Russian propaganda fabricates fake story about mass desertions in Ukrainian army following Operation Spiderweb

Russian media outlets are spreading a falsified video bearing the logo of the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), featuring purported comments by American political analyst William Kristol. The video claims that following Ukraine's large-scale drone attack on Russian strategic bombers on June 1, 2025, Ukrainian soldiers began surrendering en masse. The supposed Kristol quote likens the situation to the Vietnam War, suggesting that military success failed to boost morale due to troop exhaustion.

This is a fabrication. The video in question does not exist on ISW's official website or its YouTube channel, where the institute publishes its regular video briefings. The most recent legitimate video, posted two months ago, discussed the halt of the Russian offensive in the Pokrovsk sector.

The fake video was cobbled together from publicly available photos and footage found online.

William Kristol has made no such statements. On the day of the attack on Russian air bases, the only message he posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account was the Ukrainian slogan: 'Slava Ukraini. Heroiam slava!" ("Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the Heroes!")

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has forged ISW content to lend credibility to false narratives. Ukrinform has previously debunked a fake story claiming that Ukrainian troops began surrendering in large numbers after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November 2024.

This latest disinformation is intended to downplay the success of Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb, which, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), struck at least 41 Russian strategic bombers and military transport aircraft.

Earlier, Russian propagandists attempted to use a TV actress from the series "The Boy's Word" and a collaborating Paralympian to discredit President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Andriy Olenin