cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11627143

The Russian disinformation operations that emerged at the start of the war in Ukraine have ramped up in the past year, with fake news articles and reports hijacking trusted media brands, to undermine public trust and deceive AI systems, a NewsGuard report released on Monday found.

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Among the 15 most imitated media brands were eight French outlets, including FRANCE 24, which saw its brand coopted by fake news stories 34 times over 12 months.

“It’s no surprise that France, which is one of the biggest contributors of aid to Ukraine, is being specifically targeted,” said Chine Labbé, Europe editor at NewsGuard.

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Three presidential candidates who have pledged unwavering support for Ukraine – Raphaël Glucksmann, Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe – have all recently been the subject of fake news stories linked to pro-Russian groups.

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There are multiple objectives for Moscow’s information war according to NewsGuard, which compiled the report with the Ukrainian agency, Center for Countering Disinformation, French government agency Viginum, and anonymous research group, Antibot4Navalny.

These include discrediting support for Ukraine, undermining the reputation of Western leaders, stoking tensions within European democracies and disrupting electoral processes.

Year-on-year, the report found there had been an 850 percent increase in fake news stories mimicking known media brands – rising from 44 in the first half of 2025 to 421 in the first half of 2026.

“The explosion of this phenomenon may mean that the Russians see it as an effective tactic for eroding Western citizens’ trust in the media – or at the very least, that there is significant potential to be tapped at little cost,” said Labbé.

“These days, it costs nothing to create a fake news site using AI and generate a lot of content.”

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