Russian disinformation on social media proves that it can flexibly adapt to recent developments in the war. With its main international propaganda outlets, Russia Today and Sputnik News, blocked in the West, the Kremlin utilizes platforms like Telegram and Twitter to circumvent this obstacle.
The fake content is spread by bots, anonymous accounts, and pro-Russian bloggers and then picked up by far-right and far-left outlets and public figures.
Some of the recent Russian disinformation reacted to the October 10 strikes against civilian targets in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. The goal was to amplify the psychological effect of the attacks, claiming that both President Zelensky and European diplomats are fleeing the city.
Other narratives target Western countries, aiming to disrupt their unity or portray them as warmongers. One such popular disinformation blames the United States or one of its partners for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
This article uses some of the false claims from the fall of 2022 to illustrate the spread of disinformation from Russian channels to the wider information sphere, with a particular focus on Twitter.
