LONDON: The war in Ukraine has been accompanied by a brutal battle of disinformation, particularly waged by pro-Russia agitators who are trying to distort and shift the blame for the many atrocities.
These agitators have sought to portray the Ukrainian side as Nazis or suggest that Western support for Kiev is waning.
Here are some of the main narratives, false or misleading, that have been fact-checked by AFP’s digital verification teams over the past year.
Russian officials themselves have promoted the idea that some of the worst atrocities were staged, such as the massacre of civilians in Buka, near Kiev, in April 2022.
In this case, two clips of poor-quality video footage were used to suggest that people were only pretending to be dead, which the AFP was able to verify thanks to its teams on the ground.
Several other videos have been widely circulated on social media with similar allegations that some of the gruesome crimes were staged.
But the accompanying footage turned out to be completely unrelated, like a rap video, sci-fi movie or Russian TV series.
Many of the allegations point fingers at the world’s leading media organisations. For example, countless doctored screenshots have been shared on this topic, claiming that CNN used old footage completely unrelated to the war in its coverage.
Other internet users have hit out at the television channels, accusing them of airing images of people tied up and bloodied, but only pretending to be injured. In fact they were the actual victims of the Russian attacks.
A flood of false claims online is fueling Moscow’s narrative that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is the head of a gang of “Nazis” or “drug users”.
Thus, social media posts have been shared around the world claiming that a man covered in Nazi tattoos was the police chief in Kiev or that Zelensky was photographed in a football shirt inscribed with a swastika.
Drug allegations have been circulated with manipulated video footage of questionable quality claiming to prove Zelensky’s cocaine addiction.
Ukrainian refugees have also been targeted, particularly in neighboring countries such as Poland and Slovakia.
Manipulated or misleading photographs or videos have circulated online purporting to show refugees as neo-Nazis, criminals or the source of litter marks on public transport.
Other misleading messages, shared in various European countries, claim that Ukrainian refugees are paid more in social benefits than pensioners or veterans in host countries.
Another recurring theme is Ukraine’s perceived betrayal by its neighbor and ally, Poland.
Thus, weather maps are manipulated to suggest that Poland wants part of Ukrainian territory, or documents are falsified to show that Warsaw plans to establish a protectorate in western Ukraine. .
Other social media posts suggest that support for Kiev is not as clear-cut as the West would like to believe.
There are photoshopped images of anti-refugee posters in Prague or Warsaw; photo manipulation of anti-Zelensky street art in major cities around the world; Or the fake front page of the French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, mocking Zelensky.
The propaganda has also focused on energy issues against the backdrop of Western sanctions against Russia and skyrocketing prices of oil and electricity.
In addition to countless false claims about prices or supply, the post says the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell wants to ban homes from being heated above 17 °C (63 °F).
A massive campaign came to light in Europe in which major news sites – mainly in Germany but also in other European countries – were being duped to pump out pro-Moscow messages.
For example, the website of Germany’s top newspaper Bild featured an article about a boy killed in a bicycle accident in Berlin at a time when Europe’s top economy was facing energy shortages.
But the news site and article were fake.