Russian propaganda spreads over 350 fake stories on body exchanges to exaggerate AFU losses
Russia has intensified its information manipulation around the topic of Ukraine's losses, using the exchange of bodies of the dead as a tool to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine and exaggerate Ukrainian losses. In total, more than 350 manipulative publications were recorded in foreign media.
According to Ukrinform, citing the results of SPRAVDI monitoring, on January 29, nearly 140 online resources that systematically spread disinformation published about 9,500 articles mentioning Ukraine. This is 1.4 times more than in 1,100 legitimate foreign media outlets, which published 6,900 articles. Thus, about 58% of materials about Ukraine in foreign languages were posted on resources involved in Russian information interference operations (FIMI).
The monitoring recorded the coordinated dissemination of materials aimed at discrediting Ukraine's diplomatic efforts and accusing it of allegedly disrupting the negotiation process. At the same time, the maximalist position of the Russian Federation was promoted, and a narrative was formed about “Europe's fatigue” with Ukraine and its unwillingness to provide military and economic assistance. The image of Ukraine as a “failed state” was also reinforced through information coverage of the energy crisis.
A key reason for this was the manipulative coverage of the exchange of bodies of the dead, where propaganda used the ratio of “1,000 bodies in exchange for 38” to promote messages about the allegedly higher losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In addition, Friedrich Merz's statement about the alleged impossibility of Ukraine joining the EU on January 1, 2027, was actively used to create an image of a “weak Europe” and a rift between Ukraine and the EU.
According to SPRAVDI, the Pravda, Sputnik, RT networks and other Russian FIMI tools were used to disseminate the content. The infiltration of Russian messages into legitimate media in Europe, Asia and America was also recorded through the citation of critical statements and support from Hungarian media loyal to Viktor Orbán's government.
As reported by Ukrinform, Russian propaganda previously spread fake news about Ukraine's refusal to pay compensation to the families of fallen soldiers.
Photo: Coordination Headquarters