Context

As the year comes to an end, here is an overview of the strategy of pro-Kremlin media vis-à-vis their audiences in the Middle East and North Africa with a focus on the most striking recurring narratives that they have been spreading over the year.

2019 is coming to an end, and what a year it’s been! The last year of the 21st century’s teenage decade will go down in history as the time when we first took photos of a black hole, found lost continents…

"I'm constantly being asked this question: where do they get tanks and heavy artillery? Listen, in many hot spots around the world there are various kinds of conflicts and military campaigns, including with the use of tanks, artillery, and so on.

The pro-Kremlin media has launched an aggressive campaign against Estonia, since the Russian state information bureau Sputnik ran into problems for failing to pay the rent for its office. “Sputnik is the victim of an unprecedented persecution“, “Estonia oppresses Russian media“.

Disruptive social media accounts are appropriating images related to Native Americans and exploiting them through computational propaganda.

“In the struggle with Russian disinformation, the so-called ‘BBC standards’ of journalism not only do not work but on the contrary are exceptionally destructive,” regularly giving Moscow victories it does not deserve and must not gain, according to Evhen Tsybulenko.

Russian election committee was reviewing videos which were supposed to prove the falsification of the election results. After diligent research, the committee stated that 146 % of the videos are fake.

As the North American Aerospace Defense Command prepares for its traditional tracking of Santa’s journey around the globe on December 24, it’s also a suitable time to see how well the pro-Kremlin media covers the planet.

Claims about WADA doping ban, Maria Butina's foreign agent plea, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili's killing in Berlin. Source: Kremlin.ru, Dec.

sinking, breaking down, crumbling to pieces. This week’s Disinfo Review is a catalogue of the Kremlin’s worst fears. From Ancient Greek ἀλήθεια (aletheia), “truth” and φόβος (phóbos), “fear” or “phobia”.