How Russian Federation spreads disinformation in the Czech Republic. Investigation

This article was written as part of a project aimed at combating misinformation spread by the Russian Federation about refugees from Ukraine in the EU. It covers large-scale online media monitoring in several EU countries, including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Moldova. The media monitoring was conducted in November 2023. The project is supported by CRDF Global.

You can also read an article about how Austrian and Polish media outlets spread Russian propaganda.

At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation did not have much support in the Czech Republic. However, according to a report by the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) and its director, Michal Koudelka, Russia has since increased its influence on Czech society. As a result, pro-Russian narratives combined with other social problems led to anti-government demonstrations in the second half of 2022, in which pro-Russian activists took part.

The anti-government protests became the subject of internal Russian propaganda. In addition, Russia wanted to turn these demonstrations into a tool to promote its own agenda in the EU information space.

Cyberattacks are another "peculiarity" of Russia's activities in the Czech Republic. Major players in the Czech banking sector, such as Komereni Banka, CSOB, Air Bank, Fio Banka and Ceská sporitelna, experienced service interruptions. This was due to coordinated DDoS attacks by Russian hackers. One of those actively attacking the Czech industry is the Russian hacker group NoName057(16), which co-operates with the Kremlin. By the way, they are active on Telegram and have over 50,000 subscribers. In the same Telegram channel, they actively recruit volunteers for their DDoS projects. According to BIS, the most active participants receive cash rewards of up to 25,000 crowns.

Pro-Russian media and politicians also pose a significant threat. In September 2023, Michal Koudelka announced that an "influential agent" of Russia in the Czech Republic, in response to a request from his country's leadership, "ensured the dissemination in public space of narratives supporting the foreign policy interests of the Russian Federation in connection with the war in Ukraine". He used Czech "public figures" to spread the propaganda.

Protiproud and its aggressive support for the Russian Federation

In general, Protiproud 's rhetoric is very aggressive. They are cartoonishly pro-Russian. Sometimes, it seems even more so than in Russian propaganda publications. However, perhaps because of this marginality, they manage to capture a new audience. According to SimilarWeb, Protiproud has 672.1 thousand views per month. And in the last month of 2023, the number of visits increased by 24%. Protiproud has 20 thousand likes on Facebook, but this page has been inactive since spring 2022. The publication has no other pages on other social networks.

Here are some pro-Russian narratives of the publication. The Protiproud publication has actively supported the fake that the EU is in financial decline, including because of aid to Ukraine. However, in reality, GDP growth is projected to rise to 1.3 per cent in the EU and 1.2 per cent in the eurozone in 2024. In addition, inflation in the eurozone has reached its lowest level at 2.9 per cent in two years. At the same time, Russia's economy will grow by only 1.1% in 2024, which is slower than previously forecasted by the International Monetary Fund. Incidentally, the European Commission predicts Ukraine's economic growth will be 3.7 per cent in 2024 and 6.1 per cent in 2025. However, Czech, pro-Russian disinformation narratives and Russian media are silent on this.

Another favourite theme of Russians is that the West has "lost interest" in Ukraine and that funding for our country will be significantly reduced. The Czech publication Protiproud could not ignore this topic.

Pravý Prostor and its extremist narratives

Pravý Prostor is a news portal launched in November 2012.

Pravý Prostor actively criticises the domestic pro-European government. In particular, its prime minister Petr Fiala. In a short period of time, the publication has published more than three articles(here on the lack of prospects, here criticising Fiala's colleagues, and here criticising Fiala himself) dedicated to Fiala. All articles are critical in tone and coincide with pro-Russian and anti-Czech narratives. After all, the Czech Republic recently froze all Russian state assets and demanded that the EU do the same. Of course, the Russians don't like this decision.

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the publication spread Kremlin disinformation that Ukraine was allegedly developing nuclear weapons. The publication repeatedly called on Ukraine to stop the war (but no such calls were made towards Russia). Pravý Prostor calls the war in Ukraine"SWO," as the Kremlin does.

Now the publication has picked up the theme that the West will soon stop helping Ukraine. In this context, they also criticise the US. They say that the EU and the Czech Republic, among others, have suffered very large financial losses due to anti-Russian sanctions. In addition, the publication publishes author's columns in which Zelensky is called an "agent of the West" and "beggar".

By the way, it is worth noting that Pravý Prostor is a very racist media outlet. Now, against the backdrop of protests against Israel's actions, the publication is publishing materials in which it sows panic and threatens Europe with civil war. It also directly calls for an "end to Islam".

Pravý Prostor has 270,000 hits, according to LikeWeb, and about 1,500 readers on Facebook.

Slovak-Czech "independent" project

AE News (American European News) is a news portal created by Czechs and Slovaks. The creators call the publication "a portal providing information from alternative sources". In reality, they disseminate pro-Russian narratives about Ukraine and the rest of the world. At the same time, the portal itself has a legal address in New York.

For example, AE publishes information about how many volunteers have enlisted in the Russian army. The figures are taken from the Russian media. At the same time, they stress that the Russian army recruits volunteers while the Ukrainian army has to mobilise people from the streets. In addition, these articles clearly simply that the war in Ukraine is only the first stage, which will then spread to Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The publication also rebroadcasts Russian propaganda about the losses of Ukrainians on the front line. At the same time, it does not provide data on Russian losses at the front.

Another popular version used by AE News in its publications is the alleged extradition of male Ukrainians abroad due to mobilisation in Ukraine.

AE News also spread misinformation that the Polish army wanted to occupy the western part of Ukraine. Representatives of the Russian security services and the Ministry of Defence periodically threw this message into the information space.

The AE News portal is one of the few news portals that has an official page on the Russian social network Vkontakte. The portal is visited by 845,591 people every month.

"NGO against political extremism"

Nová Republika calls itself, first and foremost, an "NGO dissenting from the agenda". The portal publishes articles and blames "neoliberal regimes that have taken over the prosperous countries of the Old World" for all the troubles.

Like all Russian and pro-Russian resources, Nová Republika tries to focus its readers' attention on the losses of Ukrainian forces from Russia's armed attack. At the same time, the losses of Russians are glossed over. In addition, it periodically publishes materials with the message that Ukraine should stop fighting and give up its land.

Earlier, Nová Republika published materials claiming that the United States and NATO are directly benefiting from the war between Ukraine and Russia. It also published pro-Russian stories about neo-Nazis serving in the Ukrainian army.

The media also allows Russian propagandists to publish directly on its portal. For example, Andrei Fursov's article is published on the site. Fursov is a Russian historian and sociologist, a supporter of the concept of the "Anglo-Saxon world". By the way, this formulation is constantly used in the rhetoric of the entire Russian leadership. Fursov's article is designed to sow panic among the European community. He allegedly "predicts" that clashes and confrontations provoked by the migration crisis will soon begin throughout Europe. In other words, Fursov is scaring Europeans.

According to the LikeWeb website, Nová Republika has 414,915 visitors per month. The media is not very active on social networks.

A non-governmental portal about the parliament

ParlamentníListy.cz is an online news portal that has been operating since 2008. Professional journalists often accuse it of pro-Russian disinformation. The publication publishes texts by authors "who are intolerant of other cultural, religious and social differences". Back in 2014, ParlamentníListy received the third Kříšťálové Lupa anti-premium for "violating the principles of serious journalism in so-called alternative internet media". ParlamentníListy has been called the "Mecca of radicals" in Czech society.

In its articles, ParlamentníListy uses radical rhetoric and calls, for example, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalensky a "Nazi".

Now, like other pro-Russian media, ParlamentníListy.cz publishes materials that say that the West allegedly refuses to support Ukraine.

In addition, there have previously been articles intended to show Czech readers the hopelessness of the situation on the front and, consequently, to frighten Ukrainians by sowing panic and despair. ParlamentníListy.cz found marginalised experts who also predicted in interviews and articles that Ukraine would be defeated.

According to the LikeWeb website, ParlamentníListy.cz has a monthly audience of 4.1 million people.

So, the Czech Republic was not out of Russia's orbit of interests; however, in the spring of 2023, pro-European president Petr Pavel came to power in the republic, which complicated the Russians' actions.

The main messages of pro-Russian Czech publications are:

• Ukraine has already lost the war with Russia

• Ukraine is suffering heavy losses on the front and will give up its territories

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zlensky is a "western agent" and a "beggar".

In addition, the target of some Czech pro-Russian media is migrants of Muslim origin. Muslims are blamed for everything from the economic crisis to demographic threat and just plain danger. These materials are full of xenophobia and racism.

On the other hand, some media outlets criticise Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and call on the side of Palestine. Thus, Russia is trying to use the opposite sides of society to turn them against each other at the right moment.