A recent study into Russian disinformation networks says that there is a systematic attempt to disseminate fake news stories in areas that are strategically important to the Kremlin, especially Eastern Europe.
According to a new study, the Kremlin’s Pravda disinformation network mostly targets former Soviet states and Balkan nations.
Between December 2024 and March 2025, the American University in Bulgaria’s Center for Information, Democracy, and Citizenship analyzed over 640,000 articles on the network.
The research found that former Soviet and Balkan nations accounted for 52% of all materials despite representing a disproportionately small portion of the population of the nations studied.
In particular, Moldova, Latvia, and Estonia are the top three nations most heavily targeted by Pravda disinformation, with Serbia and Armenia being in the top five. The top 10 is completed by Lithuania, Georgia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic.
The study claims that the numbers and the close proximity of these nations demonstrate a systematic attempt to disseminate disinformation in areas that are strategically important to the Kremlin.
“Six of the top ten targeted nations host critical energy infrastructure connecting European markets with Russian supplies, indicating a potential strategic interest in regions with energy security significance,” said the report.
“Pravda’s targeting pattern aligns with documented strategies of using information as a tool for extending influence in regions considered strategically valuable. The systematic nature of the distribution suggests a coordinated campaign rather than independent media activity or organic audience interest.”
A network of websites, known as the Pravda network, has an identical look and feel in different languages and is aimed at disseminating Russian propaganda.
The Pravda network, often referred to as Portal Combat, has been spreading false information in many European languages for the past 17 years. In 2013, its initial ecosystem domains and articles were monitored.
The network was first discovered by the French Viginum Agency, which is in charge of digital monitoring and defense against foreign intervention. More recently, in February 2024, it released a study revealing the discovery of a widespread disinformation effort throughout Europe.
Moldova, a former member of the Soviet Union, located between Ukraine and Romania, which marks a border between Eastern and Western Europe, and for this reason has become one of the main targets, the study found.
Another factor is the political background of Moldova, which has seen tensions between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions since it received EU candidacy status in June 2022.
This also relates to its past: Moldova, a former Soviet republic, has historical, cultural, and economic ties to Moscow while also attempting to become more integrated into the EU.
Russia focuses its disinformation more heavily on those nations closest to it due to its long-standing policies and ties with Moscow, according to Sophia Freuden, a researcher at the American Sunlight Project, an initiative that aims to protect US democracy from the threat of disinformation. She told EuroVerify, a specialized program hosted by Euronews, this.
“The Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation have all practiced territorial expansion as a means of power projection and alleged survival. What we’re seeing in the digital space is no different; it’s no coincidence that Ukraine was among the top targets of Russian disinformation even before Euromaidan and the subsequent war in the Donbas began.”
The Balkans are an “interesting case,” since Moscow hasn’t traditionally viewed those nations as “Russian,” she said.
“Instead, the Balkans represent both a historical “sphere of influence” of Russia’s— they draw heavily from the philosophy of offensive realism to justify this —and, more materially, they view the Balkans as a backdoor into Europe,” Freuden stated. “Because many countries in the Balkans are EU and/or NATO members, or, like Serbia, they have aspirations to be, they now are special means of placing Russian disinformation inside an information space that is increasingly closed and hostile to Russian digital interference.”
Pro-Russian actors of influence center their disinformation campaigns on the US, NATO, and the war in Ukraine. According to the researcher, the main goal of Russian disinformation campaigns since the start of the ongoing war in Ukraine has been to promote the myth that “Russia was coerced into attacking Ukraine because the country had turned into a puppet of the US and NATO.”
Additionally, to create discord and split Europeans, Russia frequently amplifies Eurosceptic and far-right topics in East and Southeast Europe, as well as xenophobic and anti-EU views.
Through our research at Insight News, we have revealed which local news websites in EU nations—such as France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, and Spain—promote Kremlin propaganda and spread pro-Russian narratives to their audiences.
