Russian Propaganda Spreads Fake About Journalist Rights Violations in Ukraine

Russian Telegram channels and bots on social media platforms X and Instagram are circulating the video, which falsely states that the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) documented 8,440 cases of press freedom violations and obstruction of journalists’ work in Ukraine within a year. According to the fake video, RSF, together with 120 European media outlets -- including BBC, Deutsche Welle, Euronews, France 24, and others -- is allegedly planning to sue the Office of the President of Ukraine.

This claim is entirely false. The video does not exist on RSF’s official website or social media accounts.

The latest publication on the Reporters Without Borders website, dated March 17, 2025, discusses violations of the rights of U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) employees worldwide, particularly imprisoned journalists outside the United States. According to RSF, the most hostile countries toward USAGM representatives include Belarus, Russia, China, North Korea, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Notably, two USAGM employees are currently imprisoned in Russia.

The fabricated video was compiled using publicly available images from the internet, with the RSF logo added via graphic editing software.

Russian propaganda continues to push the narrative that Ukraine lacks press freedom, using RSF’s branding to create fake materials.

Previously, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation debunked another fake video allegedly from Reporters Without Borders, which was spread by pro-Russian Telegram channels. That video falsely claimed that between 2022 and 2025, 54 journalists were killed in Ukraine, with another 167 reported missing.

In reality, the original video, dated December 20, 2024, did not mention Ukraine at all. Russian propagandists manipulated the footage, inserting false claims to make it appear more credible.

In fact, Russia is the primary violator of press freedom. According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, as of January 14, 2025, at least 31 Ukrainian media workers -- including those from Russian-occupied territories – were held captive in Russia.

Since the beginning of the war, 99 journalists and media workers have been killed due to Russian aggression.

Previously, Russian propaganda spread a fake story claiming that a pro-Ukrainian activist in the U.S. spat on the stroller of J.D. Vance’s daughter.