Six months in, Russia’s disinformation has laid bare the extent of its lies in Ukraine

With the invasion having gone disastrously wrong on most fronts for Russia, the Kremlin has had to rely on an ever-shifting assortment of misleading and false claims and narratives to justify its actions in Ukraine

In late March, when news of murders and potential war crimes committed by Russian solders in Bucha emerged, Russian state officials and state-backed media went into disinformation overdrive. Picture Aris Messinis /AFP via Getty Images

Days before Russia invaded Ukraine, during a televised (and choreographed) meeting of Russia’s security council, former president Dmitry Medvedev told President Vladimir Putin it was clear Ukraine did not want its two eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and that he should recognise the “sovereignty of these territories”. 

Hours later, on February 21, Putin appeared on television again in a long and rambling speech that ended with him recognising the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.