Infoguerre

Historical revisionism takes many devious forms in Russia. One of the most blatant Kremlin’s attempts to of manipulation is the re-writing of school history books, filling them with lies and pro-Kremlin disinformation. In recent years, the Kremlin’s propaganda has repeatedly accused the West and neighbouring countries of “historical revisionism”. According to Putin, the West deliberately falsifies history in order to weaken and humiliate Russia. Meanwhile, Russia protects and promotes the “true history” – all other countries have a distorted vision of the only “true” history kept by Moscow. In 2023, the Kremlin decided to react to Western “historical revisionism” with a very peculiar step – the official revision of Russian school history textbooks. In other words, replacing facts with fiction, based on the core disinformation narratives the Kremlin has propagated for years. The first red flag: the “revision” was carried out by Putin’s political lackeys, not actual historians.

More reports are shining light on the Kremlin global disinformation ecosystem, which does not shy away from putting human lives in danger for petty power plays. More reports are shining light on the Kremlin global disinformation ecosystem, which does not shy away from putting human lives in danger for petty power plays. Experts at the French VIGINUM agency, known also for their earlier work related to the ‘Reliable Recent News’ or ‘Doppelgänger’ network, uncovered in their most recent report a pro-Kremlin disinformation network that they dubbed as ‘Portal Kombat’. This exposed network is comprised of ‘information portals’ that broadcast pro-Kremlin takes on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, it denigrates the Ukrainian government in order to influence public opinion, particularly in France.

Militarisation of minors in Belarus has been part of the regime’s response to the 2020-2021 protests. In parallel with large-scale repression, authorities introduced a broad set of measures to ideologically indoctrinate and militarise minors as part of schooling. One of our earlier analyses touched upon the Sovietisation of Belarusian schools that have lately been mostly renamed after Soviet heroes. This trend has taken place amid an even more worrying development in the Belarusian education system: pushing minors into military activities and indoctrination with paranoia. In September 2021, in parallel with harsher repression, the regime established a new teaching position in Belarusian schools: supervisors of ‘military and patriotic upbringing’. These positions, often occupied by retired career military officers, are similar to the pre-conscription training at schools that occurred during Soviet times. By March 2023, 93 per cent of secondary schools and 52 per cent of colleges reportedly(opens in a new tab) had such a supervisor.

Kremlin’s propaganda spectacle, dubbed Putin’s ‘interview’ with former Fox talking head Tucker Carlson, attempts once again to rewrite history and recycle all the favourite pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives. Putin opened the Kremlin’s doors to the fired former Fox News host, right-wing extremist Tucker Carlson as microphone-holder for a two hour trip, some call it “interview”, basically regurgitating Putin’ thinly veiled imperial dream. The attention around this propagandistic spectacle illustrate the Kremlin’s attempt to craft a the psychological operation to erode popular support for Ukraine in Western societies. Any news from the Carlson/Putin show? In fact, nothing new. Most of the world know that Putin is obsessed by a desire to control Ukraine and restore imperial Russian glory. Putin launched himself into a 30-minute history-according-to-Putin lecture and then cruised around unchallenged by Carlson.

The Kremlin is stepping up its campaign to split EU societies and undermine morale in Ukraine. Pro-Kremlin disinformers and manipulators have been busy this week focussing on the European Union. They blame, criticise, belittle, ridicule, smear, and launch personal attacks on high-level European leaders. This is a classic trick to fill airtime and deflect attention away from their own inconvenient realities. It can also be adapted to recent developments so that claims come across as real news or new statements which should interest the public. As we highlighted last week, the backdrop for all this is the Kremlin’s routine predictions in recent years of the EU’s soon-to-come collapse. When this collapse does not materialise, propagandists have a problem in front of their audiences. Recent weeks illustrate how the framing shifts.

For Ukrainian civilians, surviving Russia’s offensive means not only escaping bullets and artillery, but also navigating a flood of disinformation targeted at them by Russian and Russian-affiliated actors. Research by the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) identified a variety of disinformation narratives spread since February 2022 that have endangered civilian lives. Information operations are now commonly incorporated into national military and defense strategies. States recognize that dominance of the information sphere—including the ability to identify and counter disinformation—can contribute significantly to the success of military operations. In Ukraine, the government and military have been keenly focused on how to counter disinformation that has accompanied Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country. Ukraine also has a robust civil society working to identify and debunk mis- and disinformation. However, most government and civil society efforts to identify and dispel false information narratives have focused on strategic and far-reaching narratives that threaten to undermine the credibility of the Ukrainian government and military, and that attempt to justify Russia’s aggression

The Kremlin opens a firehose of falsehoods to flood the information space with manipulative narratives about the IL-76 plane crash in Belgorod, and seeks to alter the perception of farmer protests across Europe, spelling doomsday scenarios for the EU. Once again, it has been a busy week for the Kremlin’s information manipulation purveyors. From planes crashing in Russia’s backyard to some EU countries displaying democratic behaviour such as freedom of expression and the right to assembly, incomprehensible in the Kremlin, there were indeed many angles the Kremlin’s disinformation apparatus sought to exploit for its own devious goals. Let’s have a closer look at how they sought to alter the public perception of some of the events that unfolded this week. Almost immediately after the IL-76 crash was reported, pro-Kremlin channels started spreading claims that the cargo plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) headed for a pre-arranged prisoner swap with Ukraine.

The latest EEAS report on FIMI threats reveals how foreign powers are systematically undermining democracies. This is not just an attack on facts, but a strategic thrust against our institutions and societal fabric, exploiting everything from elections to global crises and influential figures. The European External Action Service (EEAS) has released its second report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) threats. The latest report has meticulously documented over 750 incidents of FIMI, painting a stark picture of widespread, targeted manipulation and disinformation campaigns. This second iteration builds on the earlier report’s conceptual framework while adding concrete steps for analysis and collective response. This report highlights the breadth and depth of these attacks, encompassing 149 organisations, including influential media, and 59 individuals, including high-profile leaders such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, underscoring an alarming escalation in the strategic targeting of state figures and vulnerable communities.

Poland, one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine, has long been among the favourite targets of pro-Kremlin disinformers and past weeks have been no exception to the rule. Interestingly, Russia did not attack Poland directly, but rather using Belarus, Poland’s Kremlin-minded eastern neighbour. The Polish-language edition of Pravda, the successor and namesake of the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, claimed that Poland destroyed bilateral relations with Belarus by applying EU sanctions. This is an oft-repeated pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, mirroring the claims of Belarusian authorities, about an allegedly belligerent Poland. At the heart of the claim lies the backward idea that Poland is plotting against Belarus and its citizens and trying to destabilise and destroy the country. While it is true that Belarus is under EU sanctions, those sanctions were applied because of the regime’s ongoing crackdown against civil society in the country and Belarus’s involvement in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Blaming Poland for that takes some imagination.