The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council has recorded a new wave of coordinated attacks aimed at discrediting Ukrainian citizens in European Union countries. Russian propaganda is using the media coverage of the 2026 Olympics to spread fabricated stories about crimes and antisocial behavior of refugees, disguising fakes as reports from authoritative Western media. This is reported by UNN.
Details
The disinformation campaign includes a series of falsified messages, styled after well-known French and Italian TV channels. Among the most absurd hoaxes are a story about a "Ukrainian refugee" who allegedly deliberately infected hundreds of men in Milan and Paris, as well as a fake news story about an attempted rape of a French journalist by Ukrainians.
Propagandists also fabricated an appeal from the Milan police chief to the President of Ukraine demanding payment for cleaning the city of graffiti, although no official statements of such content ever existed.
Activities of the "Matryoshka" network and international verification
According to experts from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), these attacks are behind the Russian disinformation network "Matryoshka", which specializes in creating copies of well-known resources. The BBC verification department has recorded at least 43 examples of such manipulations, specifically related to the 2026 Olympic context. None of the messages were published on the official websites of the media whose logos were used by the attackers, and the dissemination occurred exclusively through a network of pro-Russian accounts.
This is completely fabricated content created for dissemination through a network of pro-Russian accounts. The tactic of falsifying publications of well-known media, organizations, or statements of public figures is systematically used by the Russian disinformation network "Matryoshka"
Russia launches fakes about Ukrainian athletes during the Olympics in Italy - CPD09.02.26, 14:36