Last week, the Russian media wrote a lot about the Russian army's victories on the battlefield. Propagandists see these local successes as a breakthrough for the Ukrainian front and promise that the goals of the "SMO" (Special military operation - Ed.) will be achieved soon. They also widely covered the visit of Moldovan oppositionists to Moscow: pro-Russian politicians talked about the negative impact of European integration on Moldova, the threat to traditional values, and promised friendship with Russia after coming to power. Moscow's media also got the United States on its heels, with plans to ban TikTok unless Chinese owners sell a company operating in the US market. In Russia, this was predictably called an infringement on freedom of speech.Читати українськоюRead about this and other issues in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

Today, Telegram is one of the most popular apps on both sides of the Ukrainian-Russian front, as evidenced by Similarweb's data for Ukraine and Russia. As of the end of 2023, it served 25 million Russians and 7 million Ukrainians. Most of Ukrainian ministries, state administrations, news agencies, and thoughtleaders are active users of Telegram. The same is true for Russia.Читати українською

In orphanages, schools, and camps, the military teaches children how to handle weapons. The Telegram channels of military brigades explain who the enemy is: Poland and the Baltic states.Читати українською

Last week, Russian media wrote a lot about Ukraine's inability to defeat Russia. And that even if the U.S. Congress passed a bill to help Ukraine, it would not change the situation. For the propaganda, the allocation of billions of dollars in aid to Kyiv is proof of Ukraine's defeat and shows that America is trying to quickly save Ukraine, which is heading into the abyss. The vote itself is a consequence of corruption in Congress, as House Speaker Mike Johnson has profited from a shale gas field in exchange for putting the bill to a vote. The propaganda also wrote about Tucker Carlson's interview with Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram and VKontakte social network. And it spread only those statements that harm the reputation of the United States.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

Russia continues its targeted military campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. We mapped out the targets hit in recent Russian missile and drone attacks. The Trypillia thermal power station, one of the biggest electricity suppliers to the Kyiv region, was destroyed by Russian missiles on 11 April.

Last week, the Russian media was concerned about the flooding in Russia. This is the leading news, so attention was focused on praising the work of government agencies in rescuing people from this disaster. Propaganda also whitewashed the reputation of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB). The fact that the Americans knew about the attack and even informed them about it significantly damaged the prestige of the FSB. That's why disinformers wrote a lot about its work. They report on the detention of terrorists and spies in packs. In reality, it often involves the detention and imprisonment of Russians who carelessly write something on social media. The Russian media also wrote about an ally in the Middle East, Iran, which righteously responds to Israel for insults but, in fact, acts as a peacemaker because it could have caused irreparable harm to Jews but does not want to do so in good faith.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

The Russian Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopter is a formidable weapon capable of inflicting considerable damage. According to various estimates, before the full-scale invasion, the Russian Aerospace Forces had between 140 and 160 “Alligator” combat helicopters. Several more units were produced during the war. During the war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed or damaged about half of this equipment.Читати українськоюText: Oleksandr Shulman, graph: Nadia Kelm, Nataliia Romanyshyn

Last week, the Russian media wrote a lot about countries on the unfriendly list. Traditionally, France was in the propaganda lens. Disinformers cannot forgive Macron`s statement about the hypothetical deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine. They wrote about hostile Finland. Finns are accused of disliking "people from the East" and Russians. The propaganda claims that Finland's industry is collapsing because of the conflict with Russia, and reminds us that the country was once part of the Russian Empire. They also mentioned Kyrgyzstan. Propaganda attacked the country after it restricted the use of the Russian payment system Mir. They claim that there is nothing to do in Kyrgyzstan except eat pilaf. In fact, the country's budget will now be left without money, as labor migrants in Russia will not be able to replenish it.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

Last week, the Russian media discussed whether the death penalty should be brought back to Russia. The propaganda lamented that criminals should be severely punished rather than allowed to live in warm Russian prisons.Читати українськоюAlso, after the terrorist attack in Crocus, there was talk of the need to tighten migration policy. And while Ukraine is accused of the terrorist attack in statements, Tajiks face physical violence. Russian law enforcement agencies have joined the anti-immigration hysteria. They even discussed the need to introduce a visa regime with Central Asian countries. We have also seen another surge in the information campaign against the Armenian leadership. Nikol Pashinyan joins the club of "Russophobes" and "traitors" to the Russian people.Read about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

The terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall was the biggest news on Russian media last week. As soon as the first reports hit the Internet, it was clear that Russian propagandists were determined to blame Ukraine. It was as if the disinformers were running a creativity contest with just one task: connect Kyiv to the terrorist attack in any way possible.Читати українськоюMargarita Simonyan, the top propagandist and the RT editor-in-chief, hurried to tweet it was the unbrotherly Ukrainians: “All evidence points to the fact that the attack was planned by our not-quite-brothers”. Former president now blogger Dmitry Medvedev called to kill the Ukrainian leadership: “All those people must be found and eliminated as terrorists without mercy including the top officials of the state that launched such an atrocious attack”.The accusations remained even after ISIS terrorists had claimed responsibility for the attack. The disinformers argued that it was Ukraine’s tactic to shift responsibility onto Islamists.According to Russian media, the United States might also had a hand in the incident: they warned about the terrorist attack which appears suspicious. Moreover, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova believes that Washington is using ISIS to undermine America’s competitors.This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.