Articles

Kremlin media: Lithuania is planning a terrorist act at the Kaliningrad border on May 9th

Every year in Russia, May 9th is celebrated as "Victory Day" with elaborate ceremonies. However, in Kremlin media, it has become a...

Kremlin spent 1.9 billion USD on propaganda last year, the budget exceeded by a quarter

Since the media was compared to a weapon by Russian officials and propagandists on multiple occasions, the increased spending on the...

NGOs recorded cases of potential social media manipulation during municipal election campaign

During the election campaign for municipal councils and mayors, potential attempts to artificially boost the content posted by certain...

Populist politicians provoke vitriol against Ukrainian refugees

Disinformation intended to discredit and undermine support for Ukrainian refugees became more prevalent in mid-2022 as local far-right...

Contrived risk of military escalation pushed by pro-Putin propagandists

The possibility of the war expanding beyond Ukraine’s borders has received modest attention from Kremlin propagandists. This type of...

Rabbit Holes and Echo Chambers: Experimenting with YouTube

Between Summer 2021 and Fall 2022, Debunk.org’s researchers conducted a series of experiments on disinformation and popular social media....

Almost a fifth of pro-Kremlin disinformation targets economic sanctions

Pro-Russian disinformation aimed at undermining support for sanctions mainly consists of claims that they are ineffective, misguided,...

How Kremlin propagandists have used Soviet monument demolitions to spin claims of 'Russophobia'

The condition of Russian speakers or minorities abroad has been a marginal topic outside of the Russian-language disinformation outlets...

Over 1330 Facebook groups and pages spreading disinformation identified in the Balkan region

Groups and pages on social media have been continuously spreading and amplifying misleading content on four different topics – Russia,...

Calls for Unconditional Peace in Ukraine: Should We Trust Them?

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, propositions and demands for peace have become an integral part of daily...

Over a third of Kremlin war propaganda has centred on battlefield developments

Events on the Russia-Ukraine front line accounted for 36% of all war-related disinformation. A significant portion of the narratives...

Pro-Kremlin disinformation targeting Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

In Lithuania and the Russian-language segment of Baltic media, anti-sanctions messaging has been particularly strong due to the...

Pro-Kremlin propagandists increase nuclear weapons rhetoric

No single narrative dominated the disinformation landscape in the Baltics this week, with propagandists largely pursuing existing themes....

Pro-Kremlin disinformation focuses on Russia-Ukraine battlefield developments

Kremlin propagandists mainly pursued existing narratives regarding events on the Russia-Ukraine front line, ranging from claims that Ukraine

Pro-Kremlin actors attempt to justify Russia's missile bombardment of populated areas

The October 10th missile attacks across Ukraine were a key feature of disinformation in Latvia and Lithuania, with attempts to justify...

Anti-refugee propagandists target economic concerns and fears of cultural “Ukrainization”

Anti-Ukrainian refugee disinformation mainly targets people’s financial concerns in Latvia and Lithuania, while it focuses more on...

Kremlin propagandists warmly welcome Elon Musk’s ‘peace strategy’ tweets

While disinformation actors predominately focused on front line developments, with well-rehearsed claims that the West is provoking the...

Pro-Kremlin actors accuse the West of 'sabotaging' the Nord Stream gas pipelines

The explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines saw Kremlin propagandists seize the opportunity to sow division among Western nations by...

Disinformation actors seek to legitimize Russia’s sham referendums

Recent developments in the Russia-Ukraine war drew the focus of pro-Kremlin voices in Lithuania, with attempts to legitimize Russia’s...

COVID-19 Conspirators Side with Russia: Hyperbolising Inflation and Supply Chain Disruptions

Stand with Ukraine? Make sure you are ready for dire economic consequences. This was the sentiment behind disinformation narratives,...