The casualties sustained by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine have already dwarfed those sustained by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and by Russia in the First Chechen War combined, two conflicts that shattered the myth of Russian invincibility.

Pro-Kremlin narratives repeatedly claim that Russia is protecting Orthodoxy and traditional Christian values from alleged Western ‘moral decayʼ.    Then a Russian drone destroys a 300-year-old Ukrainian church.

Russia wants the world to forget who started the war. On 24 February 2022, Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The invasion was not preceded by any Ukrainian attack on Russian territory. The war was not ‘forced upon’ Russia. Russia chose to start it.

There is something particularly grotesque and cynical about celebrating the visual effect of missiles falling on a city your own country is attacking.

The regime that just three months ago openly threatened to murder foreign diplomats in Kyiv and continues to reject all ceasefire proposals, today decided to lecture the West about its apparent ‘lack of constructive ideas’ and an ‘unacceptable style of dialogue’.

After a Russian missile fell on Polish territory, a notable Kremlin information manipulation pattern is now unfolding.   First, Russian officials deny responsibility.   Then, pro-Kremlin commentators question the investigation.

Russian outlets suggest Poland has ‘no evidence’ that a missile that crashed in Poland was Russian. In fact, Polish authorities publicly stated that investigators identified the wreckage as a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.

In line with the Kremlin’s standard practice of providing no evidence for its claims, Russian outlets continue to allege that Ukraine is arming nearly every faction in every conflict zone around the world, all while insisting that Ukraine itself has supposedly long since run out of weapons.

The Kremlin is again pushing the false narrative that Poland, Romania, and Hungary intend to divide Ukraine. In reality, all three countries respect Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders and remain steadfast allies in Ukraine’s defence.

The same Russian outlets that regularly dedicate significant attention to falsely claiming that ‘Ukraine is refusing peace’, today took a break from that narrative and returned to very openly discussing the ‘erasure’ of Ukraine as a state.

The missile that landed in Poland has been identified by Polish authorities as Russian.   Yet while Russian officials dispute responsibility, pro-Kremlin outlets are already debating why Poland ‘deserved the strike’.   Propaganda doesn’t always resolve its contradictions.

The Kremlin rejected multiple ceasefire proposals last year. This year, it demonstrated its ‘openness to dialogue’ by threatening to kill foreign diplomats in Kyiv while continuing to launch drones and missiles at Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and residential buildings.

The Kremlin continues to deny that a missile that landed in Poland was Russian. Meanwhile, Russian outlets openly argue that Poland ‘deserved’ missiles falling on its territory. Difficult to justify something you insist never happened.

Kremlin-funded outlets continue to claim that Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilians are ‘retaliation.’ They are not. The framing distorts the basic reality of the war: Russia launched an unprovoked invasion, while Ukraine is defending its territory and independence.

This week, Maria Zakharova decided to express her ‘concerns about Europe’s militarisation’ and the supposed threat it poses to global security. Europe’s defence investments, solely aimed at deterrence, are not without reason.

Predictably, the Kremlin’s disinformation ecosystem wasted no time in baselessly suggesting that the missile that hit Poland was Ukrainian. This claim is false. The investigation carried out by Polish authorities has determined that the missile was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.

Sergey Belov, Deputy Governor of Russia's Central Bank, oversaw the expansion of Russian banking infrastructure and the forced transition to the ruble in occupied Ukrainian territories. For his role in undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, he has now been placed under EU sanctions.

Kremlin influence operations accuse others of manipulating information while they themselves are investing heavily in cloned media brands, fake news identities and influence networks designed to conceal their own origin.    The latest sanctions recognize that and target the people behind that system

Support for aggression extends way beyond policy rooms. So does accountability.    Aleksandr Minkov used concerts, public appearances and his platform as a prominent performer to promote Kremlin narratives about Russia’s war against Ukraine.

EUvsDisinfo@euvsdisinfo.eu · 6d ago

The 21st EU sanctions package includes Russian musician Aleksandr Minkov who publicly backed Russia’s invasion, performed in occupied Ukrainian territories in support of Russian forces, and declared his willingness to fight against Ukraine.

ANO Dialog presents itself as a communications organisation. The EU describes something different: a government-funded organisation linked to the Doppelgänger operation, which used cloned news websites and fake identities to spread Kremlin narratives

Three months ago, Vladimir Putin publicly thanked North Korean soldiers for their participation in Russia’s ‘special military operation’ and for ‘fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Russian troops’.

The 21st EU sanctions package includes Russian musician Aleksandr Minkov who publicly backed Russia’s invasion, performed in occupied Ukrainian territories in support of Russian forces, and declared his willingness to fight against Ukraine.

Since 2014, Beget LLC has knowingly provided services to Russian-backed occupation authorities, militarised organisations, and propaganda projects in occupied Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk. Aleksandr Klukov, Beget’s founder and General Director, has now been placed under EU sanctions.

The case of Maxim Grigoryev illustrates how propaganda increasingly borrows the language of international law. Through a self-styled ‘tribunal’, books and international appearances, he promoted false narratives to justify Russia’s invasion while presenting propaganda as legal fact.

EUvsDisinfo@euvsdisinfo.eu · last wk.

Maxim Grigoryev built an entire pseudo-legal ecosystem to legitimise Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions against Aleksandr Iljin illustrate how modern conflicts extend into cyberspace. His company, Beget, has been providing hosting services to occupation authorities in illegally occupied Ukrainian territories since 2014,

EUvsDisinfo@euvsdisinfo.eu · last wk.

Aleksandr Iljin, co-owner of Russian hosting provider Beget, has now been sanctioned by the EU.   His company provided digital services to Russian-backed occupation authorities in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as to Russian defence companies supporting the war against Ukraine.

Using deceptive social media ads often promising jobs, education, and a better future, Russia recruits and exploits foreigners to fuel its war in Europe. Over 28,000 nationals from 135+ countries have joined its armed forces, with more than 5,000 already killed in action.

Alexander Zharov’s résumé reads like a map of Russia’s information system: former head of Roskomnadzor – the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media – and current CEO of Gazprom-Media.

Yesterday, the Russian ambassador to Romania again claimed that no evidence had been provided proving that the drones that violated Romanian airspace were Russian. He made this statement less than 24 hours after Romanian authorities presented him with the physical wreckage of the Russian drones.

Alexander Zharov moved from leading Roskomnadzor, the official agency for censorship and media surveillance, to running Gazprom-Media, one of Russia’s most influential state media holdings – a primary vehicle for Kremlin war propaganda.

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