Putin’s “infowar” over Ukraine creates a “perfect environment” for fake content

ISD’s Julia Smirnova, an expert on Russia, features in a podcast with renowned German newspaper FAZ about deliberate false reporting during the war in Ukraine.

“Some of the truth will come to light to be used later to investigate war crimes. It is important to investigate this independently now and later,” Julia says in conversation with FAZ journalist Andreas Krobock.

The topic of the discussion is the parallel cyber war centred in the deliberate deployment of misinformation by Russia, and the ongoing weapons war between both countries. With over 10,000 images and videos posted, a “perfect environment has been created to spread fake content,” Julia warns.

Julia Smirnova is an Analyst at ISD and ISD Germany, focusing on the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy myths, hate speech and extremist ideologies online.