Russia is waging a disinformation campaign against Ukraine's cooperation with Gulf countries

Russian media have published over 200 pieces aimed at discrediting the cooperation

Kremlin propaganda is attempting to undermine security cooperation between Kyiv and Middle Eastern countries by using bot farms, fake videos attributed to global media outlets, and manipulations surrounding the exchange of military expertise.

This is reported with reference to the Spravdi Center for Strategic Communications.

It is reported that these information attacks are accompanying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Saudi Arabia, where messages are being promoted about Ukraine’s alleged “desire to profit from someone else’s war” and the “low quality” of products from the Ukrainian defense industry. According to monitoring by the Center for Strategic Communications, on March 26, 7,300 articles about Ukraine were published across 120 media outlets. 

“This is nearly 1.2 times more than the over 1,100 legitimate media outlets, which distributed about 6,100 publications. Thus, approximately 54% of materials about Ukraine in foreign languages are posted on platforms involved in Russian information interference and information operations,” the report states.

The key focus of these campaigns is promoting narratives portraying Ukraine as a “failed state,” “totally dependent” on foreign aid, and under “external control.” At the same time, claims are being spread about an alleged “split” within the EU and NATO over support for Ukraine, as well as about the “weakness” of the European Union.

Particular attention is paid to promoting the narrative of “Ukraine as a terrorist state,” which is allegedly a “threat” and a “source of instability.” To this end, accusations of involvement in attacks are being used, particularly regarding the incident with the tanker ALTURA in the Black Sea and the Ukrainian Defense Forces’ operation in the Leningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation on March 24–25, which Russian sources portray as “terrorist” acts.

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