A coordinated propaganda campaign across Central and Western Europe portrays Russia’s Oreshnik missile strike on Ukraine as legitimate self-defense while exaggerating the weapon’s capabilities to frighten EU publics into abandoning support for Kyiv.
Following Russia’s use of the Oreshnik missile system against targets in Ukraine in January 2026, a network of outlets with pro-Kremlin positions across Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, France, and Switzerland launched a coordinated propaganda campaign. These outlets, including Russian state media operating in different languages and local sympathetic publications, used nearly identical talking points to frame the strike as justified retaliation, to vastly overstate the missile’s military capabilities, and to threaten European populations with energy collapse and nuclear-level destruction if their governments continue supporting Ukraine.
This analysis examines how the campaign manipulates facts, amplifies fear, and works to erode Western unity through six interlocking propaganda narratives.
The foundational narrative across all outlets presents Russia’s strike as unavoidable retaliation rather than an offensive military action against Ukrainian infrastructure.
Romanian outlet Solidnews frames the attack explicitly as a response:
“Russia struck ‘strategic targets’ in Ukraine from Thursday night to Friday with the help of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile… These strikes… took place ‘in response to the terrorist attack carried out by the Kyiv regime’ against one of Vladimir Putin’s residences.”
Flux24 (Romania) repeats the same framing of justified retaliation:
“The Russian Ministry of Defence stated that last night, ‘in response to the terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime on the residence of the President of the Russian Federation in the Novgorod region’, the armed forces ‘carried out bombardments including with the mobile missile system… “Oreshnik”‘.
Czech outlet Nová Republika extends this grievance to alleged U.S. violations:
“The second use of the ‘Oreshnik’ missile is a response to the failure to respect Russia‑U.S. agreements in Anchorage.”
This narrative blurs the reality that striking civilian energy infrastructure in Ukraine constitutes an offensive act and potentially a war crime under international law. By consistently labeling Ukrainian actions as “terrorist attacks” and Russian strikes as “responses,” the propaganda inverts aggressor and defender roles.
Outlets systematically exaggerate the missile’s capabilities to create psychological deterrence and a sense of technological hopelessness.
Slovak Hlavný denník uses explicit hyperbole in its headline:
“Oreshnik – worse than a nuclear charge! Europe will have a gas problem.”
The article claims: “A strike with a hypersonic missile… can be worse than a nuclear charge: without radioactive fallout it can cripple the energy security of both Ukraine and Europe.”
Czech Infokuryr emphasizes alleged unstoppable speed:
“The facility was hit, as is clear from all the video recordings that captured the lightning‑fast missile ‘from space’… According to military sources, the airborne target travelled along a ballistic trajectory at around 13,000 kilometres per hour… The command emphasised that… for technical reasons this strike could not be repelled. It could only be observed without intervening.”
Hungarian Oroszhirek directly mocks EU leadership while asserting Western defense systems are useless:
“Kirill Dmitriev… reminded Kaja Kallas that there are no air‑defence systems capable of intercepting the Oreshnik missile. ‘Kaja is not particularly smart or well‑informed, but even she must understand that there is no air‑defence system against the Mach‑10 Oreshnik,’ he said.”
By portraying Oreshnik as essentially a non-nuclear weapon with nuclear-level destructive power that no defense can stop, the campaign aims to convince European audiences that supporting Ukraine is futile and dangerous.
Multiple outlets claim the strike targeted Europe’s largest gas storage facility to threaten energy security across the continent.
Slovak Infovojna repeatedly emphasizes the gas storage target:
“The strike was reportedly directed at the Bilče‑Volytsko‑Uherskoje underground gas storage… which represents more than 50% of the total capacity of all its [Ukraine’s] storage facilities… an important signal was sent to the West.”
Czech Nová Republika stresses Ukraine’s supposed energy collapse:
“All Ukrainian sources state that Oreshnik hit an underground gas storage facility in the Lviv region… It arrived at the ‘Struiskoye’ gas storage, which holds 50% of all gas in Ukraine’s underground storages.”
French Réseau International amplifies this as a pan-European crisis, claiming Putin struck “the largest gas storage site in Europe” to demonstrate Russia’s ability to “plunge Ukraine and the European Union into an energy crisis.”
Notably, Hungarian Magyar Nemzet contradicts this narrative entirely, claiming the target was actually an aircraft repair plant:
“According to the Ukrainian authorities and expert analyses, the Oreshnik strike in Lviv hit an aircraft repair plant, not an underground gas storage facility as Ukrainian sources had previously claimed.”
The contradictions reveal the campaign’s flexible relationship with facts – the “gas apocalypse” narrative is used to frighten Slovak and Czech audiences about energy security, while the “legitimate military target” framing is deployed in Hungary to justify the strike. Either way, the goal is to make Europeans fear the consequences of supporting Ukraine.
Outlets systematically portray Ukraine as a “terrorist regime” with cowardly, corrupt leadership.
Magyar Nemzet repeats Russian language about Kyiv:
“As is known, on the evening of 28 December the Ukrainian armed forces launched an unsuccessful attack on the Russian presidential residence. Putin promised retaliation… and Russian forces employed Oreshnik missiles… against critical Ukrainian facilities.”
Oroszhirek publishes a personalized humiliation of President Zelenskyy:
“According to a military analyst, Volodymyr Zelenskyy fled to a bunker‑type shelter built to withstand nuclear strikes before the Oreshnik attack, after the Americans warned him in advance about the impending Russian missile strike.”
Slovak Infovojna features commentator Peter Sabela claiming Ukraine brought destruction upon itself:
“Sabela explained that ‘Oreshnik destroyed the gas storages near Lviv and triggered an energy collapse in Ukraine’, adding that ‘Europe is afraid of the ultra‑modern Russian weapon, while the corrupt Zelenskyy regime is driving the country to defeat and the coalition of the willing has proved powerless’.”
These narratives aim to erode empathy for Ukraine among European audiences, present Ukrainian leadership as simultaneously reckless and cowardly, and normalize Russian escalation as a reasonable response to Ukrainian “terrorism.”
The campaign explicitly threatens European capitals and seeks to deter any potential troop deployments to Ukraine.
Slovak Hlavný denník personalizes threats to EU leadership:
“After the hypersonic Oreshnik strike on Lviv, Europe has fully realised that Russia knows how to respond to attacks against it. The West, however, is unable to respond adequately to a strike of this kind – it can neither stop it nor match it with equal force.”
Infovojna uses explicit nuclear timing to threaten London:
“Medvedev declared that if European or NATO units are deployed on the territory of Ukraine, ‘they will become a legitimate target for our Oreshnik hypersonic missiles’, adding that ‘these European idiots do not understand that it reaches London in ten minutes’.”
Hungarian Oroszhirek amplifies Medvedev’s threats:
“Medvedev stated that if European or NATO units are deployed to Ukraine, ‘they will become legitimate targets for our Oreshnik hypersonic missiles’, adding: ‘these European idiots do not understand that we can reach London in ten minutes’.”
French Newsnet frames this as a new phase of deterrence affecting even Brussels:
“‘The New York Times’ claims that with these actions Russia has clearly indicated that ‘if necessary, Moscow can extend the impact zone of Oreshnik strikes’. At the same time, the Americans admit that an ‘Oreshnik’ missile can reach NATO headquarters in Brussels in only 10 minutes.”
These threats aim to scare European voters into opposing any troop deployments or further military aid to Ukraine, while humiliating EU leaders as weak “idiots” who cannot protect their own populations.
The most sophisticated propaganda layer frames the strike within a broader geopolitical vision where Russia is entitled to dominate Eastern Europe.
French Voltaire Network explicitly links the Oreshnik strike to a proposed “tripolar world order” where Russia, China, and the United States divide spheres of influence, with Europe falling under Moscow’s control. The outlet argues that “the second use of the Oreshnik missile shows that the time has come to recognise a tripolar division of the world, in which Russia, alongside China and the United States, exercises legitimate authority over its European sphere of influence.”
Newsnet presents this as “active deterrence” replacing static nuclear deterrence:
“With ‘Oreshnik’… we are entering the domain of ‘active’, operational deterrence, outside the static… domain that has until now constituted the whole field of deterrence since the advent of the atom… ‘Oreshnik’ is therefore as much an extremely adaptable messenger… as it is a deterrent weapon in the classical, nuclear sense.”
This framing seeks to normalize the idea that Ukraine is merely a bargaining chip in a larger U.S.-Russia-China division of the world, and that accepting Russian dominance over Eastern Europe is the “rational” path to avoid World War III.
The propaganda campaign shows clear signs of coordination across borders and languages:
Identical technical claims: The figure of “13,000 km/h” or “Mach 10+” appears in Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, and French outlets, often with identical phrasing about the missile being unstoppable.
Synchronized timing: Articles appeared within 24-48 hours of the strike across all countries, suggesting coordinated messaging rather than independent reporting.
Flexible “facts,” rigid narrative: While outlets contradict each other on basic facts (gas storage vs. aircraft plant), the core narrative framing remains identical – Russia is powerful and justified; Ukraine/West are reckless aggressors; Europe should capitulate.
Cross-platform amplification: The same narratives spread from Russian state media through sympathetic outlets in each country, often featuring the same Russian officials (Medvedev, Dmitriev, Lavrov) as authoritative sources.
Audience tailoring: Energy blackmail narratives dominate in Slovakia and Czech Republic (countries more concerned about gas), while “legitimate military target” framing appears in Hungary, where the government tends to maintain closer relations with Moscow and has opposed certain EU sanctions against Russia.
This cross-border propaganda operation uses the Oreshnik strike as a tool for strategic intimidation rather than mere battlefield reporting. By systematically exaggerating the weapon’s capabilities, justifying Russian aggression as self-defense, threatening European capitals, and promoting a geopolitical vision where Eastern Europe belongs to Russia’s sphere of influence, the campaign seeks to:
The coordination across multiple countries and languages, combined with the systematic use of exaggeration, selective facts, and direct threats, reveals a sophisticated propaganda infrastructure designed to fracture Western unity and undermine support for Ukraine at a critical moment in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
European audiences should recognize these narratives for what they are: not independent journalism or legitimate security analysis, but coordinated messaging designed to advance the Kremlin’s strategic objectives through fear, demoralization, and the erosion of democratic solidarity.
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