Monday, July 7, 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.

Smoke, Mirrors And Gas: The Kremlin Deflects Blame For The Energy Crisis

By EU vs Disinfo The phrase ‘smoke and mirrors’ refers to a 19th-century illusion that magicians used to project an image in the air. Since...

Pro-Kremlin media praise Putin’s leadership overseeing nuclear drills

By Nika Aleksejeva, for @DFRLAb Kremlin media emphasized Putin’s leadership role conducting annual Grom nuclear drills On October 26, the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry both issued press releases...

Experts grade Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube on readiness to handle midterm election misinformation

By Dam Hee Kim, Scott Shackelford, Anjana Susarla, for The Conversation The 2016 U.S. election was a wake-up call about the dangers of political misinformation...

Explosive Words On Dirty Bombs

By EU vs Disinfo Over the past week, Kremlin top officials and pro-Kremlin outlets resurfaced a washed-out and distinctly appalling disinformation claim. Namely, Kyiv will supposedly detonate a dirty bomb...

Learning To Defend Yourself Against Disinformation: An Essential Skill In The 21st Century

By EU vs Disinfo To mark the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, the EEAS and EUvsDisinfo are launching an information campaign to raise awareness...

What Russia reads on Telegram

Nine out of the top ten political Telegram channels in Russia spread Kremlin pro-war propaganda By Eto Buziashvili, for @DFRLab Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Telegram has...

The Joy Of Bombing

By EUvsDisinfo It has been almost eight months since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has gone through different phases on the battlefield: from...

Pro-Kremlin influencers reignite Zelenskyy “green screen” theory

Narrative recycles old footage of the Ukrainian president recording a hologram to allege he fled the country By Roman Osadchuk, for @DFRLab Pro-Kremlin actors are re-circulating...

A Disinformation Story From Serbia: A Mother Fined For Refusing To Dress Her Son...

By EU vs Disinfo In the Serbian information environment, a Twitter account circulated the story of a Serbian mother living in Germany who was allegedly...

Firing Missiles While Talking Peace

By EU vs Disinfo Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets openly call for revenge and retaliation in the aftermath of the Crimean Bridge explosion, urging Russia to commit...