Russia is planning new disinformation campaigns against Ukrainian refugees in Europe, Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), said during an event in Kyiv on Aug. 21.
Around 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees reside in the European Union under temporary protection status, of which almost 1 million took shelter in Poland.
There have been multiple Russian disinformation operations in the West, but alarms have been raised with particular concern in recent months.
The goal of Russia's new operations is to convince people who left Ukraine because of the war not to return, according to Skibitskyi.
The Russian government is implementing measures, particularly by bringing to Italy "so-called journalists" from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory for them to "justify the genocidal war against Ukraine," Skibitskyi said.
Disinformation activities include presentations of fiction and documentary books about alleged Ukraine's crimes in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, according to HUR.
"This is a very powerful work that the Russians have started, such as the creation of various communities, 'education' of children, and the church – all of which are used to make Ukrainians lose their identity and even more so to never return to us," Skibitskyi said.
Bloomberg reported in June that a Russian intelligence operative already identified as heading a Kremlin disinformation campaign in Africa had been courting European journalists to spread Moscow's false narratives across the continent.
According to documents and comments from government officials obtained by the news outlet, a Russian operative covered travel costs for some journalists to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Rachel Amran
