Russian propagandists have fabricated an Instagram ad
Russian propaganda Telegram channels are circulating screenshots of an alleged online poll supposedly conducted in Ukraine’s western Zakarpattia region by Bethlen Gabor Kollegium. The so-called survey asks residents questions like: “What do you think about some districts of Transcarpathia joining Hungary?”, “How would you vote in a referendum?”, “How would Ukraine react?”, “Should the EU and NATO decide on this matter?”
According to Russian disinformation narratives, this “poll” is evidence of Hungary preparing to annex part of Ukraine.
No such survey exists on Bethlen Gabor Kollegium’s Instagram profile. In reality, this is a Hungarian-language boarding school in Aiud, Romania, providing basic and general education. It has no connection to sociology or public opinion research.
Russian propagandists likely used graphic editing tools to fabricate the poll in Ukrainian, falsely attributing it to the college. The supposed targeted advertisement promoting the poll contains no actual links.
Thus, Russian propagandists have created another fake narrative about NATO countries’ supposed intention to “occupy” Ukrainian territory. To make their disinformation more convincing, the creators of this fake decided to use an educational institution, but they failed to check that it is a boarding school that does not conduct surveys of such a level.
It is worth noting that the image used in the fake features the village of Kolochava in the Khust district of the Zakarpattia region. The settlement is predominantly inhabited by Ukrainian ethnic groups: Boykos, Lemkos, and Hutsuls.
Russian propaganda continues to spread the fake narrative that Ukraine is an “artificially created country” that should be divided among neighboring states. To support this, fake stories are spread about alleged attempts by European countries to annex Ukrainian lands. In this way, Russia seeks to worsen relations between Ukraine and Hungary by manipulating the issue of national minorities.
Previously, Russian propaganda spread a fake story claiming that the Chernivtsi region was preparing to unite with Romania.
Andriy Olenin
