Ukraine Echo Misinformation Group

On January 12 2021 Facebook made an announcement that it had taken down a network of accounts, pages, and groups linked to news websites with false content across Europe and Central Asia. The operation was first exposed by a joint report by German outlets Die Welt and Netzpolitik.

The Network was pro-kremlin, and criticized Ukraine, Navalny, the U.S. and the West and Moldovan president Maia Sandu. They alleged that the Ukrainian government contained fascists and that Ukraine was dumping radioactive sludge.

The network had accounts in a variety of locations but most declared they were from Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. There were links that the individuals running this campaign had with the Luhansk region of Ukraine.

The network had websites which published in English, German, Russian, French, Spanish and Hungarian however much of their language was unidiomatic. The accounts received limited engagement and viewership. The Graphika researchers alleged that this campaign was likely a “disinformation laundromat” where disinformation that supported the Kremlin was put into Russian language space and made to appear that it came from Western outlets, thereby lending it some measure of legitimacy.