This week, the Kremlin finally showed its cards when spokesperson Dmitry Peskov admitted the obvious. Namely, that Russia’s gas supplies to the EU have been and will stay on hold not because of supposed maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but because gas is a tool of political blackmail in the Kremlin’s toolbox of […]
Key Narratives in Pro-Kremlin Disinformation: ‘The Hahaganda’
A defining feature of pro-Kremlin disinformation is its repetitiveness. For all the outrageous claims they make, pro-Kremlin outlets often sound like a broken record sticking to just a handful of basic messages for domestic and international audiences. This is not by accident or oversight, it is by design: repetition makes lies sound more believable. Pro-Kremlin […]
Kremlin’s Never-Ending Thirst for Death and Devastation
Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets continue to call immense human suffering liberation and the ruins temporarily fallen into Russian hands tokens of glorious victory. Similarly, without any hesitation, Kremlin spin-doctors turn a terror strike against a shopping mall with Soviet-era cruise missiles loaded with one-ton warheads a surgical precision attack against a justified military target. Russian mouthpieces […]
Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation
Commission welcomes the publication of the strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation. The 34 signatories, such as platforms, tech companies and civil society followed the 2021 Commission Guidance and took into account the lessons learnt from the COVID19 crisis and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. The reinforced Code builds on the first Code of Practice of 2018, which […]
Kremlin Hate Speech Incites War Crimes in Ukraine
After years of collecting, analysing and archiving examples of Russian disinformation on the EUvsDisinfo platform, they have come to expect a certain degree of bombast and unpredictability from pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets. Sure, the overall course of disinformation and propaganda is clear, with the same narratives playing out time and time again, like a broken record. […]
Disinformation Fuelling Food Insecurity
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has repercussions far outside Ukraine’s borders. Three months into Russia’s senseless and brutal aggression, the United Nations World Food Programm (UNWFP) is warning about a global hunger crisis and looming threat of famine – fallout from the war. Known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine has long been one of the world’s top […]
Nato Salesman of the year is surprised by his own efficiency
Yesterday morning, Finland and Sweden simultaneously handed in their official letters of application to join NATO, a momentous step for the two historically militarily non-aligned countries. The decision was a direct reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine. According to Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, “a chain of events leading to the applications had begun last December, with a statement […]
Foreign interference committee resumes its work
The second Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the EU elected Raphaël Glucksmann as its Chair at its constitutive session on Thursday. Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D, FR) said:“Our democracies are under continuous attack and we have to defend them against ever more forceful and sophisticated foreign interference. The mission of this special committee […]
On a Wild Goose Chase head of the 9th of May
More than two months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin’s disinformation machine is showing no signs of wear and tear. If anything, the contrary. Not least because the 9th of May – Europe Day for some, Victory Day for others – is approaching rapidly. Given the importance of this date in the Kremlin’s world of smoke […]