Putin’s recent address to the members of parliament was all over the front pages of Russian media last week. The Russian dictator was mentioned more than 1,300 times — a new record for our monitoring reports. Putin was praised for his eloquence despite the fact that his speech lacked meaningful content and was so long and boring that it lulled some of the officials in the audience to sleep. However, the dictator's latest self-presentation should not be treated too lightly. Putin is still holding the whole world hostage with his nuclear threats without any meaningful victories in the conventional war. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

The sanctions continue taking a heavy toll on the Russian pharmaceutical market. Many Russian pharmacies ran out of Viagra last week with no further supplies in sight. However, the propagandists rushed to assure that this is just a minor inconvenience since Russia has strategic stockpiles of sildenafil, the basic component of Viagra. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Although Russians rejoice at every bit of tactical success in the battlefield, this joy is bittersweet. According to Russian analysts, every scenario for the war to end is equally grim for Russia. Russian propagandist media are trying hard to drive a wedge among the Western coalition nations and erode their support of Ukraine.It seems that Russians have finally realized the scale of the disaster they caused urging them to invite Ukraine to the negotiation table, just like they did before.This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Russia is facing unprecedented budgetary deficit. Western sanctions are pushing hard on the people and the economy. However, Russian propagandists assure that this is all but temporary: stiff upper lip, tighten your belts as the whole planet will soon be covered in the radioactive ashes of Word War III, and North Korea will help to make it happen.This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Last week, Russian propagandists media rejoiced at the Russian army's advances at Soledar and put forward demands for Ukraine to stop fighting and crawl to the negotiating table. They also spread ridiculous fakes about Ukraine's preparations to use chemical weapons. Russians claim that sanctions are not working. In addition to that, Russian media keep saying that Washington has got the EU, which has become completely dependent on American energy, under its heel. Surprisingly, some domestic problems finally broke to the surface – in particular, shortages of certain medicines in Russia were reported. However, while explaining the reasons, the propagandists manipulated the facts to convince the audience that the shortages had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

The continuing supplies of weapons to Ukraine, which are soon to include Western tanks, have been causing growing concerns on Russian media. Russia is losing grip over the Caucasus and Central Asia, but is too proud to admit it. To save face, its propagandists are putting all the blame on “the machinations of the West”. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

The Intercept news outlet, which specializes in investigations, discovered evidence of cooperation between Russia and China in the field of propaganda. Leaked correspondence from the Russian State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK) reveals that government officials and media executives from Russia and China discussed the exchange of news and social content as early as 2021. TEXTY publishes the main excerpts of the investigation. These documents are also available in the Aleph database that provides access to leaked correspondence of Russian officials.Read this article in Ukrainian

Russians are desperately trying to hide their concerns about Ukraine’s rearmament behind fake optimism. While seeking international support for their aggression, they keep fueling internal conflicts in Ukraine by calling its people to rise against the government and dishing dirt on both Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Last week, Russian media quoted Putin’s bluster and calls to the Russian people to stand as one with the government. The hackneyed Russian fakes never stopped coming: the propagandists claimed that it was only mercenaries who were fighting for Ukraine while Western arms were being sold to terrorists. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

Recently, in one of the Russian propaganda talk shows, the head of RT, Margarita Simonyan, said that Russia will not launch a nuclear attack on Kyiv because "our sanctuaries" are there. At the same time, she claimed that Western capitals can be bombed with little to no hesitation because "none of our sanctuaries are located in there." The map of Russian churches in Europe, which TEXTY published last week as part of the "Germs of the Russian World" project, proves the opposite. Translated by Dmitry Lytov, Mike LytovRead this article in Ukrainian