The primary reason Ukrainians have been forced to leave the country, including for Slovakia, is the war Russia unleashed against Ukraine — the relentless missile strikes on critical infrastructure, the destruction of housing, and the threat to civilian lives posed by the Russian army — not a mythical “Kyiv regime.” Ukrainians arriving in EU countries obtain temporary protection status under a directive that was activated precisely in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Social media and Russian websites are circulating claims that the number of Ukrainians who have “fled the Kyiv regime” has risen in Slovakia. Propaganda outlets assert that Ukrainians are being driven out by their own “dictatorial regime” and are receiving political asylum in countries with anti-Ukrainian governments, such as Slovakia. “Nearly ten thousand Ukrainians fled to Slovakia in the first half of 2026, the overwhelming majority of whom were granted asylum in the republic,” Russian media report.
In reality, this is a manipulation. As “evidence,” Russian outlets cite statistical data from migration agencies and Eurostat, attempting to distort it in favor of their own narratives. Yet nothing on these agencies’ official portals indicates that Ukrainians are fleeing their own government and seeking political asylum in EU countries. What is available to Ukrainians in the EU, first and foremost, is temporary protection linked to Russia’s full-scale war, now in its fifth year.
According to Eurostat data, the number of Ukrainians granted temporary protection in EU countries rose by more than 24,000 in June 2026 compared with May of the same year. As of June 30, 2026, EU countries counted 4.41 million non-EU nationals holding temporary protection under the mechanism created to shelter Ukrainians after the start of the full-scale war. It is important to note that these figures represent Ukrainians granted protection on the grounds that remaining in their country of permanent residence had become dangerous because of Russia’s invasion — not for political reasons or on account of a “dictatorial Kyiv regime.”
The EU’s statistical office makes this point explicitly on its official website: “The data presented in this article refer to the attribution of temporary protection status based on the Council Implementing Decision 2022/382 of 4 March 2022, which recognises the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and introduces temporary protection.”
As for Slovakia, the country ranks among the top three by number of Ukrainians granted protection relative to its own population. “The highest ratios of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people were observed in Czechia at 35.8, Slovakia (27.2) and Cyprus (26.8), compared with 9.8 at EU level,” Eurostat writes. Ukrainian citizens continue to constitute the overwhelming majority of those holding temporary status in the European Union, accounting for 98.5%.
The choice of Slovakia for such fakes is no accident. The Kremlin systematically exploits the information environment around the country, leveraging the political character of its current leadership. Since coming to power in October 2023, the cabinet headed by Robert Fico has adopted a notably critical stance toward supporting Ukraine. The government announced a halt to direct arms deliveries from Slovak Defense Ministry stockpiles, has repeatedly opposed military assistance to Kyiv at the EU and NATO level, and has regularly made high-profile political statements about the war that echo Russian narratives — on the “need for compromise,” for instance, or in calls for negotiations on Moscow’s terms. Yet neither European nor Slovak statistics record any political “flight of Ukrainians from the regime,” nor do their official documents contain any such framing.
Fakes of this kind are part of a systematic Russian disinformation campaign. Their purpose is to create a false impression of a “split” within Ukrainian society, to discredit Ukraine’s legitimate government, and to shift responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe caused by Russian aggression onto Ukraine itself.
StopFake continues to expose similar fakes in its reports Fake: Ukraine Is Introducing Criminal Liability for Public Disrespect Toward Zelensky, Fake: Poland’s Intelligence Service Named Ukraine a ‘New Threat’ to Eastern Europe, Manipulation: Austrian Minister Claudia Bauer ‘Issued a Sharp Response to Zelensky’s Demand for EU Accession’.
