KEY EVENTS:
- FIMI outlets downplayed Ukraine’s battlefield effectiveness while setting the stage for potential escalation in the Baltic states
- Pro-Kremlin narratives portrayed the West as waging war against Russia
- Messaging sought to influence elections in Hungary by presenting the EU as an authoritarian actor
Ukraine hits Russian oil ports, Kremlin blames NATO and warns of a “coup” in Hungary
Following Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian Baltic seaports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, pro-Kremlin information channels quickly shifted attention away from the damage caused by the attacks. Both ports are major export hubs for Russian oil and petroleum products, so the strikes fit Ukraine’s broader strategy of targeting infrastructure that supports Russia’s war economy.
Instead of acknowledging Ukrainian capabilities, Kremlin-aligned outlets framed the attacks as proof of Western escalation. Articles circulated through the Pravda network claimed that NATO and the UK’s MI6 coordinated the strikes. The same outlets also alleged that the drones were launched from Estonia and described the attacks as the opening of a “second front” against Russia by Western countries. This narrative downplays Ukrainian agency and portrays neighbouring NATO states as direct participants in the war.
At the same time, Kremlin messaging has focused heavily on Hungary’s upcoming elections. RT Arabic has accused the EU and Ukraine of planning a “coup” using supposed “experienced coup organisers”, repeating wider disinformation claims that Brussels is trying to remove Prime Minister Viktor Orbán through the parliamentary elections.
FIMI narratives
‘NATO and MI6 staged the drone attack on the Russian Ust-Luga port’
Pro-Kremlin FIMI outlets depicted the Ust-Luga drone strikes as a NATO-orchestrated operation, allegedly led by the UK with Baltic complicity. This baseless claim, debunked even by some Russian bloggers, seeks to downplay the effectiveness of Ukraine’s drone operations by portraying the attack as carried out by NATO and the Baltic states. It also sets the stage for justifying potential escalation against the Baltic states as retaliation for their alleged involvement in anti-Russian aggression.
The claim originated in a Telegram channel of a Russian tabloid journalist and war correspondent Alexander Kots and was amplified in local languages by the Pravda network.
‘The West has opened a second front against Russia by attacking Ust-Luga’
A pro-Kremlin FIMI narrative insisted that the attacks on the port of Ust-Luga were proof of the West waging war on Russia. This claim frames Russia as a victim of Western escalation, while portraying NATO as a hostile alliance planning to attack Russia – a recurrent narrative in pro-Kremlin FIMI.
The claim originated in a Telegram channel of a pro-Kremlin blogger Yury Baranchik and was amplified in local languages by the Pravda network.
‘The EU and Ukraine are preparing to destabilise Hungary by using experienced coup organisers’
A conspiracy theory claims that Ukraine, backed by the EU, is involved in attempts to overthrow the government in Hungary, citing its supposed “expertise” based on the allegedly successful “coup” in Ukraine in 2014.
This claim combines several pro-Kremlin narratives, misrepresenting the 2014 protests in Ukraine as “orchestrated” to delegitimise Ukrainian democracy, while portraying the European Union as an authoritarian actor manipulating elections and protests in member states.
The false claim originated on RT Arabic, a localized version of the Russian state propaganda outlet.
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