None of Eight Myths in Putin’s ‘Crimea is Ours’ Ideology Stands Up to Close...
“’Krimnashizm’” – as the ideologem “Crimea is Ours” is spelled in Russian – consists of a complex of eight myths that are intended to...
Fake: GRU Forces Exchanged for Ukrainian Security Officers
On July 27, gazeta.ru falsely reported that two Russian fighters from the GRU (the Russian military intelligence special forces), Alexander Alexandrov and Evgeny Erofeyev,...
Fake: Sweden’s Purchase of Ukrainian Black Soil
In early July, media and social networks mistakenly reported that Sweden would purchase and export black soil from Ukraine.
The news first appeared July 3-4...
Fake: Poroshenko on the Unity of Russia and Ukraine
In June 2015, several Russian and pro-Russian media falsely reported that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told Ukrainian Radio First Channel: “No doubts that the...
Is counter-propaganda the only antidote to propaganda?
Russia Today is packed full of lies. But aren't there motes aplenty in our own eyes onto the world? Is media credibility shot, and...
Searching the Earth: Essential geolocation tools for verification
By Eliot Higgins from Bellingcat, for The First Draft
As verification and open source investigation techniques and methodologies have developed over the last few years,...
Russia’s Stalinist Diplospeak
A Russian linguist closely examines how the Russian Foreign Ministry’s communication has resurrected the creepy old Soviet style.
Russian is a tough language to learn...
Chechen’s Comments Manipulated to Prove Murder of Donbas Civilians
By taking a comment entirely out of context, separatist and Russian media reported on July 24 that pro-Kyiv Chechens fighting in eastern Ukraine allegedly...
Ekho Moskvy Faces Loss of Economic Independence
Ekho Moskvy has been turned down for a request to its shareholders for a loan of 100 million rubles for six months, RBC.ru reported,...
Fake: Saakashvili’s Adviser Has Israeli Citizenship
Separatist sites have distorted comments made by Mariya Gaidar, the newly appointed Deputy Governor of Odesa Oblast, about her application for Israeli citizenship. The...