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Since February 24, 2022, Detector Media has been monitoring the Ukrainian segment of social media and Kremlin media outlets, documenting the chronology of Russian disinformation about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Between May 20 and 26, 2026, Detector Media analysts documented 14 disinformation narratives. Among them, propagandists circulated AI-generated images about “punishment for speaking Russian” in schools in Vinnytsia, promoted an anti-migration campaign about “millions of Indians” allegedly coming to Ukraine, manipulated hantavirus statistics to create an image of a “sanitary catastrophe” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, fabricated a fake story about Olena Zelenska’s alleged “escape” with millions of euros, distorted Macron’s statement about the Arabic language in France, and forged a Euronews report to compare Pashinyan to the “warmonger Zelenskyy.”
Fake Images from a School in Vinnytsia Were Generated by Artificial Intelligence
A “news story” circulated on social media claiming that a schoolboy in Vinnytsia had allegedly been forced to write “I will not speak Russian” on a blackboard as punishment for using the Russian language. The posts contained neither the name of the school nor a link to the original source—only two illustrations.
AI fake circulated in Telegram channels. Source: StopFake
Both images turned out to be fabricated. The first displays characteristic signs of AI-generated imagery: yellowish tones, unnaturally smooth textures, and the rounded handwriting typical of AI-generated text—and the writing on the blackboard itself is in Russian. The second image appears more convincing, but the desk in front of the children resembles a blend of random textures; there is an indistinct brown figure behind the girl, and the writing on the blackboard is positioned much higher than a student could realistically reach.
AI-generated image circulated in Telegram channels. Source: StopFake
No Ukrainian media outlet reported on this alleged “incident.” According to the fact-checking platform StopFake, it was first disseminated by the fringe Russian channel “Baza 18+,” which is known for systematically producing AI-generated fakes on Ukrainian topics.
Context: Current legislation requires state schools to provide educational services exclusively in Ukrainian. However, the issue of language use during breaks and outside the classroom remains legally unregulated. Two relevant draft laws—No. 12086 and No. 13072—are still under parliamentary consideration and have not been adopted.
“The Government Is Bringing in Millions of Indians”: How a Single Quote Was Turned into an Information Attack
In the spring of 2026, a large-scale campaign promoting anti-migration narratives unfolded in Ukraine’s information space. One of the texts widely circulated was an opinion piece by blogger Dmytro Karpenko on the Hromadske website, which cited a forecast by Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy estimating that an additional 4.5 million workers would be needed by 2030 to achieve 7% GDP growth. Propagandists took this quote out of context and began spreading it as proof that “the government wants to bring in 4.5 million Indians.”
An additional trigger was an announcement by one of the management companies of a residential complex in Ivano-Frankivsk about involving “labor migrants from India” in cleaning services. The company later apologized for the inaccurate wording, but by then the “flywheel” had already been set in motion. At the same time, AI-generated content and out-of-context videos went viral on social media—including footage from India and videos recorded by tourists near an unidentified river, which were presented as evidence of “migration to Ukraine.”
Monitoring conducted by Osavul and used by StopFake fact-checkers recorded tens of thousands of nearly identical posts about “4.5 million Indians, Africans, and Colombians,” “the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberating Ukraine for Indians,” and the “planned extermination of the Ukrainian nation.” These publications display signs of coordinated amplification through bot networks.
Collage of social media screenshots. Source: StopFake
Actual statistics contradict the scale of the alleged threat: during the first four months of 2026, only 1,733 residence permits were issued to foreign workers in connection with employment.
Hantavirus and the Armed Forces of Ukraine: How a Real Medical Issue Was Turned into a “Sanitary Catastrophe”
Russian media outlets spread claims about a “mass outbreak” of hantavirus disease among Ukrainian servicemembers—allegedly in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Lviv regions—and asserted that the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was refusing treatment to infected soldiers by labeling them malingerers. Anonymous “Russian security structures” were cited as the source.
Example of a disinformation publication in the Russian media
Official statistics from Ukraine’s Public Health Center tell a different story. In 2025, 436 hantavirus cases were recorded, primarily in Sumy Oblast. During the first three months of 2026, 63 cases were reported. Publicly available statistics do not distinguish between civilian and military patients. Moreover, Kharkiv and Lviv oblasts, which propagandists identified as outbreak hotspots, do not appear in the data at all for this period.
Another manipulation involved attempts to link the situation in Ukraine with an outbreak of the Andes virus aboard a cruise ship. The Public Health Center clearly stated that the Andes virus has never been detected in Ukraine and does not circulate there. Other serotypes—Puumala and Dobrava-Belgrade—are present in Ukraine, and these are transmitted only from rodents to humans, not between people.
Experts acknowledge an elevated risk of infection for individuals living in field conditions, but this does not support claims about “mass non-combat losses” or refusal of treatment. The fake exploits a real medical issue to create the image of an army overwhelmed by an epidemic.
Fake: Olena Zelenska “Fled Ukraine” with Millions of Euros in Cash
Propaganda media outlets and Telegram channels circulated claims that Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, had secretly left the country in a cash-in-transit vehicle carrying €66 million in cash. The alleged reason for the “escape” was supposedly impending corruption charges prepared by NABU and SAPO.
Screenshot of a Russian media outlet that spread the fake. Source: Ukrinform
The original source of the fake was the anonymous Telegram channel Condottiero, whose administrator describes himself as a “veteran” of the Wagner PMC. The post contained no documents or evidence whatsoever.
The fake is disproven by Olena Zelenska’s public appearance the very next day after the alleged “escape.” On May 19, she and the President attended the opening of an exhibition by artist Ivan Marchuk at the Chocolate House in Kyiv.
NABU and SAPO officially stated that information about any “investigations” or “suspicions” involving the President’s wife was fabricated. The fake fits into a broader campaign aimed at discrediting Ukraine’s leadership through allegations of corruption and “flight” during wartime.
Macron Did Not Declare Arabic an Official Language of France
Russian Telegram channels and propaganda resources circulated claims that Emmanuel Macron had allegedly declared Arabic an “official language of France” or called for mandatory Arabic-language instruction in all French schools. The publications were accompanied by a video excerpt from the French President’s speech in Egypt.
In reality, Macron delivered the speech on May 9, 2026, during the opening of a new campus of Senghor University in Egypt. The university is affiliated with the International Organisation of La Francophonie, and the speech focused on the role of the French language and academic cooperation, not on France’s domestic language policy.
Screenshot from a propaganda Telegram channel
In the context of discussing mutual cultural influence, Macron stated, "Arabic is the second most spoken language in France. This is a reality that often needs to be recalled.” This was a factual observation, not an announcement of official status for Arabic or a proposal for educational reform.
Propagandists extracted the sentence from the broader context of a speech about Francophonie and multilingualism and transformed it into a sensational story designed to fuel anti-migration and anti-European sentiment.
Fabricated Euronews Report: Pashinyan Is a “Warmonger Like Zelenskyy”
In May, a video bearing the Euronews logo circulated on X with the caption: “Nikol Pashinyan will cause another war in Europe.” The subtitles included the statement: “Just as Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the cause of the 2022 war.” The video accumulated more than 104,000 views, and the authors of the post tagged major international news organizations, including CNN, AP, DW News, and others.
Detector Media analysts established that the video was a manipulated edit. The original Euronews report focused on discussions about a “global Europe” in the context of the European Political Community summit in Armenia. In the authentic report, there is no mention of Pashinyan as a “warmonger,” Zelenskyy is not described as the “cause of the war,” and the speaker actually criticizes the logic of aggression and explicitly refers to Putin as a war criminal.
Screenshot of an X post spreading manipulative claims about Pashinyan and Zelenskyy
The manipulation was created by replacing the audio track or subtitles while preserving the original video footage and Euronews branding. This gives the fake the appearance of a legitimate journalistic report for viewers unfamiliar with the original material.
The video is being circulated ahead of Armenia’s parliamentary elections on June 7 and fits into documented efforts to destabilize the country’s pro-European course. The fake reproduces several classic propaganda clichés at once: “NATO instructors” as a threat, equating European integration with provoking war, and delegitimizing Zelenskyy.
All materials from the Chronicles of Disinformation can be found at disinfo.detector.media
