as a non-colonial state, a fighter against Western neo-colonialism and a moral defender of liberal values, which are portrayed as contradicting biblical teachings.More details about this at the link: https://euvsdisinfo.eu/the-kremlin-mobilises-the-church-for-war-for-africa/