Last week, Russian propagandists took advantage of the scandal in the Canadian parliament to promote their own narratives.Russian media appealed to the background of the former fighters of the Ukrainian “Halychyna” division which had fought in World War II as part of the German Waffen to blame Western countries of supporting the Nazi and fascists. Finally, the propagandists used the findings of the Polish prosecutor's office in the case involving the death of two Poles from a missile allegedly launched by Ukraine to claim that it is Ukraine that fires missiles at its neighbors to blame everything on Russia.

Last week, Russian media trumpeted the alleged confession of a German serviceman after his Leopard tank had been knocked out by the Russian forces. Such reports seem to be part of a bigger plan to convince their readership that Moscow is fighting against NATO troops. The disinformation media argued that Moscow had never betrayed the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. They vigorously denied all the claims of Russia’s isolation and insisted on a worldwide support of Putin's war. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Last week, the Russian propagandist media tried hard to tone down the success of the Ukrainian assault on a Russian ship repair base in Sevastopol. According to Russian media, the missile strikes were attributed to minor imperfections in the operation of the air defense systems.

There has been a considerable increase in the number of sources being analyzed. For example, this monitoring report contains the results of the automatic processing of approximately 400,000 news items.

After a two-month hiatus, we are finally back with our weekly monitoring reports on Russian propaganda.

Last week, the attention of Russia media was largely focused on Ukraine's counteroffensive. Their main goal was persuading Russians that Ukraine’s operation was a flash in the pan. However, the breaking news at end of the week made the propagandists change their tune. The chief of Wagner PMC attempted a military coup so the Kremlin’s information spin doctors focused their efforts on threatening the conspirators and rallying Russians around Putin. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Putin's address on the state of Russian economy at the “international” economic forum in St. Petersburg was actively promoted by Russian media last week. In a nutshell, Russia’s leader said that the war had ushered in a new era of prosperity. Russian propagandists also paid a fair bit of attention to Ukraine's counteroffensive insisting that Russian army was as strong as ever. In addition to that, the disinformation media once again claimed wounded among Ukraine’s senior military command. This time they said it was the Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov.

The blowing-up of the Kakhovska HPP by Russian forces left the Russian media scrambling for versions which could exonerate Russia with the main narrarative “It was Ukraine, not us!!”. Russian propaganda came up with a flurry of explanations why Ukraine had blown up the HPP denying Russia’s involvement. Russian disinformation media are finally able to report on Ukraine’s actual counteroffensive. Now that the operation is underway, the propagandists have been reporting on Ukraine's colossal losses and the power of Russian weapons.

As the wave of Russian disinformation about the blowing up of the Kakhovska HPP is rising, our analysts are already tracking it for our next week’s report.Meanwhile, this media monitoring report is focused on how Russian propagandists explain the persistence of Ukraine’s defenders to their Russian audiences. Admitting that Ukrainians are forced to fight off the invaders is out of question.

Last week, Russian media continued spreading stories about an alleged rift between the military and political leadership of Ukraine. The propagandists once again claimed that the CinC AF General Valerii Zaluzhnyi had been incapacitated and was no longer able to discharge his duties. Russia’s foreign ministry also said that the United States had financed Hitler and accused it of aiding the Holocaust.Finally, even a slightest hint at the possibility of Japan's NATO membership was enough to make the disinformation media lose their nerve.This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.