Thursday, September 18, 2025

Context

Stories in the Context section are not fakes. We publish them in order to provide greater insight for our readers about the techniques, methods and practices used by the Russian government in its information war. They appear on our site with the permission of their original publisher and reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily the position of StopFake’s editorial board.

Russian news agency ‘RBC’ refuses to publish investigative report on a ‘secret torture prison’...

By Meduza The news agency RBC refused to publish an investigative story by journalist Ilya Rozhdestvensky about a “secret prison” allegedly operated outside Moscow by...

Most requests to remove online content come from Russia, Google says

By The Moscow Times Russia has come out on top of a ranking of government requests to have online content removed or blocked, according to...

The Nazi-obsession of pro-Kremlin propagandists

By East Stratcom We rarely see such a swift and aggressive reaction to a single video. But the Russian communication outburst to a recent eight-minute...

Russian lawmakers adopt final drafts of legislation cracking down on Internet anonymity

By Meduza Russia’s State Duma passed final versions of legislation that will impose new restrictions on instant messengers and prohibit the use of technologies that...

Children’s toy part of conspiracy against the Kremlin

By East Stratcom Have you tried the fidget spinner? The toy that enjoys a wave of global popularity has now also reached Russia – only...

Living the Russian dream

  By Corina Rebegea, for CEPA Classic Russian propaganda stories are a rare occurrence in Romania’s media space. Yet discreet attempts to win over the hearts...

Nearly two-thirds of Russians now favor statues honoring Stalin and oppose memorials to his...

By Paul Goble, Window on Eurasia Sixty-two percent of Russians say that statues and other memorials should be put up in Russian cities to remind...

The Kremlin is planning its own version of Stone’s ‘Putin interviews’

By The Moscow Times A Russian film company will produce a feature-length documentary about President Vladimir Putin in the lead up to the March 2018 elections, the television channel Dozhd reported...

Russia leading ‘assault’ on freedom of expression — HRW

By The Moscow Times Russian authorities have clamped down on Internet freedoms and introduced “invasive surveillance” online, under the pretext of fighting extremism, Human Rights...

Dependent media – Russia’s military TV Zvezda

By East Stratcom “The chemical attack in Idlib in Syria on 7 April this year was a piece of “fake news” and a staged operation...