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How Russian information operations are targeting Europe and Turkey
- 0xDEF 4y agoFTA: Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, hundreds of fakes about Ukrainian refugees have been spread. For example, last December, a 23-second video was circulated online showing an elderly woman allegedly complaining to Polish authorities that she had been “robbed” by Ukrainian refugees she had sheltered in her apartment. Several variations of this “story” can also be found online, according to which either the woman’s children or the city authorities persuaded the 73-year-old Polish woman to give shelter to a Ukrainian family. Instead, this video was filmed back in 2018, and the woman is seen quarreling with representatives of the Internet provider over the services not provided. Another case occurred in Germany when in November 2022, messages were spread around the network that “Ukrainian refugees opened a second-hand store in Germany and resell things that were given to Ukrainians as state aid.” In fact, in October, Ukrainian citizens who fled the war did open a second-hand store in Germany. Their managers provided the fact-checkers with all the confirmation papers of the official purchase of clothing in the UK.