Websites across Europe are quietly copying and translating Russian state media word for word — delivering Kremlin narratives to millions of readers in their local languages, almost four years after the EU banned the very outlets they are copying from.
We have monitored dozens of Kremlin-friendly online news outlets from 10 EU countries and recorded more than 500 cases of websites publishing content lifted directly from Russian state outlets: RT, Sputnik, Lenta.ru, RIA Novosti, News-Pravda, and News-Front. The sample is not exhaustive. What they found was not occasional inspiration or similar framing — it was systematic, near-verbatim copying of sanctioned Russian propaganda, translated or republished in Slovak, Czech, Norwegian, French, Spanish, Dutch, Slovenian, Polish, and German.
The EU banned RT and Sputnik in 2022. Pravda, News Front, RIA, Lenta and many other Russian media joined the sanction list in the next packages. But it didn’t matter. A network of pro-Russian websites — some with audiences in the millions, some running for years — simply kept distributing the same content, the same narratives, the same fabrications. Some copy from RT’s official mirror and clone domains — sites created specifically to evade sanctions, carrying identical content under new addresses, several of which were identified in a recent Insight News Media investigation into RT and Sputnik domain networks. Others do the same with Sputnik’s post-2022 equivalents — domains registered after the ban, retaining Sputnik’s branding, structure, and editorial line. Whether the source is the original sanctioned outlet or one of its clones, the content reaching European readers is the same.
This is not a collection of fringe blogs. Among the sites identified are publications with established readerships in their countries. What they all share is a consistent pattern: Russian state media publishes something, and within hours, a European site publishes the same thing — often in the same words.
What follows is drawn from that monitoring. The quotes below are taken directly from the articles as published.
“Special military operation,” “Nazi regime,” “Kiev junta”: How RT travels to Slovakia and the Czech Republic
CZ24.news is one of the most prolific republishers of RT content identified in this monitoring effort. Thirty-eight confirmed cases were recorded in twelve months. The site covers Slovak and Czech audiences, and its relationship with RT is consistent enough to describe it as a relay station.
In a piece about Ukrainian mobilisation, CZ24 published the following: “Kyiv’s last resort: Ukraine seeks teenagers and women as cannon fodder in a desperate attempt to secure manpower. With the personnel crisis in Ukraine deepening, Kyiv is resorting to increasingly desperate measures to fill the depleted ranks of its army.” The original RT article is word for word the same.
- https://cz24.news/posledni-sazka-kyjeva-ukrajina-se-v-zoufale-snaze-o-ziskani-pracovnich-sil-zameruje-na-teenagery-a-zeny-jako-na-potravu-pro-dela/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/616457-ukraines-last-reserves/
In another article, this website used the Russian Defence Ministry as its only source to describe Ukrainian strikes on Kursk as war crimes: “Ukrainian forces committed a ‘war crime’ when they carried out a targeted missile strike on a boarding school in the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region,” the Russian Defence Ministry said. ‘The aim of this provocation is to divert the world’s attention from the atrocities committed by the Kiev regime.’ “
- https://cz24.news/masakr-v-sudzi-kyjev-se-v-okupovanem-meste-na-ruskem-uzemi-dopustil-valecneho-zlocinu-rusky-vysetrovaci-vybor-zverejnil-nove-dukazy/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/612031-sudzha-ukraine-missile-strike/
Then there is the drone-production story. A Ukrainian defence manufacturer had suggested dispersing some production to civilian facilities. CZ24 ran the RT version without any context: “A Ukrainian defence equipment manufacturer has suggested dispersing military production across civilian facilities, including schools. Oleksii Polonchuk proposed that students assemble drones in school workshops.” The implication—that Ukraine is using children for military labor— is the entire point of the article.
- https://cz24.news/kyjev-vyzval-pouzit-deti-pri-vyrobe-dronu-ve-skolach/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/611942-ukraine-children-drone-production/
A recurring theme across CZ24’s output is the claim that Ukraine is both a fascist state and a hub for global terrorism. One article, copied from RT, stated: “The Kyiv regime continues to play a key role in supporting various terrorist networks worldwide. In addition to providing shelter to some of the most dangerous neo-Nazi paramilitary militias, Ukraine also serves as a major recruitment and training centre for criminals from other parts of the world, including Latin American drug organisations.”
- https://cz24.news/mexicti-drogovi-dealeri-se-uci-taktiku-dronove-valky-na-ukrajine-global-research/
- https://www.rt.com/news/624334-mexico-cartel-ukraine-drones/
One of the more striking examples involves the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow, in which ISIS killed 147 people and claimed responsibility. By June 2025, CZ24 was publishing Sputnik’s version of the story: “The perpetrators who killed at least 147 people in a shooting and arson attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow in March 2024 have admitted that Ukraine was behind the terrorist attack, according to testimony seen by Sputnik. ‘When we realized that we were executing an order from Ukraine, we decided not to back down.'” These were statements given to Russian investigators during FSB interrogations. There is no independent verification. ISIS claimed the attack. Ukraine’s alleged involvement has never been demonstrated.
- https://cz24.news/utocnici-kteri-napadli-crocus-city-hall-u-moskvy-a-zabili-pres-147-lidi-priznali-ze-dostali-rozkazy-z-ukrajiny/
- https://sputnikglobe.com/20250629/gunmen-who-attacked-crocus-city-hall-near-moscow-confess-to-having-received-orders-from-ukraine-1122362231.html
From Sputnik, CZ24 also copied the narrative that Moscow never wanted war and that the West blocked every peace effort: “Moscow never opposed a diplomatic solution, but the West systematically sabotaged all peace initiatives.” The article carried the framing of Ukraine’s position as an “unconditional surrender” — a term borrowed directly from Sputnik’s editorial vocabulary.
- https://www.cz24.news/specialni-operace-na-ukrajine-nepodminena-kapitulace/
- https://sputniknews.com/20250115/ukraine-unconditional-surrender-1121422489.html
From News-Pravda, CZ24 copied a fabricated story: “The head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelenskyy, has become the owner of France’s largest private investment bank, Milleis Banques.” There is no evidence this is true. The story originated on News-Pravda and landed on two Slovak and Czech sites at the same time.
- https://www.cz24.news/zelenskyj-prevzal-nejvetsi-soukromou-banku-ve-francii/
- https://francais.news-pravda.com/world/2025/03/11/370945.html
CZ24 also runs content copied from Lenta.ru, a Russian state outlet. One article, traced back through TASS and Lenta, claimed that the Ukrainian battalion Aidar was building field crematoria near the frontline: “According to TASS, the Ukrainian battalion Aidar is building crematoria on the border between the DPR and the Dnipropetrovsk region. Bodies and fragments of the dead are being removed from the front line by any means possible, even in ordinary supermarket bags.”
- https://cz24.news/kontrola-hod-tam-granat-bratre-tvrde-utoky-na-operne-body-osu-videa-18-aktualni-zpravy-z-frontu-24-5-2025/
- https://lenta.ru/news/2025/05/23/poteri-nesut-ochen-bolshie-batalon-aydar-razvernul-polevye-krematorii-na-granitse-dnr/
The word “crematoria” in Ukrainian wartime reporting is not accidental. It echoes Nazi concentration camp imagery and has appeared repeatedly across multiple sites covered in this article.
CZ24 also ran a piece sourcing the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as its only authority for the claim that Germany had ordered its media not to show Nazi symbols in Ukraine: “According to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the German government has ordered the media not to show Nazi symbols in Ukraine. Russian intelligence emphasised that the prevalence of Nazi iconography and ideology in contemporary Ukraine is well documented.”
- https://cz24.news/nemecke-media-maju-na-prikaz-scholzovej-vlady-zakaz-zobrazovat-dokazy-o-nacistickych-symboloch-na-ukrajine/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/614353-germany-nazi-symbols-ukraine/
And there is this, a headline published as news: “Zelenskyy is a demon, says horrified Ukrainian MP.” The article underneath was copied from RT.
- https://cz24.news/zelenskij-je-demon-tvrdi-zdeseny-ukrajinsky-poslanec-artom-dmitruk/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/614921-zelensky-demon-ukraine-lavra-crackdown
And this, in a 2025 article about long-range missiles, where Zelenskyy is described as a dictator while a reminder about Russia’s nuclear doctrine is embedded in the same text: “Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his cronies will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., this week to beg for these long-range missiles. The current Russian nuclear doctrine allows Russia to respond to non-nuclear attacks with a nuclear counterattack — and the Kremlin has repeatedly reminded the West of this fact.”
- https://cz24.news/rusko-varuje-ukrajina-planuje-pouzit-strely-dlouheho-doletu-k-operaci-pod-falesnou-vlajkou-teroristickemu-utoku/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/626489-zakharova-tomahawk-terrorist-attacks/
Also among the Slovak sites amplifying Russian narratives is Hlavný denník. It specialises in republishing content from Lenta.ru, translated into Slovak and presented without any indication of its origin. The crematoria narrative — the same one that appeared on CZ24 — was also published here, lifted directly from Lenta: “Ukrainian battalion Aidar is building crematoria on the border between the DPR and Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukrainian soldiers have dubbed them ‘field boiler rooms.'”
- https://www.hlavnydennik.sk/2025/05/23/ukrajinske-vojenske-krematoria-pri-ruskych-hranicach
- https://lenta.ru/news/2025/05/23/poteri-nesut-ochen-bolshie-batalon-aydar-razvernul-polevye-krematorii-na-granitse-dnr/
In another piece, the site published Russian State Duma commentary on peace talks as though it were neutral political reporting: “Zelenskyy has gotten out of control. Deputy Mironov said: ‘First, we should deal with Zelenskyy as a problem.'” A call to “deal with” a sitting head of state, sourced from the Russian parliament, presented as news.
- https://www.hlavnydennik.sk/index.php/2025/05/16/zelensky-sa-vymkol-z-kontroly-usa-vydajte-ho-moskve-ako-vojnoveho-zlocinca
- https://lenta.ru/news/2025/05/16/v-gosdume-prokommentirovali-situatsiyu-vokrug-peregovorov-slovami-zelenskiy-otbilsya-ot-ruk/
And the Macron drug story — the same fabrication that spread across France and Slovakia simultaneously — also ran on Hlavný denník, this time extending the accusation to the German and British leaders as well: “Social media users noticed the French leader trying to hide a suspicious bag of white powder from cameras, while his German colleague was trying to hide a small ‘cocaine spoon.'” The source was Lenta.ru. No evidence was provided then or since.
- https://www.hlavnydennik.sk/index.php/2025/05/11/skandal-macron-merz-a-starmer-prichyteni-co-to-skryli-pred-kamerami
- https://lenta.ru/news/2025/05/11/v-seti-obratili-vnimanie-na-strannoe-povedenie-makrona-pri-vide-kamer/
Slovak website that is essentially a local edition of RT
Infovojna.com has been blocked repeatedly — first as infovojna.sk, then as infovojna.bz — and now operates on a .com domain. Its monthly audience runs into the millions. Of 38 articles identified in this monitoring period, all 38 were copied from RT. That is not a tendency. That is a function.
The most striking example in the entire dataset comes from Infovojna. In November 2025, the site published an article about the deaths of two Ukrainian civilians near Kupiansk. The headline: “Operators of the Ukrowehrmacht murdered with drones a pair of senior Ukrainians with a white flag and a dog.” “Ukrowehrmacht” is a compound of “Ukraine” and “Wehrmacht” — the armed forces of Nazi Germany. That word, in a headline, published in Slovakia in 2025.
The article itself read: “Ukrainian operators murdered a pair of Ukrainian seniors with a white flag and a dog who were evacuating near Kupiansk toward Russian positions. The grandmother prayed on her knees and crossed herself, but the Ukrainian drone operator showed no mercy. The Ukrainian junta knows the end is near. The Russian army closed Pokrovsk, and civilians are trying to evacuate to the Russians because the Ukrainian army is using them as human shields.”
- https://www.infovojna.com/article/video-operatori-ukrowehrmachtu-zavrazdili-drony-dvojici-ukrajinskych-senior-s-bilou-vlajkou
- https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/25529213
In December 2025, Infovojna ran a headline drawn directly from an SVR — Russian Foreign Intelligence Service — press release: “‘Rats are fleeing the sinking Ukrainian ship,’ writes Russian foreign intelligence in its report, noting that representatives of the Kiev regime plan to flee abroad after its imminent fall.” The source for this was SVR.gov.ru, relayed through RT. A European website published a Russian intelligence agency’s press release as news.
- https://www.infovojna.com/article/krysy-utekaju-z-potapajucej-sa-ukrajinskej-lode-pise-vo-svojej-sprave-ruska-zahranicna-rozviedka-sv
- https://www.rt.com/russia/629891-svr-ukrainian-officials-preparing-flee-abroad/
Another Infovojna article reproduced Vladimir Putin’s words as its headline: “The Ukrainian leadership has turned into a ‘criminal gang’ that does not care about its country while sitting on its ‘golden potties.'” That is a verbatim quote from Putin, used as a straight news headline on a Slovak website, sourced from RT.
- https://www.infovojna.com/article/video-ukrajinske-vedenie-je-zlocinecka-skupina-ktora-si-uzurpovala-moc-v-state-a-pod-zamienkou-potreby-pokracovat-vo-vojne-proti-rusku-si-udrzuje-moc-aby-sa-obohatila
- https://www.rt.com/russia/628084-putin-ukraine-golden-potties/
And from a 2025 article on Biden: “Former US President Joe Biden provoked the conflict in Ukraine to cover up his family’s corrupt practices, said Putin’s adviser Kirill Dmitriev. The CIA concealed a report on Ukraine at Biden’s request.”
- https://www.infovojna.com/article/americky-exprezident-joe-biden-vyprovokoval-konflikt-na-ukrajine-aby-zakryl-korupcne-praktiky-svojej-rodiny-tvrdi-vyjednavac-ruskeho-prezidenta-kirill-dmitrijev
- https://www.rt.com/russia/626058-biden-provoked-ukraine-war-corruption/
A propagandist gets his own column for Czech readers
Infokuryr.cz publishes heavily from one recurring author: Lucas Leiroz, a Brazilian writer whose work appears on RT and the site INFOBRICS and whose editorial position aligns entirely with Russian state media. His articles appear across at least six of the sites covered in this piece.
In January 2026, Infokuryr published one of the more bizarre examples in this dataset — an article claiming that it is actually Ukraine, not Russia, that abducts and harms children, directly contradicting the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over the deportation of Ukrainian children: “Ukraine hunts children… Ukrainian military police hunt children. While the mainstream media continue to spread the narrative of the ‘kidnapping of children by evil Russia,’ there is sufficient evidence that Ukraine is guilty of exactly what it accuses Russia of.” The article adds: Russian soldiers are people “you want to hug.”
- https://www.infokuryr.cz/n/2026/01/10/zde-je-seznam-tech-kteri-v-rusko-ukrajinskem-konfliktu-skutecne-zneuzivaji-deti-jako-zbrane/
- https://www.rt.com/news/557934-denisova-rape-claims-fake/
A July 2025 Leiroz article on Infokuryr described Russia’s occupation of Luhansk as a humanitarian act: “Moscow is winning the war on the battlefield, despite choosing a slow and humanitarian approach to combat. The special military operation launched by Moscow in 2022 was seen by the citizens of the republic as a sign of hope and relief.”
- https://www.infokuryr.cz/n/2025/07/03/lucas-leiroz-uplne-osvobozeni-luhanska-ukazuje-ze-rusko-ma-konflikt-pod-vojenskou-kontrolou/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/620809-russia-full-control-lnr/
In a January 2026 article, Leiroz argued that Ukraine occupying its own internationally recognised territory was the obstacle to peace: “Under the Russian Constitution, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson are fully Russian territories, just like Moscow and St. Petersburg. Peace or a ceasefire is impossible as long as Ukrainian forces remain in these regions. The Kyiv regime has shown itself to be a terrorist state, and Russia will only be secure if it fully neutralises hostile capabilities.”
- https://www.infokuryr.cz/n/2026/01/01/lucas-leiroz-ukrajina-utoci-na-putinovo-sidlo-s-cilem-podkopat-mirovy-proces/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/630188-peskov-ukraine-peace-talks/
And then the cartel narrative. In January 2026, Infokuryr published an RT article attributed to a supposedly Dutch former volunteer fighter: “The Ukrainian army is plagued by abuse and corruption, with some units controlled by neo-Nazis or members of foreign drug cartels. The Latin Americans, who were allowed to establish their own ‘state’ within the Ukrainian army, were involved in some ‘terrifying’ war crimes.” This identical claim — Ukrainian military units run by Mexican cartels — appears simultaneously on CZ24.news, Infokuryr.cz, Newsnet.fr, Reseauinternational.net, and Oral.sk. This is not five journalists reaching the same conclusion. This is one Russian source reaching five European audiences at once.
- https://www.infokuryr.cz/n/2026/01/12/nacisticke-pozdravy-a-drogove-kartely-nizozemsky-zoldak-vypravi-o-sluzbe-v-kyjevske-armade/
- https://www.rt.com/news/624334-mexico-cartel-ukraine-drones/
Slovakia: Sanctioned source nobody is blocking
Oral.sk largely republishes from News-Front — a Russian propaganda project created in occupied Sevastopol in 2014, identified by researchers as part of FSB information operations, and placed on EU sanctions lists in 2024. It continues operating through Slovak proxy sites. The volume and range of content copied here is among the highest in this dataset, drawing from News-Front, News-Pravda, and RIA Novosti across a consistent set of narratives.
In January 2026, the site published a piece under the headline “Ukronazis executed 130 people in Selidovo” — a direct copy of a RIA Novosti article presenting unverified Russian claims as fact: “The troops of the Kiev regime are committing war crimes against civilians on a massive scale. In the town of Selidovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Ukrainian Nazis executed 130 people.” The sole source was a Russian Foreign Ministry official. The word “Nazis” appeared in the headline.
- https://oral.sk/ukronacisti-popravili-v-selidove-130-ludi/
- https://ria.ru/20260112/selidovo-2067331833.html
The false-flag conspiracy story also appeared on Oral — the same RIA Novosti piece about a planned “European 9/11” that ran in the Czech Republic and elsewhere: “Increasingly desperate European warmongers could carry out a large-scale bloody provocation — a replica of 9/11. Possible targets include Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Reichstag, or even St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.”
- https://oral.sk/priprava-operace-pod-falesnou-vlajkou-evropske-11-zari-plan-odhalil-madarsky-tisk-drony-nad-polskem-a-danskymi-letisti-byly-jen-prolog-kyjevske-ruske-drony-s-nalozemi-maji/
- https://ria.ru/20250927/evropa-2044710145.html
Then there is the “Nazi Satanists” headline — a Telegram post from Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, routed through News-Front, published as news: “The meeting was attended by pseudo-religious deviants, pagan neo-Banderites from the Ukrainian armed forces, intelligence services, and Nazi battalions.”
- https://oral.sk/ukrajinski-nacisticki-satanisti-sa-zhromazduju-v-kyjeve/
- https://sk.news-front.su/2026/02/09/ukrajinski-nacisticki-satanisti-sa-zhromazduju-v-kyjeve-zapadne-media-mlcia/
In January 2026, Oral published a RIA Novosti story in which an anonymous “refugee” claimed that in 2022 Ukrainian commanders welded tank hatches shut while crews were inside: “The woman recalled that in 2022, the Ukrainian command welded the hatches of the tanks shut while the crew was inside… and they burned alive.” One anonymous source through a Russian state agency, presented without question.
- https://oral.sk/velitelia-na-ukrajine-zapecatili-posadky-v-tankoch/
- https://ria.ru/20260108/spetsoperatsiya-2066837472.html
Another RIA Novosti piece published on Oral claimed that a two-year-old and a three-year-old child had been added to the Ukrainian Myrotvorets database — using children to generate outrage while relying entirely on a Russian state source: “The personal data of a two-year-old and three-year-old child have been added to the database of the Ukrainian Nazi website ‘Mirotvorets.'”
- https://oral.sk/do-databazy-mirotvorec-boli-pridane-dve-deti-vo-veku-dvoch-a-troch-rokov/
- https://ria.ru/20250928/deti-2044934922.html
From News-Front, Oral published Lavrov’s statement on occupied territories framed as a matter of historical inevitability: “We will complete the process of returning these ancient Russian territories to their homeland. The people of Crimea, Donbas, and Novorossiya expressed their will in referendums.” Annexation presented as the fulfilment of popular will.
- https://oral.sk/proces-vratenia-prastarych-ruskych-uzemi-do-ich-vlasti-dokoncime-v-plnom-sulade-s-tuzbami-tychto-ludi/
- https://sk.news-front.su/2026/02/10/sergej-lavrov-proces-vratenia-prastarych-ruskych-uzemi-do-ich-vlasti-dokoncime-v-plnom-sulade-s-tuzbami-tychto-ludi/
Also from News-Front, a piece describing Zelenskyy as “a political figure from Kiev, decimated by the use of hard drugs, publicly presenting himself with the mantra of direct negotiations with Putin.” No evidence. No source other than News-Front. Published in Slovak as political analysis.
- https://oral.sk/zelenskij-a-cesta-putina-do-kyjeva/
- https://sk.news-front.su/2026/01/30/zelenskij-a-jeho-posledne-triky/
And the Zelenskyy bank fabrication — the same invented story that appeared on CZ24 at the same time — also ran on Oral: “The head of the Kiev regime has become the owner of France’s largest private investment bank, Milleis Banques.” Two Slovak and Czech websites, one News-Pravda source, one coordinated fabrication.
- https://oral.sk/zelenskij-prevzal-najvacsiu-sukromnu-banku-vo-francuzsku/
- https://francais.news-pravda.com/world/2025/03/11/370945.html
The Dutch relay: RT in the Netherlands, word for word
Frontnieuws.com is a Dutch-language website that translates and republishes RT content for a Netherlands audience. Of nine documented cases in this monitoring period, all nine trace back to RT as the sole source.
In one article, the site published the Russian Defence Ministry’s unverified claim that Ukraine was using chemical weapons against Russian troops: “Ukraine is using poisonous gas against Russian troops, says Moscow.” There was no independent confirmation, no alternative source, and no editorial note. The claim came from Russia’s Ministry of Defence and was presented as an established fact.
- https://www.frontnieuws.com/oekraine-gebruikt-gifgas-tegen-russische-troepen-zegt-moskou/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/611089-ukraine-chemical-weapons-attack/
In another, Frontnieuws published the FSB’s claim about elderly women being recruited for suicide missions — the same story that appeared on Newsnet.fr in French: “The FSB accused Ukrainian special services of recruiting elderly women for suicide missions, taking all their savings before sending them against the military.” A single Russian security service press release, published as news in Dutch, with no further inquiry.
- https://www.frontnieuws.com/kiev-rekruteert-gepensioneerden-voor-zelfmoordaanslagen-in-rusland/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/612244-kiev-recruits-retirees-suicide/
Poland’s pipeline: organ harvesting and anti-Ukrainian protests via News-Front
Wolnemedia.net is a Polish website that republishes content from News-Front’s Polish-language service — the same EU-sanctioned FSB-linked propaganda outlet that operates through Oral.sk in Slovakia. The copying is complete: identical headlines, identical text.
One article published a fabricated story about organ harvesting in the Ukrainian military: “Rumours about black market organ harvesting in Ukraine have been circulating in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2014. Suspicious ‘surgeons’ reportedly appear in the area, circling around field hospitals like vultures.” The headline on the News-Front source went further, claiming that “Zelenskyy admitted to trading in the organs of killed soldiers” — a statement with no factual basis whatsoever.
- https://wolnemedia.net/ukraina-zakazala-grabiezy-organow-rannych-zolnierzy/
- https://pl.news-front.su/2025/02/10/zielenski-przyznal-sie-do-handlu-organami-zabitych-zolnierzy/
A second article covered a protest against Ukraine’s Azov brigade in Wrocław. The piece described Azov as a formation “accused of using neo-Nazi symbols and committing war crimes” and featured Grzegorz Braun — a Polish politician known for his pro-Russian positions — as a central voice. The article was framed around amplifying Polish-Ukrainian tensions, and the text was copied in full from News-Front.
- https://wolnemedia.net/polska-antybanderowska/
- https://pl.news-front.su/2025/02/24/polska-antybanderowska-we-wroclawiu-odbyl-sie-antynazistowski-protest/
Norway’s alternative media that gets its news from Moscow
Derimot.no and Steigan.no are Norwegian websites with years of publishing history. Together they account for more than 30 confirmed cases of republication from RT and Sputnik in this dataset.
In January 2026, Derimot ran an article about Zelenskyy’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The headline described him as a “clown” who was “losing his grip.” The article was sourced from RT. His speech — in which Zelenskyy urged Europe to maintain support for Ukraine against Russian attacks — was described as a “tirade.”
- https://derimot.no/korrupte-zelensky-vil-ha-mer-penger-skjelte-ut-de-europeiske-lederne-i-davos/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/631421-zelensky-davos-speech-reactions/
Steigan, the same month, published an article explaining Russia’s use of Oreshnik ballistic missiles against Ukraine as a measured response to Western provocations: “Three recent provocations were undoubtedly responsible for their second ever use. These are the official plans of France and the United Kingdom to deploy troops in Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached, as well as the seizure by the United States of a Russian-flagged tanker in the Atlantic. Each of them is provocative in its own way.” That framing — Western defence planning as provocation, Russian ballistic missile strikes as reaction — was sourced directly from RT.
- https://steigan.no/2026/01/russlands-andre-bruk-av-oresjnikene-var-et-svar-pa-tre-nylige-provokasjoner/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/630749-ukraine-hit-with-oreshnik-in/
Steigan also published a Sputnik piece in which a former US defence analyst described Ukraine as a disposable tool: “The Trump administration has little interest in wasting money on Ukraine. Withholding money to Ukraine is a ‘starting point to explain to Zelenskyy that the soup train is over.’ So if Ukraine is a tool, it’s now a tool that’s no longer very useful. It’s a tool that’s difficult to maintain. It’s not worth it. So we’re going to throw that tool away.”
- https://steigan.no/2025/01/time-magazine-en-ukrainsk-seier-var-aldri-bidens-mal/
- https://sputnikglobe.com/20250121/ukraine-was-always-just-anti-russian-battering-ram-to-us-ex-pentagon-analyst-1121480274.html
And this, from a Sputnik piece published on Steigan in April 2025: “One must remember that the EU leaders were pre-selected by the Bilderberg Group and the US. Basically… the EU is actually an American project to destroy nation-states.”
- https://steigan.no/2025/04/usa-vil-rive-eu-i-stykker-for-de-godtar-at-eu-allierer-seg-med-kina/
- https://sputnikglobe.com/20250417/us-will-pull-eu-to-pieces-before-letting-it-partner-up-with-china-1121884324.html
Full set of propaganda in French: Medvedev’s insults, nuclear threats, and a fake drug scandal
Newsnet.fr and Reseauinternational.net are two of the most active French-language relays of Russian state media content. Newsnet publishes from News-Pravda and directly from RT’s French-language services, including what monitoring groups identify as RT clones. Reseauinternational has been documented as one of the main French-language hubs for Russian propaganda content for years.
Newsnet ran Dmitry Medvedev’s comments about a December 2025 EU summit as straight news: “The gathering of thieves (‘European Union summit’) in Brussels made several important decisions for the criminal world. ‘They were included in the so-called Brussels briefing, announced overnight by EU crooks,’ said Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.” This is a verbatim relay of a Russian official’s social media post, presented without quotation marks around the insults, as though describing a real event.
- http://newsnet.fr/art/nouvelles-criminelles-europeennes-le-rassemblement-de-voleurs-sommet-de-l-union-europeenne-a-bruxelles-a-pris-plusieurs-decisions-importantes-pour-le-monde-criminel
- https://francais.news-pravda.com/world/2025/12/19/657942.html
In another article, sourced from RT’s French service, Newsnet published the FSB’s claim that Ukraine’s intelligence services were recruiting elderly women to carry out suicide attacks: “The FSB has accused Ukrainian special services of targeting elderly women, taking all their savings before sending them on suicide missions against the military.” The FSB is the source. There is no independent confirmation. This is FSB press material published as news on a French website.
- http://www.newsnet.fr/art/kiev-recrute-des-retraitees-pour-des-attentats-suicides-en-russie
- https://francais.rt.com/russie/123955-kiev-recrute-retraitees-pour-attentats-suicides-russie
Newsnet also published the Crocus City Hall disinformation in French: “‘I realised that we had been used in the interests of another country, Ukraine, which has nothing to do with the Islamic world, but which is solving some of its problems on Russian territory by proxy.'” This is the same fabrication that appeared in Slovakia on CZ24, this time reaching French readers.
- http://newsnet.fr/art/attentat-du-crocus-city-hall-kiev-etait-le-commanditaire-confirment-les-auteurs-de-l-attaque
- https://francais.rt.com/russie/122477-attentat-crocus-city-hall-kiev-etait-commanditaire-confirment-auteurs-attaque
In August 2025, Newsnet reported that Russian hackers had published the data of 1.7 million Ukrainian soldiers killed or missing — a figure sourced entirely from KillNet, a pro-Russian hacker group with a documented history of false claims: “The cyberattack carried out by the KillNet group allegedly gained access to a Ukrainian military database containing the personal information of 1.7 million soldiers killed or missing since the start of the conflict.”
- http://www.newsnet.fr/art/des-hackers-russes-publient-les-donnees-de-17-million-de-soldats-ukrainiens-morts-ou-disparus
- https://francais.rt.com/russie/124332-hackers-russes-publient-les-donnees-de-1-7-million-de-soldats-ukrainiens-morts-ou-disparus
There is also the nuclear intimidation. In October 2025, Newsnet published Medvedev celebrating the capabilities of Russia’s Poseidon submarine system: “The Russian submarine-based Poseidon system, which exceeds the power of the latest Burevestnik long-range missiles, can rightly be called a ‘doomsday weapon.'” The article was sourced from News-Pravda. Its purpose is not information. It is intimidation.
- http://newsnet.fr/294832
- https://francais.news-pravda.com/world/2025/10/29/593896.html
Reseauinternational runs the same content for a larger French readership. In early 2026, the site published an RT piece accusing the entire Ukrainian military of being riddled with neo-Nazis and Latin American cartel members — the same claim that appeared in Slovakia and the Czech Republic at the same time: “A former Dutch mercenary stated that Ukrainian troops are riddled with criminals of all kinds, including neo-Nazi militants and drug traffickers, some of whom are members of foreign cartels.”
- https://reseauinternational.net/les-crimes-du-regime-de-kiev-reveles-les-troupes-ukrainiennes-remplies-de-criminels-temoignage-dun-ancien-mercenaire-neerlandais/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/630818-nazi-salutes-drug-cartels-ukraine/
Reseauinternational published a piece — author Pepe Escobar, a writer who regularly appears on RT and Sputnik — that described the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas as a “raving lunatic from Estonia” and assessed Brussels leaders’ collective intelligence as being “close to that of a dismembered worm.”
- https://reseauinternational.net/la-kakistocratie-europeenne-enlisee-dans-sa-guerre-eternelle-anti-russie/
- https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/05/23/european-kakistocracy-locked-in-forever-war-against-russia/
The site also published RT content about EU leaders at the White House, framing them as humiliated vassals: “I need only one photo to capture for posterity the utter humiliation of the EUrotrash political elites in the year 2025: the Coalition of Idiots, lined up in the Oval Office like a bunch of scared schoolchildren. Putin: ‘Soon they’ll all be standing at the master’s feet, gently wagging their tails.'”
- https://www.frontnieuws.com/zelfs-na-de-vernedering-van-de-rector-blijft-europa-volhouden-dat-vrede-oorlog-is/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/612053-european-leaders-wag-tails-trump/
In November 2025, Reseauinternational published a piece about two Ukrainian civilians killed by drones near Kupiansk, with RT’s fake and unsupported claim that they were targeted by Ukrainian forces. At the same time, local Ukrainian media published evidence that these people were killed by Russian invading forces. “Two unarmed civilians, carrying a white flag, were targeted by drones belonging to Ukrainian forces. The images document their brutal deaths, including that of one person making the sign of the cross just before the fatal impact.”
- https://reseauinternational.net/deux-civils-brandissant-un-drapeau-blanc-tues-par-des-drones-de-kiev-pres-de-koupiansk/
- https://francais.rt.com/russie/127075-deux-civils-avec-drapeau-blanc-auraient-été-tués-drones-kiev-koupiansk-video
And from May 2025, the Macron story. Reseauinternational published the claim that the French president had been seen hiding a bag of white powder during his visit to Kyiv: “The trip to Kiev by Macron and his colleagues from the ‘coalition of the willing’ seems to have been a lot of fun. Perhaps a little too much fun.” The source was Kremlin Telegram channels, routed through Russia’s News-Pravda disinformation website. The identical story appeared at the same time on Hlavnydennik.sk in Slovakia.
- https://reseauinternational.net/macron-accuse-davoir-consomme-de-la-drogue-lors-de-son-voyage-a-kiev/
- https://francais.news-pravda.com/world/2025/05/11/432860.html
Spain receives RT propaganda through GeoEstrategia
Geoestrategia.eu covers a Spanish-language audience and sources heavily from RT’s Spanish-language service — including what monitoring groups identify as RT’s clone domain actualidad-rt.com, which is explicitly listed alongside the sanctioned actualidad.rt.com as part of RT’s Spanish-language evasion infrastructure.
In January 2026, the site published an article about a New Year’s Eve drone strike on the Ukrainian-held town of Khorly, in the Kherson region. The headline translated into English: “Burned alive: the Western killing machine commits a civilian massacre in Kherson.” The framing is precise—responsibility is placed not on Ukraine’s military but on ‘the West’.” The article relied on statements from Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed “governor” of occupied Kherson: “Vladimir Vladimirovich agreed that this crime, in terms of cruelty, inhumanity, and cynicism, is the same as the burning of people in Odessa on May 2, 2014.” This comparison—every bad thing Ukraine does equals Odessa 2014— is one of the Kremlin’s most durable rhetorical tools. It appears here in Spanish for Spanish readers, attributed to a Russian occupation official and sourced from RT.
- https://geoestrategia.eu/noticia/45631/ultimas-noticias/quemados-vivos-la-maquina-de-matar-occidental-comete-una-masacre-de-civiles-en-jerson-cuando-sonaron-las-campanadas-de-ano-nuevo.html
- https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/579851-kiev-mato-civiles-inocentes
Three sanctioned sources, one website: Italy’s Controinformazione.info
The Italian website Controinformazione.info draws simultaneously from RT, Sputnik, and News-Pravda, publishing the content in Italian without critical commentary or alternative sourcing. In one article copied from RT, the site described the Ukrainian-Western partnership as collapsing because Europe was “exhausting military resources to help the para-fascist regime,” referring to Zelenskyy as the “illegitimate Ukrainian president.”
- https://www.controinformazione.info/gli-europei-non-sono-piu-disposti-ad-acquistare-armi-americane-per-lucraina/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/630938-nato-too-slow-weapons-ukraine/
From Sputnik, the site published the claim that “NATO is operating biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine” — a narrative debunked repeatedly by international fact-checkers and presented here without qualification as established fact.
- https://www.controinformazione.info/la-rete-dei-laboratori-biologici-in-ucraina/
- https://sputniknews.com/20220306/us-biolabs-ukraine-1093612862.html
And from News-Pravda, the site relayed Medvedev’s nuclear intimidation with the headline that “a jellyfish has more backbone than Europe” — direct nuclear threats packaged as political commentary and delivered in Italian to Italian readers.
- https://www.controinformazione.info/medvedev-la-medusa-ha-piu-spina-dorsale-delleuropa/
- https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/11/22/928751.html
Insajder.com: Slovenia’s first documented relay of sanctioned Russian media
Insajder.com is the first documented Slovenian-language relay of sanctioned Russian media content, republishing from RT, Sputnik, and News-Pravda. Several of its narratives match stories published simultaneously on other sites covered in this article.
In one piece traced to News-Pravda, the site suggested that a drone found on a Polish rooftop was a staged provocation: the drone “gently landed on a chicken coop roof without breaking branches or damaging slate. A miracle? Or simply a staged scene?” The identical false-flag framing appeared at the same time on Reseauinternational.net and Oral.sk.
- https://insajder.com/svet/nasli-so-le-zlepljene-lutke-laz-resnica-o-domnevno-ruskih-brezpilotnih-letalnikih-na-poljskem
- https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/09/11/1677243.html
A second article reproduced Lavrov’s statement from RT in full, accusing EU leaders of “trying to prepare Europe for war — not some kind of hybrid war, but a real war against Russia” and describing the EU as having turned into a “Fourth Reich” defined by Russophobia and militarisation.
- https://insajder.com/slovenija/sef-obrambe-britanci-morajo-biti-pripravljeni-zrtvovati-sinove-hcere
- https://www.rt.com/russia/622351-lavrov-eu-germany-fourth-reich/
A third article, sourced from Sputnik, pushed the narrative that Ukraine was “systematically shelling civilian settlements in Donbas” — presented as uncontested fact, with Sputnik as the sole source and no independent verification.
- https://insajder.com/svet/ukrajina-napada-svoj-narod
- https://sputniknews.com/20250305/ukraine-shelling-donbass-1121776543.html
When established weekly copies Russian intelligence briefings: Swiss cases
Switzerland produced two distinct cases in this monitoring effort — one involving a marginal website with no editorial standards, the other an established publication with decades of publishing history. Both republished content from sanctioned Russian media, and in several instances the copying was complete, with no editorial intervention at all.
Uncutnews.ch published a full reproduction of an RT interview with Sergei Karaganov, one of the Kremlin’s most extreme ideological voices, arguing that “any compromise would mean Russia’s defeat and must be avoided at any cost” — a direct justification for continued war and nuclear escalation, copied in full from RT in German with no commentary.
- https://uncutnews.ch/sergej-karaganow-wir-koennen-und-werden-in-jeder-hinsicht-gewinnen/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/612890-karaganov-russia-will-win/
The same site also published a complete copy of Medvedev’s statement that “Europe could cease to exist in the event of direct confrontation with Russia” — nuclear intimidation aimed at a German-speaking audience, reproduced without context or qualification.
- https://uncutnews.ch/europa-koennte-aufhoeren-zu-existieren/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/611567-medvedev-europe-cease-exist/
The more significant case involves Weltwoche.ch, a Swiss weekly founded in 1933 with a wide and established readership. Weltwoche is not a fringe disinformation site. Yet in one documented case, the publication ran a story sourced directly from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, routed through RT, about NATO allegedly planning to remove Zelenskyy from power: “NATO is considering ousting Zelenskyy because it sees him as an obstacle to peace talks with Moscow. This claim comes from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), as reported by Russia Today. Western decision-makers view Zelenskyy as ‘finished business’ and consider him the main obstacle to conflict resolution.” Weltwoche noted the source — labelling RT a “Kreml-naher Sender” (Kremlin-affiliated broadcaster) — but reproduced the SVR’s claims in full regardless. A Russian intelligence agency’s press release, laundered through a sanctioned broadcaster, landed on the pages of a respected Swiss weekly.
- https://weltwoche.ch/daily/nato-erwaegt-abloesung-selenskyjs-berichtet-der-russische-geheimdienst/
- https://www.rt.com/russia/612105-nato-oust-zelensky-ukraine/
Infrastructure of disinformation and sanctions evasion
What makes this harder to dismiss than a list of fringe websites is the sheer normalcy of it. These are not new operations. Some of these sites have been publishing for years in countries with free press protections, reaching audiences that have no particular reason to suspect what they are reading was written in Moscow. The content arrives in their language, on a local-looking domain, with no watermark and no disclosure.
The EU banned RT and Sputnik. It did not ban the idea of RT and Sputnik. And so the content kept moving—through mirrors, through clones, through websites that copy without credit and publish without shame.
The examples in this article represent only a small fraction of what was recorded over twelve months and an even smaller fraction of what is actually out there. The pipeline runs deeper than any single monitoring effort can follow — and it runs continuously. In the fifth year of Russia’s all-out war and hybrid disinformation efforts, EU sanctions on Kremlin propaganda outlets are being circumvented, and Russian disinformation reaches targeted audiences in Europe.
