ALL ARTICLES

The mythology of Russian military invincibility is not new, but since the full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 it has become one of the central pillars of the Kremlin’s information warfare. Research shows this narrative is deliberately engineered to serve geopolitical, military and psychological objectives; in particular to deter Western support for Ukraine, demoralise Ukrainian society, and project an image abroad of unstoppable Russian power . The invincibility myth depic

Throughout 2025, Russian officials were repeatedly shut out of the governing bodies of international organisations – a direct consequence of Kremlin’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine and its escalating campaign of hybrid interference worldwide. A glimpse of what’s to come? 2025 was a bad year for Russia’s international standing. As Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, recently described on Facebook, Ukraine and its allies worked hard throughout

Five recurring false narratives the Kremlin uses to justify and distort its war against Ukraine. Russia has carried out online disinformation and FIMI campaigns against Europe and Ukraine for over a decade. After the illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, these activities grew rapidly in scale and intensity. The Kremlin now uses information manipulation as a key tool in its confrontation with the West. Alongside the war in Ukraine, Russia is also waging a

The Kremlin blames others for not extending The New START Treaty. But Moscow played a big role in undermining the Treaty long before its demise. On 6 February 2026, The New START Treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty, expired . As that happened, the Kremlin both launched and continued FIMI campaigns that sought to minimise Moscow’s responsibility for the Treaty’s lapse, blame the expiration on outside actors, generate doomsday paranoia, and proclaim a new nuc

A number of recent global risk assessments converged on a clear message: FIMI, disinformation, and misinformation have become a systemic threat for democracies worldwide. This is no longer simply an issue of ‘fake news’ but a structural risk that undermines the conditions for economic growth, social welfare, and liberal institutions. Another clear message emerging from these reports is the importance of a robust public‑interest media ecosystem as a guardrail against informati

In December 2024, Telegram began restricting access to channels of Russian propaganda resources sanctioned in the EU. However, a study by the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law revealed a wide range of tools used to bypass the ban. The persistence of Russian information manipulation and interference (FIMI) in the EU stems from two key factors. First, it is the inherent adaptability of Russian threat actors post-sanctions. Second, it is Telegram’s own platform gaps that con

Lavrov’s 2026 presser: a three-hour FIMI offensive against Europe and its leaders Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s annual press conference(opens in a new tab) on 20 January 2026 was not a diplomatic review, but a carefully orchestrated example of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) directed at Europe, the EU, the Baltic states, Moldova, and key European leaders. Over nearly three hours, Lavrov repeated a familiar set of Kremlin narratives intend

Russian disinformation campaigns are not random but organised, persistent, and designed to manipulate how people think, vote, and trust institutions. Despite years of research and monitoring, responses to these operations remain fragmented. The lack of coordinated reporting and a shared framework leads to duplication of efforts and limits the impact of counter-FIMI measures. That is why EU DisinfoLab, together with its partners the European External Action Service (EEAS), Vig

In 2026, the Russian economy is not yet in decline, but it is in real trouble. War-driven growth is losing momentum, sanctions are tightening, financial reserves are shrinking, and uncertainty is increasingly shaping everyday life. What for a while looked like resilience is proving fragile, as the economic costs of the war spread beyond the battlefield. The illusion of resilience For years, the Kremlin has insisted that Western sanctions do not work and that Russia’s economy

Over the years, TikTok has risen to become a global entertainment and information ecosystem, with a monthly user base reaching nearly 1.6 billion people. Propastop analyzed whether the platform—which claims to have around 400,000 users in Estonia (a figure provided by TikTok that cannot be independently verified)—is truly “a place where every company and politician must be, because that’s where the consumer and voter are,” or if it poses a potential threat to society’s psycho

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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