Ukrainian center identifies four Russian propaganda narratives

The Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said at a press conference at Ukrinform that it identified four main Russian narratives on prisoners of war, exchanges and missing persons in a Jan. 1-Aug. 11, 2026, study.

Kyrylo Viktorov, head of the CCD’s Department for Countering Information Threats to National Security, said analysts used specialized software to review more than 94,000 publications from nearly 24,000 sources. The study covered Ukrainian- and Russian-language information spaces, with the analyzed materials reaching 419 million views, he said. The CCD said not all publications contained destructive narratives.

“The main pattern revealed by our analysis is that Russia often does not need to invent the event itself. It is enough to use a real event and impose the desired interpretation of it on the audience,” Viktorov said. He said the first narrative alleges that Ukraine does not want to return its prisoners, while the second manipulates the issue of missing persons by claiming the status hides deaths or avoids payments to families.

Viktorov said the third narrative seeks to create a positive image of Russian captivity through videos and statements by Ukrainian prisoners of war about allegedly good treatment or reluctance to return to Ukraine. “A person who is being held captive cannot be considered a free participant in information communication, especially when we are talking about Russian captivity,” he said. The fourth narrative, he said, spreads fake information about alleged poor conditions, lack of medical care, poor food, beatings or cruel treatment of Russian prisoners in Ukraine.

The CCD said the narratives are linked by a goal of undermining trust in Ukraine, including among service members, families, citizens and international partners. Viktorov said such information operations are most favorable during prisoner exchanges, negotiations, and the release of lists or new information about prisoners and missing persons. Ukrinform also cited a previous report saying Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have information on more than 114,000 missing civilians and military personnel.