We debunk an ongoing theme in the Russian disinformation and propaganda campaign: That Ukraine is sending children to fight on the frontline. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
This disinformation story is a distorted reference to a New York Times report, the content of which is being disingenuously twisted to support pro-Kremlin justifications for the invasion. The original NTY article explains how contacts between US and Ukrainian intelligence started in 2014 but only deepened in 2016, two years after Russia's aggression had started with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the engineering of an armed conflict in Donbas. According to the NYT article, the network of CIA bases was also established on that second date.
This disinformation story is a distorted reference to a New York Times report, the content of which is being disingenuously twisted to support pro-Kremlin justifications for the invasion.
The original NYT article explains how contacts between the US and Ukrainian intelligence services started in 2014 but only deepened in 2016, two years after Russia's aggression had started with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the engineering of an armed conflict in Donbas.
The disinformation is based on an official statement from the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, published on March 7, the anniversary of the creation of the International Legion of Ukrainian Military Intelligence. The statement notes that "The Legion united volunteers from more than 50 countries of the world, who, after a full-scale invasion, came to the aid of Ukrainians and began to fight the troops of terrorist Russia," the report says.
In a report by the Washington Post, Kremlin documents expose Putin's administration using Russian political strategists to push a disinformation campaign against Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
True.
Based on a Russian transcript of Vladimir Putin's interview with Tucker Carlson, Newsweek verified Putin said Adolf Hitler was "forced" to invade Poland, an inaccurate interpretation of the circumstances leading to World War II.
While translations do not use the word "forced" or "compelled", they broadly match its meaning.
Not content with simply creating and spreading fake news, anti-Ukraine trolls are now also using a new disinformation tactic: a method dubbed "Operation Matryoshka" (or Russian doll), which has been exposed by the "Bot Blocker" collective and AFP fact checkers. It is designed to divert the attention of journalists and muddy the waters of information even more.
Military Watch Magazine regularly spreads pro-Russian propaganda. Experts note the advantages of Western tanks over Russian ones
The media that spread the article regularly publishes Russian propaganda, and the material used fakes and manipulations of the Russian Federation
DIGITAL forensic experts in Germany have uncovered a vast, pro-Russia disinformation campaign against the government using thousands of fake accounts on X.