In Crimea, Russian propagandists have launched a new disinformation campaign against Ukraine

In October, the Russian authorities in occupied Crimea and media outlets under their control spread disinformation about Ukraine and distorted statements by Western politicians. The propaganda accused the Ukrainian government of Nazism, denied the occupation, and portrayed Russia as a victim of the West’s war.

This is evidenced by an analysis of publications from the second half of October conducted by journalists at Krym.Realii.

One of the most common tactics remained the use of propagandistic labels for the Ukrainian government. Vadym Kolesnichenko, a former People’s Deputy from the Party of Regions who lives in Sevastopol, referred to the Ukrainian authorities as the “Kyiv regime” and claimed that they were allegedly capable of staging a provocation resulting in a large number of casualties.

Vladimir Konstantinov, the speaker of the Russian-controlled Crimean parliament, used similar rhetoric. He called the Ukrainian government a “Nazi regime,” accused it of war crimes, and questioned the legitimacy of the Ukrainian president. Konstantinov also stated that Ukraine’s future should be decided by other countries and politicians.

Another strand of propaganda was the attempt to portray the full-scale war as a “Ukrainian conflict” or a “special military operation.” Politicians and experts from the occupying forces promoted the narrative that it is actually the collective West that is at war with Russia, using Ukraine as a tool to weaken Moscow.

Crimean media outlets controlled by Russian authorities also spread claims about the alleged suppression of the Russian language in Ukraine. In particular, *Krymskaya Gazeta* criticized legislative changes regarding the use of national minority languages in education. At the same time, journalists noted that the Russian language does not fall into the category of languages of small national minorities protected by this law.

Separately, Russian officials continued to refer to Crimea as a Russian region and to justify the events of 2014. Aksyonov claimed that the peninsula had allegedly returned to the Russian Federation thanks to the will of Crimea’s residents and Putin’s decision. Pro-Russian media also referred to the occupied territories in southern Ukraine as “new” or “reunited regions.”

In addition, propagandists manipulated statements by U.S. President Donald Trump. In particular, “RIA Novosti Crimea” published versions of his remarks with differing content on its website and Telegram channel, adding phrasing that was not present in the original statement.

Among other examples of manipulation, journalists documented the spread of unsubstantiated accusations against Ukrainian intelligence agencies regarding the recruitment of teenagers through online games, as well as claims about the dangers Russians face when traveling to European Union countries.

Анна Літман