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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 June 3 and 9, 2026, analysts at Detector Media documented 14 disinformation narratives. Among them, propaganda outlets spread fake claims about the alleged “evacuation” of U.S. and EU diplomats from Kyiv, manipulated statistics on child marriages in Ukraine, circulated fabricated videos posing as Human Rights Watch content, and launched a coordinated campaign featuring fake covers of leading Western media outlets surrounding Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin. Against the backdrop of Armenia’s parliamentary elections, a new discreditation tactic was also documented: fake “greetings from Hollywood stars” created using generative AI.
U.S. and EU Embassies Remain in Kyiv Despite False “Evacuation” Claims
Pro-Kremlin media circulated claims that diplomats from EU countries and the United States had begun a secret evacuation from Ukraine’s capital because of Kremlin threats to launch new strikes against Kyiv. StopFake reported on these disinformation messages.
Example of a disinformation message. Source: StopFake
Despite Moscow’s latest aggressive statements, diplomatic missions continue operating in Kyiv as usual. EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová refuted the claims and described the Russian Foreign Ministry’s rhetoric as a “masterpiece of hypocrisy.” The U.S. Embassy also confirmed that the mission had not been closed and remains open.
Propagandists are attempting to exploit associations with the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, when some embassies temporarily relocated their operations to western regions of Ukraine. Read more here.
“The Intensive Care Unit Shut Down”: A Fabricated Incident by the “Baltic Antifascists”
Russian media and Telegram channels spread claims that the intensive care unit of a hospital in Latvia had allegedly lost power due to the crash of Ukrainian drones. The only “source” cited was the coordinator of the pro-Russian movement “Baltic Antifascists,” who referred to an anonymous phone call from “local residents.” Neither the Latvian authorities, hospitals, nor electricity grid operators confirmed any such incident, StopFake writes.
Russian state media quickly amplified the fake. Screenshot from RIA Novosti.
In reality, several drones did indeed violate Latvian airspace in early May 2026, arriving from the direction of Russia. One of them caused a brief fire at an oil depot in Rēzekne, which firefighters quickly extinguished. No damage to power stations or disruptions to hospital operations were recorded.
The fake contains no verifiable details: there is no mention of the city, the hospital, or the allegedly damaged facility. Real emergencies involving hospitals in EU countries inevitably become the subject of public investigations—yet no corresponding reports from official sources exist. The purpose of the disinformation is to portray Ukraine as a threat to Europe’s civilian population. Read more here.
Fake “HRW” Video About the Shooting of Families on the Tysa River
Russian propaganda is circulating a video styled as a Human Rights Watch report claiming that Ukrainian border guards open fire on families with women and children attempting to cross the border via the Tysa River, and that “76 families” have allegedly been killed in this way since the beginning of the year. The Center for Countering Disinformation reported on the fake.
Screenshot from a propaganda Telegram channel.
Human Rights Watch has published no statements, reports, or statistics containing such claims. The organization has also never reported mass shootings of families attempting to cross the border. Detector Media analysts identified a systematic pattern in the dissemination of the fake across several propaganda Telegram channels—the video is accompanied by identical recurring text, indicating a coordinated information operation.
This is a typical tactic: imitating the style and design of authoritative international organizations to make fake content appear credible. The authors provide no verified sources or evidence to support their claims. Read more here.
“Greetings from the Stars”: AI-Generated Fake Hollywood Videos Target Pashinyan Ahead of Elections
In late May and early June, Detector Media analysts documented a new disinformation campaign against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections. Videos circulated on X in which well-known Hollywood actors allegedly urged viewers not to vote for Pashinyan. The videos featured the hashtag #HappyBirthdayFuckingPashinyan, referencing the prime minister’s birthday on June 1.
Screenshots of posts on X using manipulated greetings from Hollywood stars obtained through the Cameo platform.
The scheme worked as follows: perpetrators purchased genuine personalized greetings from actors through the Cameo platform for a small fee. The actors recorded neutral messages without suspecting the real intentions behind the requests. The audio tracks or subtitles were then altered using generative AI to insert provocative political content. The posts tagged the official accounts of major media outlets (BBC, Reuters, CNN, and others) in an effort to expand their reach. A similar tactic had previously been used against Zelenskyy in 2023 and against Moldovan President Sandu in 2024.
The campaign’s objective was to create the illusion of “international condemnation” of the incumbent prime minister and to influence the Armenian diaspora during the critical week before the elections. Read more here.
The “Middle Ages” Fake: Propaganda Distorted Child Marriage Statistics
Russian propaganda resources circulated reports claiming that the number of marriages involving minors had sharply increased in Ukraine, drawing a “pseudo-sociological” conclusion that society was “returning to the Middle Ages.” In reality, the information cited by the propagandists demonstrates the exact opposite, StopFake writes.
The propaganda completely distorted information published by the Opendatabot platform based on the Babusia court registry. Over the past five years, courts have indeed issued more than 2,800 rulings granting minors permission to marry. However, since 2021, the number of such rulings has steadily declined: while 790 permits were issued in 2021, only 356 were granted in 2025. The trend is therefore the opposite of the one portrayed by propaganda.
One revealing detail: during his 2025 annual call-in program, Putin himself described child marriages as “the right thing,” citing Kadyrov’s family as an example. Thus, accusing others of “returning to the Middle Ages” is a classic propaganda technique of mirror projection. Read more here.
Coordinated Fake Campaign Impersonating Politico, Der Spiegel, and The Wall Street Journal Around Zelenskyy’s Letter
On June 4, 2026, Zelenskyy published an open letter to Putin proposing direct negotiations and a full ceasefire. The document immediately became the trigger for a coordinated wave of disinformation on X: anonymous accounts distributed a series of fabricated video reports branded as Politico, Der Spiegel, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
Collage of screenshots from X posts spreading disinformation about Zelenskyy’s letter to Putin that remained online.
Detector Media examined four such publications and established that none of them corresponded to reality. The fabricated content revolved around three narratives: the personal discreditation of Zelenskyy (“corrupt,” “drug addict”), the devaluation of the letter (“written under pressure,” “contradicts the West’s plans”), and linking it to negative events (“Pentagon audit”). All the accounts published their posts within the same hour—between 17:51 and 18:22 UTC on June 5—indicating a coordinated operation.
The accounts spreading the disinformation display the typical characteristics of “throwaway” profiles: short-lived or minimal activity, suspicious avatars, and recent registration dates. The pattern matches campaigns previously documented around Armenia’s elections. Read more here.
Another Wave of Fake Magazine Covers: Newsweek, The Atlantic, Libération, and Público
Detector Media analysts documented a new wave of fake covers of leading media outlets aimed at discrediting Zelenskyy. All of the fabricated materials promote the same narrative—that Zelenskyy and the West have lost and “wasted their money.” The actual issues and publication dates were taken from genuine editions, but the text and images were replaced.
Newsweek: the authentic June cover featured the article “Cuban Myth” about the demise of the Cuban Revolution. The fabricators simply replaced “Cuban” with “Ukrainian” while preserving the rest of the design.
The Atlantic: the genuine cover is dedicated to the article “The Men Who Fear Women” and contains no image of Zelenskyy.
Libération: the real cover focuses on the FIFA World Cup.
Público: the authentic June issue is devoted to developments in the Middle East; it contains neither Zelenskyy nor any reference to “unconditional surrender.”
A similar campaign was documented in May 2026, when manipulated magazine covers promoted the narrative that Zelenskyy was a “drug addict.” Público officially debunked the fake at the time. The objective of the campaign is to imitate an “international consensus” about Ukraine’s “defeat.” Read more here.
All materials from the Chronicles of Disinformation can be found at disinfo.detector.media
