Number of Russian-produced fakes about captured Ukrainian soldiers grows

The last few days have seen a significant increase in the work of Russian propagandists, with special attention being paid to producing video and photo materials featuring captured soldiers from Ukraine’s defence forces.

Source: Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War

Details: More than 4,800 such messages have been documented over the past week. On some days the Russians have produced over 870 messages via more than 1,300 sources.

From an analysis of this "information", its primary sources and its distribution channels, it can be concluded that the vast majority of these messages are fake and are aimed at domestic consumers, the headquarters notes.

This increase in Russian propaganda may indicate that attempts are being made by the country's military and political leadership to "dilute" opinions within Russian society about the failures of their army at the front.

Ukraine’s defenсe forces have emphasised that they track every soldier who falls into Russian hands. "The reasons for captivity may differ, but everyone is on the same path – home, sooner or later", the Coordination Headquarters says. "The relevant authorised bodies and officials are constantly working on this."

Quote: "The appearance of large numbers of articles about captured defenders of the Motherland represents an increase in one aspect of the Russian Federation’s information war against Ukraine. It is not an increase in the number of people captured – it is an increase in the number of materials of influence produced by Russian propaganda."

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