When Russian drones killed six civilians on a passenger train in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on January 27, Moscow’s propaganda machine immediately went to work, turning a war crime into a “successful military operation” through a coordinated disinformation campaign that stretched from Russian state media to pro-Kremlin outlets across Central Europe.
Russian propaganda outlets spread false information about the supposed “destruction of a military echelon” in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, trying to make the deadly attack on a civilian passenger train look like a real military operation. The Ukrainian government says the story is completely made up and is just a way to cover up another attack on civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian national anti-corruption portal Antikor tracked the fabricated stories spread across Russian media after the attack to show how big and well-organized this disinformation campaign was. However, the lies didn’t stay within Russia’s borders. Insight News Media investigated how pro-Russian media outlets in Europe, from Hungary to Slovakia to the Czech Republic, spread such fabrications and made them more relevant to their audiences, creating a complex echo chamber that justifies war crimes to European audiences.
The disinformation was addressed on 1 February by the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which accused Russia of deliberately manipulating facts to justify crimes against civilians.
Fabricated military narrative
According to Russian sources, the strike supposedly targeted a train transporting personnel from the “17th Special Purpose Center of the Military Law Enforcement Service”. Ukrainian officials say no such military echelon existed.
“This is another attempt to justify crimes against peaceful Ukrainian citizens and to mislead both domestic and foreign audiences,” the Military Law Enforcement Service stated.
The agency stressed that Russia routinely seeks to portray attacks on civilian targets as “successful strikes on military objectives,” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
False claims mirror earlier propaganda
The Ukrainian side also dismissed Russian assertions that the train was allegedly transporting a unit tasked with preventing mass desertion within Ukrainian forces. Such claims, the Service said, are “as fabricated and false as statements by the Russian leadership, which has repeatedly ‘liberated’ Kupiansk and other settlements that remain under Ukrainian control”.
Officials noted that these narratives follow a familiar pattern: an initial civilian tragedy is quickly rebranded by Russian propaganda as a military success, regardless of facts on the ground.
Casualties from a civilian strike
At the same time, Ukrainian authorities confirmed that the Russian strike did cause real casualties. Among those killed was a serviceman of the 17th Center of the Military Law Enforcement Service who was travelling to his area of assignment as a passenger.
The victim, Ruslan Nadych, had been defending Ukraine since 2014, serving on some of the most dangerous fronts. He was awarded the “Golden Cross” for bravery. In total, six people lost their lives as a result of the strike.
“The life of this man, along with five other civilians, was taken by a cynical enemy attack,” the statement said.
Using civilian deaths as propaganda tools
The Military Law Enforcement Service accused Russia of exploiting civilian deaths to advance disinformation campaigns. “The Russian Federation once again demonstrates its true nature, using strikes on civilian targets and the deaths of civilians as instruments of lies and propaganda,” the agency said.
Ukrainian officials urged citizens and media consumers to rely solely on verified, official sources of information and to refrain from spreading enemy narratives, particularly in the aftermath of deadly attacks.
RT’s blueprint: Manufacturing the “military target” myth
Two days after the attack, Russian state propaganda outlet RT published a detailed fabrication claiming the passenger train was actually transporting military personnel. The article, published on January 29, 2026, stated: “In the Kharkiv region, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed a railway train transporting personnel of the 17th Special Purpose Center of the Main Directorate of Military Law Enforcement Service of Ukraine.”
- https://russian.rt.com/ussr/news/1589624-unichtozhili-zagradotryad-vsu/
RT added specific false details to make the lie appear credible: “These militants are subordinate to the Main Directorate of Military Law Enforcement Service. This unit is based in Lviv.”
By providing precise information about a fictional military unit, RT created a veneer of authenticity for their fabrication. The fact that the train route indeed included Lviv as a destination allowed Russian propagandists to weave the city name into their false narrative, making it seem plausible to audiences unfamiliar with the actual events.
In reality, Ukrainian authorities confirmed that 291 civilians were aboard the passenger train on the Barvinkove-Lviv-Chop route when Russian drones struck it on January 27, 2026.
How Central European outlets became Moscow’s echo chamber
The fabricated narrative quickly spread beyond Russian state media, finding fertile ground among pro-Russian outlets across Central Europe. These media platforms function as force multipliers for Kremlin disinformation, systematically reconstructing a clear war crime into what they present as legitimate military action.
Czech outlet CZ24.news published one of the most explicit versions of the false narrative, claiming: “Russian public groups report the destruction of a passenger train in the Kharkiv region, which was transporting personnel from the 17th Special Forces Center of the Main Directorate of the Military Law Enforcement Service (MLS) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the front lines… The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ special forces were not sent to the front lines for direct combat. Instead, they were deployed as a barrier detachment to the Kharkiv sector to prevent mass desertions… It’s the perfect unit for catching deserters. But it didn’t work out; they never made it.”
- https://cz24.news/v-charkovske-oblasti-byl-znicen-vlak-prevazejici-elitni-ukrajinske-specialni-jednotky/
The dehumanizing language and cynical tone in this passage reveal the propaganda’s intent: to mock the victims while justifying their deaths as deserved.
Slovak outlet Armádny Magazín echoed the same narrative but added visual disinformation elements. The article claimed: “On January 27, Russian drones attacked a passenger train traveling from Lviv to the city of Barvinkove in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian official channels then claimed that drones hit a train with civilians. However, even one video from the scene showed people in military uniforms, and none of the photographs taken by the Kharkiv Oblast State Emergency Service (SES) from the scene show civilian passengers. Thus, the identity of the passengers on the train was indirectly confirmed.”
- https://www.armadnymagazin.sk/2026/01/31/v-charkovskej-oblasti-bol-zniceny-vlak-s-elitnymi-specialnymi-jednotkami-ozbrojenych-sil-ukrajiny/
This sophisticated technique directly contradicts verified facts while delegitimizing official Ukrainian emergency services. By claiming visual evidence proves military presence despite international confirmation of civilian casualties, the outlet manufactures doubt where none should exist.
Another Slovak outlet, Slovanské Noviny, published perhaps the most cynical version: “Special forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were sent to the front line, not at all for direct participation in hostile actions. The militants were transferred as a barrier detachment towards Kharkov to prevent cases of mass desertion. This unit was created from residents of Western Ukraine, with a permanent deployment location in the city of Lviv. The commander was Lieutenant Colonel Yegoriy Novitsky… Simply the most suitable unit for catching deserters.”
- https://slovanskenoviny.sk/rusky-utok-znicil-vlak-s-elitnymi-specialnymi-jednotkami-ozbrojenych-sil-ukrajiny-v-charkovskej-oblasti/
The fabricated commander’s name further demonstrates the manufactured nature of this narrative. No such military unit or commander exists, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The article’s emphasis on the unit being “created from residents of Western Ukraine” is not incidental. This detail serves a deliberate propaganda purpose: fueling divisions between Eastern and Western Ukraine, a long-standing goal of Russian information warfare. By referring to deceased military personnel as “militants” and providing fabricated operational details, the outlet transforms victims into targets deserving of attack.
Art of lying by omission: Hungary and Slovakia’s subtle propaganda
Not all pro-Russian disinformation operates through direct lies. Some outlets use more subtle techniques that are equally effective at shaping public perception.
Hungarian outlet Magyar Nemzet, which operates in a country where the government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has maintained notably warmer relations with Moscow than most EU members and has consistently blocked or delayed aid packages to Ukraine, employed a different approach. While reporting on the attack, the outlet immediately pivoted to Ukrainian strikes on Russia: “Previously, Ukrainians carried out an attack in the Krasnodar region. During the night hours, Ukrainian drones attacked the Krasnodar region, and local civilians often became victims of attacks.”
- https://magyarnemzet.hu/kulfold/2026/01/orosz-ver-es-halal-az-ukran-vonaton
This textbook whataboutism creates false moral equivalence, suggesting both sides equally target civilians. The article then frames the massacre within broader context: “The Russian army continues to advance on the front, while peace negotiations between Moscow and Washington are stalling. Meanwhile, attacks on infrastructure and civilian targets continue on both sides.”
By burying the deliberate attack on civilians within discussions of “stalled negotiations” and “military advances”, the outlet normalizes the massacre as an unfortunate but understandable consequence of warfare, rather than what it is: a deliberate war crime.
Slovak outlet Armádny Magazín demonstrated another disinformation technique on the very day of the attack. While publishing an article about Russian strikes “around Kharkiv” on January 27, the outlet made no mention whatsoever of the civilian train massacre, instead reporting: “On Wednesday evening, Russian forces launched a new series of attacks. The strikes targeted fuel storage facilities of Naftogaz in western Ukraine, infrastructure in the Odesa region, and the largest attack using aerial bombs on targets in the Kupiansk area and around Kharkiv.”
- https://www.armadnymagazin.sk/2026/01/28/121985/
This disinformation through deliberate omission is particularly insidious. By reporting on “the largest attack” in Kharkiv on the exact date when Russian drones massacred civilians on a passenger train, but mentioning only fuel facilities and infrastructure, the article creates a false reality where Russia only strikes military targets. Slovak readers consuming this outlet would have no knowledge that civilians died that day.
The article reinforces this false framework by stating: “The attacks focused on military-industrial complexes and strategic infrastructure supporting Ukraine’s military capabilities.” This establishes a “precision targeting” narrative while simultaneously ensuring the target audience never learns about civilian deaths, conditioning them to dismiss any future reports of Russian attacks on civilians as Ukrainian propaganda.
The pro-Russian position of outlets in countries like Slovakia cannot be separated from the broader political context. In Slovakia, former Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government has expressed skepticism toward EU sanctions on Russia and criticized military aid to Ukraine, creating an environment where pro-Russian narratives find more acceptance than in other EU member states.
Bigger picture: Why this matters beyond one attack
The Kharkiv train incident fits into a wider pattern of Russian information warfare, where civilian infrastructure is repeatedly targeted and then retrospectively labelled as military. Analysts say that these sorts of actions are meant to avoid taking responsibility, confuse people around the world, and keep support for the Russian-Ukrainian war going strong at home.
The disinformation campaign serves multiple strategic purposes. It lets Russian authorities say that the attack was a successful military operation instead of a massacre of civilians. It makes it harder for Western audiences to keep clear moral lines when it comes to Russian strikes because it makes things unclear and raises doubts about what they are. Within Ukraine, it attempts to demoralize the population by suggesting that even civilian travel is dangerous and that Russia can justify any attack as legitimate.
What makes this disinformation campaign stand out is not just the false story itself, but also the complex network that it uses to spread. The operation shows how modern propaganda works as a coordinated, multi-layered system. It starts with Russian state media outlets like RT making up the story, then Central European pro-Russian platforms spreading and localizing the message, and finally Hungarian and Slovak outlets using more subtle methods like omission and false equivalence.
Each outlet has a specific job to do: Russian state media provides the main false story and adds specific made-up details. Pro-Russian platforms in Europe then translate and amplify these narratives for local audiences, often adding dehumanizing language. Some media outlets use whataboutism to confuse people about what’s right and wrong, while military-focused platforms give false credibility by leaving out important information and only reporting on certain things.
Ukrainian officials say that keeping track of and exposing these disinformation campaigns is important not only to fight false stories but also to keep the truth about attacks that keep killing civilians. The Military Law Enforcement Service said that Russia’s use of “strikes on civilian targets and the deaths of civilians as instruments of lies and propaganda” is not only a tactic in the information war, but also shows a complete lack of respect for human life in the name of political narratives.
People who died in the attack on January 27 had names, families, and stories. One of them was Ruslan Nadych, who had been defending Ukraine since 2014 and received the “Golden Cross” for his bravery. There was also a woman who was 25 years old and going to her mother’s birthday party. These are the human realities that propaganda seeks to erase, replacing individual tragedies with fabricated military narratives and cynical justifications for murder.
As this false information spreads through pro-Russian media channels across Europe, journalists, fact-checkers, and regular people still have the same job: to stand up for the truth in the face of lies, to document war crimes even when propaganda tries to make them look like military victories, and to remember that behind every made-up story are real victims whose deaths should be acknowledged, not denied or justified.
