IN SHORT:
- The EU is accused of encouraging Armenia to persecute the Orthodox Church
- The drone incident in Romania is presented as a false flag operation
- France’s seizure of a “shadow fleet” tanker is framed as “piracy”
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
For several years, Russia has used the Orthodox Church, as well as the Moscow Patriarchate, as a tool for propaganda and FIMI. This time, before and during the elections in Armenia, the Kremlin used the religion card by falsely claiming that the EU had aggressively begun to push the Russian Orthodox Church out of Armenia. The aim was to portray Armenia’s European path as an attack on religion, identity, and sovereignty.
Following yet another drone incursion into NATO territory, this time in Romania, pro-Kremlin messaging claimed that the EU and NATO were manufacturing threats to justify militarisation and confrontation with Russia. This follows a familiar inversion tactic: Russia creates the security threat, then accuses Europe of exploiting or fabricating it.
A “piracy” narrative around France’s seizure of an oil tanker serves to delegitimise sanctions enforcement against Russia’s shadow fleet. Recently, the EU and its member states have taken a stronger stance against this dangerous fleet, which both funds the Kremlin’s war machine and poses a serious ecological risk.
MAIN FIMI NARRATIVES BEING SPREAD:
‘The EU has aggressively begun to push the Russian Orthodox Church out of Armenia’
Disinformation outlets claim that the EU is waging a campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church in Armenia as part of a broader effort to weaken Russian influence in the country.
There is no evidence to support this. EU-Armenia relations are governed by agreements that contain no requirements regarding religious affiliation or ties to Moscow, and the EU’s legal framework is based on secular neutrality, freedom of religion, and the protection of fundamental rights, including the autonomy of religious communities. Likewise, Armenian law upholds the separation of church and state and protects the rights of various religious communities, including Orthodox Christians.
In the run-up to its parliamentary elections, Armenia faced an extensive FIMI campaign from Russia aimed at pulling the country away from its path toward closer ties with the EU, claiming that the EU plans to use Armenia as a weapon against Russia and that EU integration will ruin the country’s economy. This particular claim was advanced by Russian intelligence services, which have a proven track record of publishing unverified allegations that are later amplified by pro-Kremlin FIMI outlets.
This false claim was introduced by SVR and amplified by TASS, a Russian state-controlled outlet, as well as multiple Armenian Kremlin-aligned outlets.
‘Drone incident in Romania used to push for war on Russia, raise military spending’
Disinformation outlets claim that the leaders of the EU and NATO are using the recent drone incident in Romania to push the country closer to war with Russia.
Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin outlets frequently accuse the EU of exploiting various incidents as a pretext to increase military and defence spending. In reality, it is Russia that repeatedly creates security threats and incidents across Europe. The measures taken by Romania are a response to the security challenges stemming from Russia’s military aggression. Both Romanian authorities and NATO have unequivocally identified the drone as a Russian Geran-2 model.
This inversion of reality, aimed at shifting blame away from Russia, is a well-established tactic of pro-Kremlin disinformation.
This false claim was disseminated by the English-language website of RT, a Russian state propaganda outlet.
‘French navy’s seizure of the oil tanker Tagor is tantamount to international piracy’
Russia’s FIMI messaging claims that France seized a tanker of the Russian “shadow fleet” in violation of international law.
According to the French authorities, the Tagor was lawfully intercepted on suspicion of false flag use and sanctions evasion. The seizure is part of France’s crackdown on the so-called shadow fleet that helps Russia avoid sanctions and continue financing its war against Ukraine.
Describing actions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet as piracy is a recurring disinformation narrative used by the Kremlin after each seizure, without ever presenting evidence that laws have been broken. Repeating falsehoods until they are accepted as truth is a classic propaganda tactic.
This false claim appeared on RT’s Arabic-language website, part of the Russian state-controlled FIMI ecosystem.
