In the first edition of the DFRLab’s Narrative Warfare series, released on the first anniversary of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we examined narratives that claimed Ukraine had developed biological weapons that were sponsored by the West. Now, on the third anniversary of the war, we reexamined this narrative and found the conspiracies and false […]
From his early work as a journalist to being founder and editor-in-chief of Russia and Iran-supported "independent media" platform The Grayzone, Blumenthal has developed a dubious reputation for disseminating the disinformation of dictators while pushing antisemitic narratives. Beloved by fellow America-hating anti-Western "anti-imperialists" like the late John Pilger, George Galloway and Oliver Stone, his propagation […]
A relentless Kremlin campaign of disinformation and destabilisation aimed at bringing Marine Le Pen’s pro-Putin extreme right party to power in France has failed - for the moment. The upset result in the snap legislative elections placing the Rassemblement National (RN) in third place among parliamentary parties is a significant blow to Russian interests. Even […]
As France prepares to vote in the snap legislative elections’ runoff, with Marine Le Pen’s extreme right, Putin-admiring movement pushing at the gates of power, conspiracy theories are running amok. A clutch of notorious propagators of narratives spanning pro-Kremlin conspiracies, anti-vax theories, climate change denial, QAnon, and Holocaust negation have already been elected outright in […]
The French Embassy in South Africa has used humour and sarcasm to unmask a propaganda video fake being spread by official Moscow accounts purporting to feature a so-called “French soldier/mercenary” being “captured” in Ukraine by Russian forces. The video had been spread by conspiracist accounts claiming Western/Nato forces are already on the ground in Ukraine […]
Tucker Carlson’s much-hyped interview with Vladimir Putin was touted by the former Fox news anchor as a serious journalistic endeavour. But it principally offered the Russian President a cosy global platform on Elon Musk's X to promote some of his most-favored conspiracy theories, notably about Ukraine and its western allies. The Russian leader surpassed even […]
Russia’s strategic move to engage Africa-friendly figures in spreading its propaganda has given rise to a network of Pan-African influencers. This group significantly shapes the pro-Russian narratives in West Africa, particularly advocating for the reduction of French and Western influence in the Sahel, while promoting Russian involvement in the region. A central figure in this […]
A severe storm system moved through the Black Sea this week, impacting occupied Crimea and parts of Ukraine and Russia, leaving millions without heat and power. Amid the storm, pro-Kremlin sources re-circulated an old conspiracy theory suggesting US-based entities were complicit in the storm’s creation. The conspiracy theory accuses the United States of having a technological program that can control the […]
‘Project Kemi’ is the name of an operation led by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s teams. Between 2018 and 2019, the founder of the NGO Urgences panafricanistes was at the heart of the strategy to influence Africa led by the head of the Wagner nebula. Kemi Seba’s name appears in dozens of internal documents detailing the contours of […]
"Look at what they're doing with their own people!" In his address to the nation on February 21, Vladimir Putin accused the West of having made pedophilia "the norm." A wild attack typical of the Kremlin leader, but one which resonated with the most far-out conspiracy circles, such as the QAnon community which spreads disinformation […]
