A new study found that the old Soviet states and the Balkan countries are the main goals of the Kremlin Bravda misinformation network.
Information, Democracy and Citizenship Center of the US University in Bulgaria Examined over 640,000 outputs From the network to December 2024 to March 2025.
He found that 52% represented the former Soviet and Balkan countries, although they refer to a small portion of the population of the countries studied.
In particular, the three countries aimed at Pravda’s false information are Moldova, Latvia and Estonia, the top five of Serbian and Armenia.
Lithuania, Georgia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Sekwia topped the top 10.
The study shows that there is a sophisticated effort to spread false information in the strategic value areas of Kremlin in the vicinity between these countries and statistics.
“In the top ten targeting, six people have important energy infrastructure that connects European markets with Russian distributions, which refers to potential strategic interest in regions with the importance of energy protection,” the study shows.
“The Pravda target selection system is in accordance with documentary strategies to use information as a tool to expand the influence of regions that are considered strategically valuable,” he continued. “The systematic nature of distribution recommends an integrated campaign, but the independent activity of the media or not the organic interest of the public.”
The Pravda Network is a collection of websites created for the prevalence of pro -Russian propaganda.
Also known as the War Portal, the operations of the Pravda Network have been spreading false news in different European languages over the past 17 years, and the first domains and publications of the Environmental Organization were found in 2013.
Vijinam, a French company responsible for the security against digital surveillance and international interference, is the first person to find the network. Most recently, in February 2024, he released a statement announcing a wider false information campaign in Europe.
Why Moldova is a concessioned goal for Russian false information?
Geography: It is established between Ukraine and Romania, which refers to the border between East and Western Europe – two spheres of different influence.
The other is its political environment: the EU candidate status was given to him in June 2022, which is currently dealing with the tensions between Western pro -pro and Russian sectors.
The ancient Soviet republic, Mlatova, has economic, cultural and historical relations with Moscow, while trying to approach the EU.
Why does Russia, especially Eastern Europe, target? “
According to Sofia Frenden, a researcher of the American Sunlite project, Russia is accumulating its extreme false information in the most close -ups of its extreme false information – an attempt to protect American democracy from false information.
Advertisement. “What we see in the digital place is no different; it is no coincidence that Ukraine was in the main goals of Russian misinformation before the end of the Danpas war, before the end of the eurom.”
Balkan is an “interesting case” because Moscow does not historically regard these countries as “Russians”.
Instead, Balkan represents Russia’s “influence zone” – it is based on the philosophy of offensive reality to justify it – more and more materially, Balkan sees Europe as a gateway to Europe, “said Frenden. Since many Balkan countries are members of the European Union and/or NATO, as Serbia now, as Serbia, is now a special way to place Russian false information in the area of increasingly closed and hostile information for the Russian digital interference. “
“This is still true in EU activities to ban companies like AT,” he added.
AdvertisementWhat kind of misinformation descriptions are shared in these countries?
Like many parts of the world, the stories of false information shared by Russey actors focus on the war in Ukraine, the United States and NATO.
“The main purpose of Russian miscarriage activities from the beginning of the war was Russia somehow forced to occupy Ukraine because Ukraine became a puppet from the United States,” said Freyden. “They are trying to sell these stories inside and outside the West as a way to justify their war.”
The researcher said that he analyzed Russian misinformation aimed at Vasin’s anti -conspiracy theories and misinformation, which, in particular, during the height of the Kovit -19 infections, when Russia tried to promote its own vaccine, hand over Western efforts to control the virus.
Russia seeks to multiply separatist or extreme right -wing stories and racists in the eastern and southeastern Europe.
Advertisement“The main reason for this is the division of the European population and feeds on the anti-U-U-resistant sentiment,” said Frenden. “A separated Europe is much easier to win than a united Europe.”
What can Eastern Europe do to fight Russian false information?
According to Freudon, countries must follow the attitude of the entire society to fight false information.
“The education of children and adults in the field of information literacy – the media, digital and AI literacy – are important,” he said. “People will be free from Russian false information only if they are taught to identify and avoid it.”
Governments must fund their own agencies and civil society organizations to monitor and fight foreign misinformation.
Advertisement“We are watching the closure of many projects and counter-format agencies around the world,” said Freighten Eurovarobi. “This is helping against the vulnerable people of anti -democratic actors like Russia and China to impose the dictatorship of foreign policy on vulnerable people.”
