Russia is spreading false claims about a mass influx of migrants into Ukraine
Russian propaganda has launched a new wave of disinformation about the alleged mass influx of migrants from India, Pakistan, and other countries into Ukraine. Photos, videos, and AI-generated images are being circulated on social media and Telegram channels, creating the impression of a “replacement” of the population.
According to Ukrainian media, these reports are part of information campaigns aimed at destabilizing public sentiment.
One such piece of disinformation was a photo showing a dark-skinned man standing in a uniform with a red armband reading “TCK Assistant.” Russian public groups began circulating the image with captions about “import substitution, Ukrainian style.”
StopFake fact-checkers note that in the spring of 2026, a large-scale campaign of anti-immigrant narratives began in the Ukrainian information space. According to the Osavul platform, the topic was coordinated by bots and accounts that spread identical messages.
The basis for the manipulation was the real problem of a labor shortage in Ukraine due to the war and the demographic crisis. Propagandists distorted an old forecast by the Ministry of Economy regarding the need for 4.5 million workers by 2030 and turned it into a fake claim that “4.5 million Indians will be brought to Ukraine.”
Russian propaganda actively used photos and videos taken out of context or AI-generated content. For example, videos from India or featuring tourists were passed off as footage from Ukraine, and some images contained errors and artifacts characteristic of artificial intelligence.
Russianbot farms are spreading disinformation about the war in the Middle East to discredit Ukraine.
As a reminder, Russian propaganda is using the war in Iran to derail negotiations on Ukraine.
Russian propagandists are also fabricating a “counteroffensive” by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cover up their own defeats.
