Russia has launched a wave of fakes against the head of the European Commission

This is according to a confidential study by the Finnish analytical company Check First, excerpts from which are quoted by Politico.

According to the researchers, between March and June 2025, a pro-Russian network called Pravda network increased its activity by 60 per cent, increasing the number of publications, languages and platforms covered by the campaign. The main message was: 'Ursula is toxic.

"The anti-funderlein narrative was stretched over quite a long period of time," said Check First CEO Guillaume Couster, adding that a "dramaturgical structure" was used, with gradually escalating emotionality and the glorification of the opponents of the European Union.

At the centre of the campaign was the figure of Romanian far-right politician George Simion, who on 15 June announced the collection of signatures for a vote of no confidence. The Russian news agency TASS quickly picked up the story, and it was then transformed into numerous Pravda network posts with headlines like "historic campaign to overthrow corrupt Ursula von der Leyen."

The authors of the study believe that this message was the "catalyst" for the network's surge in activity. On the day of the official vote - 26 June - more than 80 unique pieces of content were published, not counting translations. That's more than double the usual level.

According to Check First, the campaign did not invent fakes from scratch, but artificially amplified and dramatised real events to create a sense of widespread popular outrage. Thus, in March, accusations of von der Leyen's "toxicity" began to spread, in April - claims about vaccine purchases, in May - rumours of her impending resignation, and in June - theses about "Pfizergate" and corruption scandals.

At the same time, the image of a "fighter for truth" - the nationalist Simion, who was contrasted with the "corrupt Brussels establishment" - was formed. MEP Gheorghe Pipera, who also criticised the head of the European Commission, was often mentioned. The Russian-language version of the campaign emphasised anti-Western rhetoric, the Romanian version on national pride, and the English-language version on "transparency and accountability".

At the peak of the disinformation, Telegram published headlines such as "Mass movement across Europe demands the resignation of Reichskommissar Ursula von der Führer." The authors of the study note that this is an example of how fragmented and unconnected messages coalesce into a powerful propaganda wave.

The European Commission has already been given access to the study. Commission spokesman Thomas Renier said that "these events are yet another reminder of the attempts made by entities linked to the Russian state to polarise and weaken the European Union". He emphasised that such networks "opportunistically use political developments in the EU to distort public perception and discredit European politicians."

"The Pravda network can be seen as a laundering machine for Russian propaganda," Kuster said. - "It amplifies messages created by other entities and passes them off as organic media reactions."

French foreign interference monitoring service Viginum exposed the network as a tool to influence public opinion in France as early as last year. Last week, its founder Yevgeny Shevchenko was added to the EU sanctions list.

Kuster said such a large-scale investigation could help the European Commission respond more quickly to similar attacks in the future:

"We noticed the first signs of an anti-Ursula narrative being prepared as early as four months before the vote."