As Russian missile terror attacks are gaining momentum in the attempt to decimate Ukraine's energy infrastructure, there has been a change in Russian media's tactic. The leading Russian media started covering every single air raid alert in Ukraine in painstaking detail — something that wasn't done until recently. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

It’s 8:30 on Monday morning. The sound of an air raid alarm pierces Kyiv, but since the city has not been hit by the missiles for a long time, people proceed with the start of the working week as usual. Someone makes breakfast, irons clothes and gets kids ready for school. Someone, despite the sirens, is already on the way to work. At the same time, dozens of Russian missiles are approaching the capital. The first explosion is heard — the rocket hit the city centre.

Russian propagandists seemed to have mixed feelings about last week's events as their jubilant reports on the occupation of Ukrainian territories were punctuated by whining about “negative progress” of the war in Ukraine. Some propagandists tried to sugarcoat Russian military defeats while others did not hold back their criticism of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.Russian media also found the main culprits of the explosions that had torn apart Russian submarine gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and published false reports on more and more countries pulling the plug on Ukrainian refugee support.This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Over the last few days, Ukraine’s armed forces have simultaneously intensified its offensive in two directions: Luhansk and Kherson. With Russia’s attempts to stabilise the front line not yielding any results, Russian troops are retreating from many settlements in the north and south of Ukraine.

Last week, Russian media launched a dedicated motivation-boosting campaign ahead of the imminent military mobilization. The enemy propagandists fumed over Russia's retreat in Kharkiv oblast and once again justified obliteration of the Ukrainian state. There was also a spike in anti-Armenian propaganda: Armenia was being accused of back-stabbing and fueling a conflict — perhaps, due to Russia's inability to interfere. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Why are our guys not sent on rotation? Why are boys without combat experience sent to the front lines? And where are the Western weapons that can save them? People who are distant from the war keep asking these questions, inciting panic and the lamentations about the "naked, barefoot, and hungry in the trenches", which have been going on since 2014.Translated by Dmitry Lytov & Mike Lytov Read in Ukrainian here

Gas. Gas. Gas. Hardly any other word was used by Russian propagandists more often than this one last week. Their rhetoric has changed from threatening Europe to no-holds-barred energy blackmail. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

The recent series of strikes on military installations in Crimea caught Russian propagandists by surprise. No matter how hard they tried to ignore the elephant in the room, their denial strategy failed so they had to improvise. This monitoring report debunks the lies spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant conundrum was all over the headlines of the Russian propagandist media last week. The Russians also moaned about derussification in Ukraine, lashed out at their Baltic neighbours and praised Uzbek-made refrigerators. This monitoring report debunks these and other lies spread consummately by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Water supply to Crimea became one of Russia’s most impactful propaganda messages to justify its aggression against Ukraine.It’s worth noting that in 2014, Ukraine stopped the water supply to Crimea through the North Crimean Canal. Previously, the canal covered 80-85% of all the freshwater needs of the peninsula, but it was mostly used for growing rice in the north of Crimea. After the Russian occupation, this business stopped, so the need for water decreased.However, the slogan "water for Crimea" became a propaganda meme, and Russian occupiers didn’t wait too long to announce the restoration of the water supply – or, more precisely, the beginning of full-scale theft of water from the Dnipro river. Translated by Dmitry Lytov, Mike Lytov, and Tetiana Sykes