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Russia Ramps Up Disinformation and Nuclear Provocations to Divide US-Europe on Ukraine, ISW Warns
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia is stepping up a coordinated disinformation campaign designed to weaken Western support for Ukraine and derail European involvement in peace talks, according to a new report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) released August 31.
Analysts say the Kremlin has recently ramped up three main propaganda narratives:
accusing European nations of deliberately dragging out the war in Ukraine;
threatening Western countries with nuclear weapons;
claiming that Russia’s victory in Ukraine is inevitable.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev suggested that European governments are seeking to prolong the hostilities.
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According to ISW, this messaging appears designed to revive an old Russian narrative in Western information spaces and erode US trust in European allies.
The report notes that Moscow frequently uses Dmitriev to push Russian positions to English-speaking audiences, especially regarding sanctions and the so-called “peace process” in Ukraine.
The rhetoric was escalated further by Russian Security Council Chair Dmitry Medvedev, who lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on August 31.
PS: And two pieces of bad news for the fraternal twins:
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) August 31, 2025
1. Trump is alive.
2. Russia is advancing. pic.twitter.com/89Y7dLUfQL
Medvedev claimed the two leaders had “forgotten the lessons” of World War II and warned, “things could end up like they did in 1945 – [Macron and Merz] too may end up being identified by their teeth.”
By invoking the memory of the US atomic bombings, Medvedev appeared to threaten France and Germany with nuclear strikes over their support for Ukraine. He also described recent Russian battlefield gains as “bad news” for both leaders.
ISW says these narratives are meant to reinforce a parallel effort by Russia’s Defense Ministry to create a false sense of inevitability around a Russian victory. Moscow has been publishing large amounts of data to back its claims of territorial gains, but ISW assesses those claims as “inflated.”
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The think tank argues that the intensified information push comes as Russia’s territorial advances remain “disproportionately limited and slow” compared with the scale of its military losses.
Earlier, Russia launched a propaganda campaign in Europe under the slogan “Russia is not my enemy.” Stickers and posters with this message have appeared in Romania, France, and Italy, depicting Moscow as a peacemaker rather than an aggressor.
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