Since February 24, 2022, Detector Media has been monitoring the Ukrainian segment of social media and Kremlin media and documenting the chronology of Russian disinformation about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Between 21 and 27 October 2026, analysts from Detector Media documented 12 disinformation fabrications. In particular, a network of TikTok accounts circulated fake videos under the brands of France 24, Bloomberg, Le Parisien, and other outlets regarding Macron's alleged "flight" amid French protests; Polish politicians from the Confederation party passed off an AI-generated video as a multi-kilometre tailback of Ukrainians at the border allegedly fleeing into Poland ahead of winter; Russian sources shared a generated photo showing the monument near the US Embassy in Kyiv supposedly splashed with paint; propagandists re-launched an old fake story about a "pregnant Ukrainian prisoner of war", this time for English- and French-speaking audiences; and Polish-language accounts on X and Instagram used AI images as supposed proof that Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities were "staged".
"Macron Fled to the Emirates" and Protesters "Burned Down Brad Pitt's Mansion": Fake Videos of Well-Known Media Brands Circulated on TikTok
On the night of 21 October, against the backdrop of widespread protests in France, six TikTok accounts published a series of fake videos carrying the branding of France 24, Bloomberg, Le Parisien, 20 Minutes, RFI, and BFM. The primary target of the campaign was French President Emmanuel Macron. Detector Media analysts verified whether the officials, experts, and journalists cited in the clips had actually made the statements attributed to them; no confirmation was found.
On 17 October, a wave of protests against the rising cost of living and fuel price increases swept across France, escalating into riots in numerous cities. On that day alone, 1,200 people were detained, 150 law enforcement officers were injured, and the historical town hall building in Limoges was destroyed by fire. On 18 October, Macron addressed the nation, and on 19 October, he set off on a tour of the Gulf states. This visit became the central storyline for the fabrications.
Forged reports styled as 20 Minutes, Le Parisien, Bloomberg, and BFM claimed in identical sentences that Macron had "flown to the UAE on an urgent basis", with one clip alleging he had "fled for fear that protesters would seize the Élysée Palace". In reality, the Élysée Palace had announced the tour of Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar on 14 October—three days prior to the peak of the unrest. All the clips relied on the phrase "experts are convinced" without naming a single expert.
A fake video under the RFI brand claimed that protesters had vandalised "Céline Dion’s flat", even though the singer had bought her Paris mansion back in 2008 and had put it up for sale several times since. A clip bearing the BFM logo claimed protesters had burned down Brad Pitt's estate; in reality, wildfires raged near the property during the summer, but the flames never reached it. The forgery under the France 24 banner invented the claim that over 70% of ATMs in France had shut down and attributed a call for French citizens to withdraw their money from banks to former Minister of Economy Michel Sapin.
By imitating the recognisable branding of French and international media outlets, the originators of the campaign sought to portray Macron as a leader who had lost control and was "fleeing" his own people, aiming to incite panic and undermine trust in the referenced news organisations.
"Poland Is Not a Hotel": Polish Media and Politicians Circulated AI Video of Supposed Multi-Kilometre Queue of Ukrainians at the Border
Polish politicians from the Confederation party and certain Polish media outlets shared a video depicting an endless column of passenger cars. According to their claims, these were Ukrainians fleeing to Poland ahead of a winter without power and heating. Fact-checkers at the Polish organization Demagog established that the video was generated by artificial intelligence. Whilst multi-hour border queues do exist, they consist overwhelmingly of heavy goods vehicles.
Confederation politicians Łukasz Kolada and Jakub Perkowski posted videos on Facebook showing a line of cars stretching to the horizon. "Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians want to spend the winter in Poland!?" Perkowski wrote, adding that Poland was neither a hotel nor a bottomless pit of money. Footage from the same video was published by the portal Wirtualna Polska and the Kresy website.
Demagog noted that vehicles in the background lost visual detail—a characteristic typical of AI-generated images. The Hive AI tool confirmed that the video was created using artificial intelligence, whilst a check via SynthID revealed a digital watermark used to mark content generated by Google tools.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine refuted the claims of 40-hour queues for passenger vehicles. In a comment to Ukrinform, SBGS spokesman Andriy Demchenko explained that 60 to 70 cars might queue simultaneously at the most popular checkpoints—Ustyluh, Shehyni, and Krakovets—whereas other crossings had no queues at all. Extended queues for buses and lorries form within neighbouring territories and stem from operational pauses during air-raid alerts and customs clearance procedures.
The generated video misrepresents genuine freight transport challenges as a "mass influx" of Ukrainians, reinforcing a narrative in Poland that portrays Ukrainians as a financial burden ahead of winter.
Photo Fake of Paint-Splashed Monument Near US Embassy in Kyiv Circulated Online
Russian outlets distributed an image of a monument near the American Embassy in Kyiv purportedly covered in red paint, accompanied by the inscription "Trump and Musk are killers of Ukraine". The posts presented this as a protest against restrictions on satellite communications and intelligence sharing.
According to StopFake, an inspection using the Sightengine service detected indicators of generative AI use with a 99% probability score. Fact-checkers found no confirmation of such an incident in independent Ukrainian or international media, nor in official statements from law enforcement agencies or the US Embassy. Distribution analysis via the Osavul platform indicated that the earliest detected post was published by the Russian Telegram channel "Srochno, Seychas" on 16 October, followed the next day by the outlet "Ukraina.ru", which cited only social media sources.
On 14 October, Ukrinform, citing a Ministry of Defence source, reported that SpaceX had restricted Starshield terminal operations above speeds of 160 km/h without prior notice, complicating Ukrainian drone operations. Reuters subsequently reported that the direction originated from the White House, although an American administration official denied that Trump had issued such an order. Disruption to intelligence sharing was also recorded: on 18 October, President Zelenskyy announced the resumption of information exchange after a short break, though on 19 October he stated that Ukraine had once again received no advance warning regarding an initial wave of ballistic attacks. However, these real-world issues do not serve as proof of the photograph's authenticity.
The fabricated "protest" aims to create the impression that Ukrainians openly blame American leadership for their hardships, thereby straining relations between Ukraine and the US.
Russian Propaganda Re-circulates Fake Story About a "Pregnant Ukrainian Prisoner of War"
A video circulating on the X platform purports to show a woman in military uniform surrendering to Russian troops. The posts claim she is pregnant and accuse Ukraine of sending pregnant women to the front line. According to StopFake fact-checkers, the clip is now being distributed among English- and French-speaking audiences without explaining that it first appeared nearly three years ago.
In November 2023, the video was circulated by Russian Telegram channels and broadcast by propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. At the time, it was analysed by the Centre for Countering Disinformation (CCD) and classified as a fake by the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security; later, similar posts in the Czech segment of TikTok were debunked by Lead Stories.
Among the indicators of staging, the Centre for Strategic Communications highlighted the clean, unstained uniform worn by a woman presented as a front-line soldier, the absence of weapons or equipment, her obscured face, and the complete lack of gunfire or explosion sounds. The CCD additionally noted her ordinary trainers and the patch of the 65th Rocket and Artillery Arsenal, which could have been obtained by Russian forces during the occupation of parts of the Kharkiv region. The video also bears the watermark "The Aussie Cossack"—the alias of pro-Kremlin blogger Simeon Boikov, who, according to an American blogger, paid him to publish a fabricated video about alleged violations in the US presidential election.
Pregnancy constitutes grounds for discharge from military service, including during state of emergency or martial law, as clarified by the Legal Aid System of Ukraine. Women join the Defence Forces strictly on a voluntary basis: in August 2026, the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada confirmed that no mobilization of women was taking place and that no corresponding legislative initiatives existed.
As Detector Media previously reported, Russian propaganda uses this fake story to discredit mobilization efforts and fuel the narrative of a "war to the last Ukrainian", creating the false impression that Ukrainian authorities are forced by troop shortages to send even pregnant women to the front.
"The Same Man with a Dog" in the Ruins of Three Cities: AI Images Passed Off as Proof of "Staged" Russian Strikes
In the Polish-language segment of X and Instagram, a photograph of a man holding a small dog—allegedly taken after Russian attacks on Rivne, Dnipro, and Kyiv—was circulated alongside claims that he is an "actor" and the strikes were staged. Fact-checkers at Demagog (Poland) and StopFake (Ukraine) determined that only one photo is genuine, whilst the other two were generated by artificial intelligence.
The posts were published by the Polish-language accounts "Ministerstwo Prawdy" (Ministry of Truth) and "Centrum Usług Prawnych" (Legal Services Centre), accompanied by three images captioned "October 2026, Rivne", "December 2025, Dnipro", and "June 2026, Kyiv". The varying dates and locations were intended to convey that the same "actor" was systematically operating across the country. The post on X garnered over 100,000 views.
Only the first photo, from Rivne, is authentic; it is one of twelve photographs included in an official post by the Rivne Region Patrol Police documenting rescue operations following a Russian strike on a local school on 13 October. The remaining two images were created using artificial intelligence: analysis via SynthID detected an imperceptible digital watermark, whilst reverse image searches showed these frames were never published by reputable media outlets or official sources, appearing exclusively in propaganda posts. According to StopFake, both images were first released on 14 October by the Russian propaganda Telegram channel "Sheikh Tamir", before being picked up by other pro-Russian channels and Polish-language profiles.
Russia has exploited the narrative of "actors" as supposed proof that there is no war in Ukraine for several years. Propagandists attached two AI-generated photos to a genuine photograph from an official police post, manipulating the story of a man affected by a Russian bombardment.
