A pro-Russian website has circulated a forged document accusing Ukraine of interfering in Italy’s domestic politics. On November 2, 2025, the website International Reporters Italia published a falsified letter on the social platform X, claiming it was issued by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry to its diplomatic missions in Italy. The letter allegedly instructed Ukrainian diplomats to ignore the Five Star Movement and outlined guidance on engaging with Azione and Italia Viva. It also included fabricated calls for sanctions against individual Italian journalists. The post accused Kyiv of meddling in Italy’s internal affairs.
Disinformation network behind the website
International Reporters presents itself as a legitimate news outlet but is, in reality, part of a Kremlin-backed disinformation network. Launched in November 2023 with financial support from Moscow, the site employs around ten propagandists from eight countries who publish content justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and praising the Kremlin’s foreign policy. The team includes figures such as Adrien Bocquet, Andrea Lucidi, Vanessa Beeley, Christelle Néant, and Viktoria Smorodina—the site’s editor-in-chief and head of the Russian firm Laboratory of Attention, which funds the platform. Typical headlines promote anti-Ukrainian narratives like “How the EU is killing its farmers” or “The British elite keeps pushing Ukraine into the abyss.”
Condemnation from Reporters Without Borders
Jeanne Cavelier, head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Reporters Without Borders, condemned International Reporters as a propaganda outlet serving Moscow’s interests. She stated that “behind its deceptive name hides a website financed by Kremlin propaganda networks, using foreign propagandists—often based in Russia—to reach international audiences. Their so-called reports spread narratives justifying the invasion of Ukraine and advancing Kremlin policy globally.” Cavelier emphasized that such disinformation “pollutes the information space” and undermines journalistic credibility.
Part of Russia’s wider hybrid warfare campaign
The forged letter and the activities of International Reporters fit into Russia’s broader hybrid strategy to influence European opinion and weaken support for Ukraine. Through state media like RT and Sputnik—now banned in the EU but active via mirror sites, Telegram, YouTube, and X—Moscow continues to spread messages about the “decline of the West” and the “ineffectiveness of sanctions.” Russia also operates pseudo-independent outlets such as NewsFront, SouthFront, EU Times, and Voice of Europe, which recycle Kremlin narratives under a European guise.
Europe’s countermeasures against disinformation
Russian disinformation increasingly relies on social networks, bots, trolls, fake documents, and deepfakes targeting elections, protests, and crises. However, European institutions are strengthening their defenses. The EU’s East StratCom Task Force and its EUvsDisinfo platform systematically track and expose such propaganda efforts, helping to safeguard Europe’s information space and maintain unity in support of Ukraine.
