Russia uses a variety of narratives in its hybrid war to justify its illegal invasion of Ukraine. A network of Russian state media and pro-Kremlin outlets spreads these narratives across EU countries. A network of Russian state media and pro-Kremlin outlets across EU countries spreads some long-standing narratives, while others craft them in response to current events, such as Ukraine’s recent offensive in the Kursk region.
By analyzing these narratives, we can better grasp Russia’s goals at any given time. In our research, we identified six main narratives that Russian state media and pro-Kremlin outlets promoted in the first half of November.
How Russian propaganda tries to shift the blame for its war to the West and Ukraine
In a research, Espreso Global analyzed pro-Kremlin narratives identified in November in Russian state propaganda media and pro-Russian outlets in EU countries. Both aim to shift the blame for the war from Russia to Ukraine and the West.
In this article, we outline the pro-Kremlin media in France, Germany, Czechia, and Canada, specifically focusing on their dissemination of claims such as “The West is to blame for the war in Ukraine” and “Ukrainians are neo-Nazis.” Their primary objective is to shift responsibility for the war away from Russia, who initiated it by invading a neighboring independent Ukraine, by vilifying Russia’s opponents.
In the first article of this research, Espreso Global covered how Russian media and pro-Kremlin websites spread narratives about Russia’s victories on the battlefield and the uselessness of supporting Ukraine.
The second article covered the efforts of pro-Russian outlets in Europe to demonize the leadership of European Union member states and institutions, promoting narratives such as “EU leaders are leading their countries to ruin” and “The West is in decline, and a new world order with BRICS is coming.”
“The West is to blame for the war in Ukraine”
Most of the content on the Czech news outlet Pokec24 is copied from Russian state media like RIA Novosti and RT. On November 4, Pokec24’s article titled “The U.S. and Great Britain are pushing ‘continental Europe’ into a fight with Russia” spread statements by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, in which he accuses the U.S. of inciting war and pushing the EU to join the war against Russia on Ukraine’s side.
https://www.pokec24.cz/krize-ukrajina/usa-a-velka-britanie-tlaci-kontinentalni-evropu-do-boje-s-ruskem-prohlasil-lavrov/The Czech news outlet Infokuryr.cz often spreads Russian propaganda, claiming that Russia will win the war, that Western countries will be held responsible for their support of Ukraine, and that EU societies are unwilling to help Ukraine.
To promote the narrative that “The West is to blame for the war in Ukraine,” the website posted an article on November 9 titled “Revassalizing Europe: The Real U.S. War Aims in Ukraine.” The article, written by a so-called analyst, claims that the U.S. is responsible for the war, accusing it of trying to weaken Russia, control the EU economy, and destroy Ukraine.
The Czech news outlet Protiproud.info also often spreads pro-Russian propaganda, along with anti-EU, anti-US, and anti-Ukrainian content.
On November 7, it published an article with a propagandistic tone titled: “It’s going pretty fast: Is the Pentagon stopping arms supplies to Kyiv?” This piece suggests that Ukraine and the EU are to blame for the war.
https://protiproud.info/politika/8279-jde-to-dost-rychle-pentagon-zastavuje-kyjevu-dodavky-zbrani-otevrene-okno-prilezitosti-po-rusko-dva-mesice-na-osvobozeni-donbasu-putin-je-strizlivy-se-zapadem-skoncil-dame-vam-vic-prachu-vola-uzkostne-pres-ocean-fiala.htmAs proved by these examples, all these Czech websites – Pokec24, Infokuryr.cz, and Protiproud.info – openly spread Russian propaganda. They consistently write their reports about Ukraine from the Kremlin’s perspective.
A strong mouthpiece for the Kremlin in Europe is RT en Français, the French version of Russia’s state-run media RT. Despite the EU sanctions and efforts to block it, the website continues to spread Russia’s view of the world and its narratives to a French-speaking audience. In November, it actively pushed the message, “The West is to blame for the Russia-Ukraine war.”
For example, RT en Français shared a statement from Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who claimed that “the West did everything to prevent the signing of peace agreements,” shifting the blame for the war onto the West.
https://francais.rt.com/international/114453-robert-fico-chine-craint-conflitAnother article from RT en Français titled “War in Ukraine: ‘Peace is not currently in the plans of our adversaries,’ says Lavrov,” features Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blaming the West for not wanting a political solution to the war. He accuses Ukraine and the West of lacking the will for peace. This narrative is common across all Russian propaganda, from government ministers and state media to Kremlin-backed outlets abroad.
https://francais.rt.com/international/114405-guerre-ukraine-paix-est-pasIn November, several French-language pro-Russian propaganda websites, reseauinternational.net, lesmoutonsenrages.fr, mondialisation.ca, and observateurcontinental.fr, have claimed that Poland is planning to declare war on Russia. They were spreading the story that Poland might shoot down Russian missiles and drones near its border, in the sky over Ukraine. The headline reads: “Will Poland Start a War with Russia? A NATO Plan is Ready.”
- https://reseauinternational.net/la-pologne-va-t-elle-declencher-une-guerre-avec-la-russie-un-plan-pour-lotan-est-deja-pret/
- https://lesmoutonsenrages.fr/2024/11/16/la-pologne-va-t-elle-declencher-une-guerre-avec-la-russie-un-plan-pour-lotan-est-deja-pret/
- https://www.mondialisation.ca/la-pologne-va-t-elle-declencher-une-guerre-avec-la-russie-un-plan-pour-lotan-est-deja-pret/5693964?doing_wp_cron=1731682335.1694641113281250000000
- https://www.observateurcontinental.fr/?module=articles&action=view&id=6460
The French-language news website Reseauinternational.net shares fake stories about neo-Nazis in Ukraine, U.S. biolabs, and a strike on “French mercenaries.” It blames the West for the war and claims that Russia’s victory would benefit the world. The site also features videos from Xavier Moreau, a former French military, now a Russian national and Putin supporter.
On November 5, this website posted an article claiming that the West has long wanted to destroy Russia. It echoes Putin’s narrative about Russia facing “existential threats” and tries to shift the blame for the war, which Russia started, onto the West.
https://reseauinternational.net/le-vieux-reve-occidental-la-destruction-de-la-russieOn November 4, an article from the Canada-based website Les 7 du Québec, called “What Will Happen in Russia After the Ukrainian Proxy War?” blamed the West for the war. It writes about Russia’s strength and praises its “special military operation” (a term used by Putin’s regime for its war in Ukraine).
https://les7duquebec.net/archives/295362Two “analytical” articles from the Canadian-based conspiracy website Centre for Research on Globalization, published in late October, justify Russia’s aggression. The articles, “The Ever Widening War” and “U.S. Trying to Use ‘North Korean Troops in Ukraine’ as a Pretext to Get Directly Involved,” spread false claims. They say the U.S. made up the story of North Korean troops in Russia to justify getting involved in the war and suggest that American paratroopers are fighting in Ukraine.
- https://www.globalresearch.ca/ever-widening-war-paul-roberts/5871525
- https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-use-north-korean-troops-ukraine-excuse-get-directly-involved/5871373
Russia is also trying to influence the Spanish-speaking audience, once again shifting the blame for its aggression. In November, the Spanish-language platform PiensaChile published an article titled “This is Not a Third World War: It is a War ON Terror,” blaming the entire West for the war. The author argues that leaders like Putin, Xi, and other allies show intelligence, integrity, patience, and humanity, while the West and its political and banking elites only care about money and profits.
In Germany, the pro-Kremlin outlet Pi-News.net, which we have previously caught spreading Russian narratives, published an article on November 25 that blames the West for the war in Ukraine and attacks Ukraine’s leadership and European governments.
The article claims that “no one fears negotiations more than Zelenskyy’s dictatorial regime in Kyiv, which depends completely on the West.” It also states that NATO and the EU are partly responsible for the war and that the Trump administration will blame Europe because Ukraine is on their continent.
Pi-news.net supports the AfD and belongs to a group of news websites that promote far-right views. In 2021, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany designated Pi-news as an ‘extremist publication’.
https://www.pi-news.net/2024/11/die-angst-des-westens-vor-dem-frieden/Anti-spiegel.ru antagonizes the famous German magazine Der Spiegel. Its editor-in-chief, Thomas Röper, who has lived in Russia for 20 years, criticizes mainstream media and presents Anti-spiegel.ru as an alternative. The pro-Kremlin website spreads pro-Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories, pushing false claims about the Ukraine invasion, including that the Bucha massacre was staged, that the U.S. has biolabs in Ukraine, and that Poland might annex western Ukraine.
In November, it published an article repeating the claim that the West wants to destroy Russia. These are the same narratives heard from Putin and seen in Russian state media, as well as in other pro-Russian outlets across Europe.
The article argues, “In the West, it is dismissed as Russian propaganda that the West is planning and working on the destruction of Russia as a state. The fact that this isn’t true is shown by another new project, formally founded by Ukrainians but led by Western intelligence services.” This part tries to deflect attention from Russia’s aggression by accusing the West of plotting against Russia.
German JournalistenWatch is affiliated with a far-right group and frequently promotes Russian propaganda narratives about Ukraine, the EU, and the West. The outlet supports the AfD party and publishes articles by Russian and pro-Russian journalists. It usually blames German and European politicians who support Ukraine with military aid, calling it an “escalation.” However, the outlet never blames Russia for the war or its crimes, such as bombing civilians, hospitals, and destroying energy infrastructure. This clearly shows its bias.
On November 16, its article claimed, “With Merz in the Third World War? Germany’s Ukraine escalation alone, if necessary.”
The blog Sicht-vom-hochblauen.de, run by German activist Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, often reposts content from pro-Russian propaganda websites.
On November 16, the blog claimed that Ukraine is becoming a colony of the West. It blamed Western elites and Ukraine’s government for the war, not Russia. The article quoted Ukrainian lawmaker Dubinskiy, a pro-Russian politician now in prison in Ukraine for treason, saying that “the Ukrainian leadership is planning to turn the country into a colony of the West” based on Ukraine’s calls for Western investment and training.
https://www.sicht-vom-hochblauen.de/die-ukrainische-fuehrung-diskutiert-ueber-die-fortsetzung-des-krieges-gegen-russland-und-plaene-das-land-in-eine-kolonie-des-westens-zu-verwandeln/Russian myth about “Neo-Nazi junta in Ukraine”
In November, the Canadian-based conspiracy website Centre for Research on Globalization published an article titled “Disaster for Ukraine Military as NATO Assets Fail Across Battlefield. ‘Zelensky Now Wants Nukes’!!!”.
The author, Drago Bosnic, a well-known promoter of Russian propaganda, claims that Ukrainian forces (referred to as a “Neo-Nazi junta”) are so “successful” on the battlefield that they now need nuclear weapons to fight the Kremlin.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/disastrous-month-neo-nazi-junta-forces/5871457 In late October, the same Centre for Research on Globalization claimed that the U.S. invented the story about North Korean troops in Russia to justify its involvement in the war and suggest that American paratroopers are fighting in Ukraine. This is despite intelligence from multiple countries, not just the U.S., confirming the presence of North Korean soldiers in the Russian military.
In November, the pro-Kremlin German-language site Anti-spiegel.ru published an article titled “How the Ukrainian SBU recruits terrorists under the supervision of Western intelligence services.” The main claim is that Ukraine openly admits to carrying out terrorist and murder attacks in Russia and that Western intelligence services are fully supporting these Ukrainian terrorists.
- https://anti-spiegel.ru/2024/wie-der-ukrainische-sbu-unter-aufsicht-westlicher-geheimdienste-terroristen-rekrutiert/
Anti-spiegel.ru antagonizes the well-known German magazine Der Spiegel. Its editor-in-chief, Thomas Röper, who has lived in Russia for 20 years, criticizes mainstream media and presents Anti-spiegel.ru as an alternative. The pro-Kremlin website disseminates pro-Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories, promoting erroneous assertions about the Ukraine invasion, such as the staging of the Bucha massacre, the presence of U.S. biolabs in Ukraine, and the possibility of Poland annexing western Ukraine.
Another manipulative website from Czechia, Iportal24.cz, published an article in November that featured narratives about neo-Nazis in Ukraine.
- https://www.iportal24.cz/nazory/ukrajina-mnoha-tvari/
Russian propaganda frequently appears on Iportal24.cz, asserting that Russia will win the war, that Western countries will face consequences for their support of Ukraine, and that EU societies are unwilling to assist Ukraine.
In November, the German-language website Okv-ev.de wrote that the German chancellor uses the greeting of Ukrainian Nazis when speaking to Ukraine.
- https://okv-ev.de/2024/11/07/internationales-forum-von-jalta/
The website Okv-ev.de is part of a network spreading Russian propaganda and is affiliated with the Russian propagandist of German origin, Lianе Kilinс. It has previously spread fake news about Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska.
In November, the blog Sicht-vom-hochblauen.de reported that Washington and NATO “exploited the neo-Nazi traditions of Stepan Bandera and other extreme Ukrainian nationalists, who assisted Nazi Germany in invading Soviet Russia in 1941” as part of Operation Barbarossa, to create a rift between Ukraine and Russia. This is a typical Russian propaganda interpretation of World War II history.
- https://www.sicht-vom-hochblauen.de/warum-griffen-die-kiewer-streitkraefte-das-kloster-und-die-kathedrale-von-ugledar-an/
The blog Sicht-vom-hochblauen.de, run by German activist Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, often reposts content from pro-Russian propaganda websites.
Even though Russia has been spreading the fake story about neo-Nazis in Ukraine since 2014, it continues to intensify its propaganda efforts. Fortunately, Europe doesn’t widely accept these fake stories. However, European governments haven’t done enough to stop the spread of Russian narratives across the continent.
Russian interference and hybrid efforts target European democracies
Russian propaganda is steadily advancing its goal in Europe by seeking creative ways to avoid sanctions, backed by local Kremlin-friendly media outlets, and launching new websites and cloned domains to carry its messages.
Kremlin-funded platforms RT and Sputnik are not alone in these efforts, as local pro-Russian publications can freely share or even republish Russian fakes about Ukraine. As seen in this analysis, these narratives denigrate Ukraine and the European political leadership and fuel divisions and internal conflicts in the EU.
Ultimately, Russian interference and hybrid efforts target European democracies. The EU countries regretfully still lack workable counter-strategies to halt or even prevent pro-Russian disinformation and propaganda campaigns.
Check the previous articles of this series:
- Top-6 pro-Russian narratives in pro-Kremlin outlets in Europe targeting Ukraine and the West
- How Kremlin-friendly outlets in the EU fuel internal disputes: main narratives
Find also our previous researches on this page.
