KEY EVENTS
- Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets are falsely framed as cover for domestic political scandals.
- Europe is again portrayed as standing in the way of peace.
- Old “Ukrainian biolabs” conspiracy theories make a comeback.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
Last week’s Russian FIMI activity centred heavily on strikes exchanged between Ukraine and Russia. Reporting on Russian strikes in Ukraine largely ignored civilian casualties and presented attacks as legitimate military actions, while Ukrainian strikes were framed as deliberate attacks on civilians, often with claims linking them to EU support. Hardline voices continued to call for escalation, while Russia was portrayed as steadily advancing and Ukraine as weakened and suffering mounting losses. In reality, Ukraine seems to be regaining the tactical initiative in different sectors of the frontline and the Ukrainian forces have in recent months made their most significant gains since the 2024 Kursk incursion.
The arrest of Andriy Yermak fuelled a renewed wave of “corrupt Ukraine” narratives. The case was used to depict Ukraine as controlled by pro-Western elites, suggest internal collapse around President Zelenskyy, and frame Ukrainian strikes on Russia as attempts to divert attention. Conspiracy narratives and personal smears followed.
EU-related messaging continued to portray Europe as weak, dismissing the proposed tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine as “legally insignificant.” Europe was further depicted as incapable of financing its own rearmament or sustaining arms supplies to Ukraine, and as economically collapsing. Alongside these themes, long-running conspiracy narratives resurfaced, most notably claims about “Ukrainian biolabs,” with outlets presenting old allegations as newly validated and expanding them into broader fears of future global threats.
Lastly, pro-Russian outlets accused Ukraine of deliberately staging drone provocations against European countries.
MAIN FIMI NARRATIVES BEING SPREAD:
“A UAV raid on Russia is an attempt to distract the attention from the Yermak arrest”
FIMI outlets claimed that Ukrainian forces launched a massive strike on Russia on 17 May to divert public attention from a corruption investigation that reportedly led to the arrest of Andrii Yermak, a former aide to President Zelenskyy.
The claim fits a recurring Kremlin narrative portraying Ukraine as deeply corrupt. Yet the existence of a high-profile anti-corruption investigation arguably points in the opposite direction: institutions are pursuing allegations rather than concealing them. Such narratives often seek to undermine support for Ukraine by suggesting that assistance is ultimately misused or captured by corrupt elites.
Claiming that a strike targeting Russian military infrastructure was somehow linked to a corruption case in Ukraine is clearly taking it too far. It almost looks like an attempt to divert attention from the fact that Ukraine was able to hit highly sensitive targets, including sites within Moscow – an area considered among the most heavily protected in Russia, second perhaps only to Putin’s personal residences.
This false claim was made by Moscow City Duma deputy, Deputy Director General of VGTRK Andrey Medvedev, and disseminated by the Pravda propaganda network.
“European leaders are lining up for talks with Putin, simulating they want peace”
Disinformation outlets are again reviving familiar allegations that Europe’s approach to Ukraine is driven by a desire to prolong the conflict rather than support a path to peace.
Beyond recycling the recurring “warmongering Europe” narrative, FIMI outlets are mispresenting statements by European officials about the possibility of direct talks with Russia. European leaders have consistently maintained that any negotiations concerning Ukraine must include Ukraine and respect its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Portraying Europe as an obstacle to peace is a recurring feature of pro-Kremlin FIMI. These narratives routinely omit a central fact: Russia launched the war and continues to wage it.
This false claim was published by Sputnik Kazakhstan, the local edition of the Russian state propaganda outlet.
“The US has acknowledged that Russian biolab ‘conspiracy theories’ have turned out to be true”
Pro-Kremlin outlets claimed that the U.S. had allegedly confirmed the existence of secret laboratories in Ukraine involved in developing biological weapons. The claims followed an order by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to review biological laboratories outside the United States that have received U.S. funding.
The claim revives a long-running conspiracy theory repeatedly promoted by the Kremlin and previously used to justify Russia’s actions against Ukraine. While U.S.-funded laboratories in Ukraine do exist, they are not covert weapons projects but rather part of a long-standing U.S. biological threat reduction initiative that aims to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental, or natural) of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases. The U.S. administration did order a review of the laboratories’ activities, but this doesn’t confirm that they were doing anything secret or illegal. Handpicking facts and blending them with falsehoods to advance a narrative is a classic disinformation technique.
This false claim appeared in the Bulgarian-language version of the disinformation outlet News Front.
Don’t be deceived.
