Disinformation about Ukraine is rampant in Eastern Europe

In the countries of Eastern Europe, controlled in the past by Russia and where since then a deep anti-Moscow sentiment prevails, false information and rumors are surprisingly pervasive as the regional crisis worsens.

In Slovakia, Ukraine’s neighbor, misinformation about the situation is widespread, including from MPs.

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech in which he questioned the very existence of Ukraine, Lubos Blaha, a member of the left-wing opposition party Smer and followed by 170,000 people on Facebook, said he was “convinced that [Putin] he wants peace.”

On its website it states that Ukraine “provoked and threatened Russia” while “the West harassed it” and that in Ukraine, “controlled by oligarchic clans, neo-Nazism and Russophobia are on the rise and corruption is at its peak”.

Anti-NATO sentiment

Slovakia appears to be especially susceptible to pro-Kremlin disinformation.

This country of 5.5 million people, which shares a 60-mile border with Ukraine, this month signed a defense agreement with the United States that allows US troops to operate on its territory.

The agreement has been strongly contested by the opposition and a significant part of the population, which makes it a main target for disinformation and propaganda.

The consequence is that in Slovakia anti-American, anti-NATO and even anti-European Union sentiments are on the rise.

According to a survey last month by the Slovak Focus agency, 44% of respondents blame the United States and NATO for the increase in tensions between Russia and Ukraine, while only 35% blame Moscow.

“Already in January there was a massive increase in disinformation aimed at justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine,” says Bohumil Kartous, spokesman for the Czech Elves, a network of hundreds of people who monitor the internet.

“This topic far outstrips all others, including COVID-19,” stresses Kartous, whose group publishes monthly reports on disinformation being shared in the Czech Republic and the region.

The disinformation aims to present Ukraine as a “failed and corrupt state” ruled by “fascists” and carrying out “genocide on its Russian-speaking population”, the Czech Elves write in one of their reports on the conflict.

“Feeling of insecurity”

In the weeks leading up to Putin’s decision to allow Russian troops into eastern Ukraine, several videos circulated online purporting to show Ukrainian troops preparing to enter Russia.

AFP Fact Check found that many of these videos showed military exercises unrelated to the current situation and were filmed years earlier.

Some of the images date back to 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. One of the videos, from 2018, posed as a BBC report.

Some of the forgeries “present NATO as being responsible for the current situation, when Russia is simply supposed to be resisting long-standing efforts that threaten its security,” Kartous said. “This resonates with a part of the population,” he says, referring to the Czech Republic.

The Czech government has been sending ammunition to Ukraine.

In the regions traditionally closest to pro-Russian positions, Moscow’s rhetoric is already deeply rooted.

Serbian President Alexandar Vucic declared this week that 85% of his compatriots “will always side with Russia, no matter what.”

Serbian tabloids this week repeated an unverified report that Russian forces had destroyed two Ukrainian armored vehicles that had entered Russia.

“Ukraine has attacked Russia!” reported Serbian tabloids on Tuesday, hours after Vladimir Putin announced he would recognize two breakaway regions of Ukraine and ordered the dispatch of troops.