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We are still dealing with the long tail of decades of Russian narrative-building and disinformation campaigns
EUvsDisinfo i nterview with Keir Giles . Keir Giles is a British writer, an expert on the Russian military and Russian disinformation. He has written and commented on the geopolitical conflict between the West and Russia such as NATO’s Handbook of Russian Information Warfare published through NATO Defense College. In his last book: Who Will Defend Europe? An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent, Giles lays out the stark choices facing leaders and societies as they conf
20 hours ago


From “journalism” to FIMI: EU sanctions Diana Panchenko
The European Union has adopted a new round of sanctions aimed at countering Russia’s ongoing hybrid threats, including foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) and malicious cyber activity targeting the EU, its member states and partner countries. The latest decision lists twelve individuals and two entities involved in coordinated disinformation campaigns, propaganda networks and cyber operations linked to Russian state interests. The listings form part of
5 days ago


2025 in review: winning the narrative
At the end of 2025, a clear pattern stands out in Russian disinformation: the persistent construction of an image of strength in the face of growing constraints. Throughout the year, Kremlin-aligned outlets amplified exaggerated or false claims of military success in Ukraine, presenting marginal advances as decisive victories. As discussions about future negotiations gained prominence, this narrative of invincibility served a specific purpose – to shape perceptions, set the t
7 days ago


Controlled questions, crafted lies: inside Putin’s year-end messaging machine
On 19 December 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again appeared on his annual televised call-in programme , ‘Direct Line with Vladimir Putin’, answering questions submitted by members of the public. Putin’s speeches and public appearances are a major pillar of Russia’s Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) campaigns. By framing disinformation narratives at the highest level, Putin’s public proclamations provide legitimacy and talking points that s
Dec 30, 2025


When Borders Tighten, Propaganda Inflates: The Kremlin’s Border Disinfo Playbook
2025 was certainly a bad year to be flying in or out of Lithuania. According to the Ministry of the Interior , 320 flights have been disrupted at Vilnius and Kaunas airports because of cigarette-smuggling air balloons crossing from Belarus, causing sixty hours of closures and affecting 47,000 passengers. But the fallout has been even harsher for around 185 Lithuanian lorries stranded in Belarus over Christmas, after the authorities there barred them from returning home. Alth
Dec 24, 2025


The rise of the disinformation-for-hire industry
The emergence of a global, large-scale disinformation industry has privatised influence operations, granting states strategic reach with plausible deniability. A quiet revolution has taken place in the world of propaganda. Operations that used to be run by authoritarian governments and intelligence agencies are now outsourced to private firms that sell disinformation and deception as a service. From fake social-media armies to AI-driven smear campaigns , disinformation and F
Dec 18, 2025


Rewriting borders of truth: How Russian FIMI falsifies historical memory
Since the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Moscow has visibly intensified its fight for so-called ‘true history’. The Kremlin is rewriting school books to promote myths of Russia’s invincibility and Putin’s total supremacy . Russian historical manipulation is aimed not only at Russian society but also at neighbouring countries and the international community. The Kremlin has lately employed various techniques to reach its aggressive expansionist g
Dec 16, 2025


Axis of authoritarians poses mounting threat on the global information front
Ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, there has been growing alarm over the support that Moscow is receiving from fellow authoritarian regimes including Iran, North Korea, Belarus, and China. However, while Western officials have publicly raised concerns over material support for the Russian war effort, the issue of cooperation in the information sphere has received less attention. This is short-sighted. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has d
Nov 28, 2025


When propaganda replaces policy: Russia’s water crisis in occupied Ukraine
On 30 September 2025, Russia celebrated the anniversary of the ‘reunification of new regions’ – how pro-Kremlin disinformation refers to the occupation of parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. To mark the occasion, Russia minted coins depicting Ukrainian lands and organised lavish concerts where top Russian celebrities praised the Moscow’s ‘care’ for the occupied territories. Through these carefully choreographed events, the Kremlin sought to
Nov 27, 2025


A battle for hearts and minds: How Russian propaganda takes over Africa
In many parts of Africa, memories of colonial exploitation, past foreign interference and broken promises remain vivid. These wounds – some still open – make fertile ground for narratives that tap into historical trauma, anti-Western sentiment and cultural conservatism. It is precisely this emotional terrain that Russian disinformation seeks to exploit. The TruthAfrica project was born out of a growing need to track and challenge the insidious spread of propaganda across the
Nov 25, 2025


Fogbound: Narrative Wars
Ukraine’s setbacks are troubling but only part of the story. By Edward Lucas Consequences of enemy shelling of Ternopil (Photo: Suspilne Media) Corruption scandals in Kyiv, devastating attacks on infrastructure, the looming loss of Pokrovsk, and newly effective Russian innovation in drone warfare — the bad news from Ukraine keeps coming. Put the elements together and they make a bleak, even dire, picture. Ukraine is running out of soldiers, money, power supplies, and time,
Nov 21, 2025


The European Democracy Shield
EU announced the establishment of the European Democracy Shield . The Shield, developed jointly by the European Commission and the European External Action Service, has a robust external dimension and will help empower strong and resilient democracies. Under its first pillar on safeguarding the integrity of the information space, the Joint Communication formulates the EU’s necessary response to the threat of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). With this
Nov 18, 2025


Sneaky heat: the Kremlin uses climate change to push its favourite FIMI narratives
With COP30 underway, the consequences of ongoing climate change are all around us . This summer in Spain, in the midst of an unprecedented heatwave , some 380,000 hectares burned in wildfires. This area was the fifth largest on record , despite decades of work to improve prevention measures and give harsher sentences to those who start fires. Portugal also suffered, with fires destroying 260,000 hectares – proportionately, the largest burn area in Europe. Even in Paris, autho
Nov 11, 2025


Weaponising climate change to undermine the West
The pro-Kremlin disinformation machine is seeking to undermine the EU’s sanctions policy by attacking its Green Deal. In its quest for the tiniest bit of news that could be twisted to undermine liberal democracy around the world, the Kremlin’s disinformation machine occasionally seizes on an issue that it otherwise treats with disinterest or disdain. So it is with climate change. The pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystem tends to ignore it: The COP30 climate conference, schedu
Nov 7, 2025


Large language models: the new battlefield of Russian information warfare
In the digital age, disinformation campaigns have evolved beyond social media and ‘fake news’, becoming a full form of information warfare – an area in which Russia excels. The Kremlin’s foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) campaigns have remained largely consistent since the Cold War. But the emergence of the Internet and other communication technologies have allowed for more flexibility and greater impact with fewer resources. Just as the Web 2.0 reshape
Oct 28, 2025


Ukraine’s War of Fact and Fiction
Getting accurate information and news is harder than ever in the social media age, but close to existential in a country at war. As with much of the world, traditional Ukrainian outlets like television, newspapers, and radio play a diminishing role. Citizens have increasingly turned instead to Telegram, YouTube, and Facebook, even though trust in these digital platforms is strikingly low. A survey of 2,000 Ukrainians by Rating Group , a Kyiv-based research organization, hig
Oct 23, 2025


Strain beneath the surface: Russia’s economic pressures amid a continuing conflict
The Kremlin’s planners prepared well for their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, building up currency reserves and later boosting growth through military spending. But the Russian economy is beginning to show signs of weakness as Moscow’s illegal war continues. For years, Russian state outlets and pro-Kremlin commentators have boasted of Russia’s great economy despite Western sanctions that greatly intensified after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In
Oct 21, 2025


For the Kremlin, elections are golden opportunities for interference
Source: Andrej Babiš Facebook page On 4 and 5 October, Czech voters went to the polls to elect a new parliament. And the Kremlin once...
Oct 14, 2025


The shadowy SVR openly pushes disinformation narratives
On 28 September, President Maia Sandu and the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) scored a landslide victory in the Moldovan...
Oct 7, 2025


Moldova’s Voters and the Russian Bear Paw
Moldovans are preparing for an election that will determine their future in Europe amid “unprecedented” Russian interference. Can they...
Sep 23, 2025
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