The three country reports reveal a coordinated effort by Russian-aligned actors to exploit the Israel-Hamas conflict and spread disinformation in Bulgaria, Georgia, and Ukraine. Their campaigns leverage existing vulnerabilities in each country's media landscape, such as polarization and low public trust in journalism, amplified across traditional online media and popular social media platforms like Facebook, Telegram, and YouTube.
The primary goal of this disinformation is to deflect attention from Russia's war in Ukraine, sow confusion and discord, deepen societal divisions, and ultimately weaken support for Western institutions and democratic values while promoting Kremlin interests. Common narratives include portraying the West as instigating proxy wars in both Ukraine and the Middle East for geopolitical dominance, baselessly claiming that Ukraine is supplying Western weapons to Hamas through black market deals, and asserting that the "collective West" is abandoning Ukraine by diverting focus and resources to the conflict in Gaza. These narratives frequently involve demonizing Israel and its Western allies.
The disinformation tactics employed often involve coordinated amplification, recycling old or fabricated content, and exploiting the emotional gravity of the conflict to manipulate public perception and erode trust. While the specific local contexts and levels of audience susceptibility vary, the overarching strategy is consistent: to distort the information space and undermine the resilience of these countries against malign foreign influence.