Telegram channels in Russian-occupied Ukraine have disseminated claims about Ukraine planning major "provocations" ahead of the high-stakes U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, according to a Let's Data analysis provided to the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 13.
U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in Alaska on Aug. 15, marking Putin's first visit to the U.S. in a decade.
Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukraine on Aug. 12 of staging a "provocative" drone and missile strike on Chuhuiv, a Ukrainian town in Kharkiv Oblast, on the day of the talks.
The ministry claimed that Ukraine is sending foreign journalists there to document the attack and put the blame on Russia.
Several Telegram channels in the Russian-occupied cities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts spread these accusations.
A post on the Telegram channel Lysychansk, Kolybel Donbasa (Lysychansk, the cradle of Donbas) claims that this week will be critical for President Volodymyr Zelensky, suggesting he will attempt to derail the talks between Trump and Putin.
Some channels said that the possible provocations are prepared by "Britain and its partners."
The posts received over 35,000 views between Aug. 11 and 12, Let’s Data researcher Joseph Roche told the Kyiv Independent.
According to Roche, such claims portray Ukraine as willing to kill its own civilians for propaganda purposes, frame Ukraine as uninterested in peace and sabotaging diplomatic talks, and establish Russia's claimed "innocence" in advance.
Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian cities and villages throughout the full-scale war, killing and injuring civilians on a daily basis. The U.N. said that July saw the highest number of confirmed civilian casualties in Ukraine since 2022.
Alina Alekseeva, the deputy head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, told the Kyiv Independent that Russia is spreading such statements to create an information alibi.
"They create some kind of information newsbreak, preemptively accuse Ukraine of it, and then do it themselves," Alekseeva said.
"Ukraine has nothing to do with it. This is a Russian tactic before any negotiations."
Television and social media are key instruments used to spread Russian propaganda and disinformation among residents of occupied territories. Russia has occupied Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts since 2014.
After the full-scale war began in 2022, Russia also advanced into the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in the south. Moscow illegally declared the annexation of the four regions in September 2022, despite not controlling them fully.
"Russia uses occupied territories as another platform for spreading propaganda," Alekseeva said.
"Telegram channels of occupied territories work according to the same pattern as Russians, which means creating a network of local Telegram channels to keep everyone on the same page."
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