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Ahead of the Winter Olympic Games opening on February 6, Russia has intensified a coordinated disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting Ukrainians in the Olympic context while simultaneously escalating hybrid attacks against Italy, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) under the National Security and Defense Council reported, UATV English reports.
According to the CCD, Russian propaganda networks have launched a series of fabricated stories designed to provoke social tension and undermine trust in both Ukraine and Italy. Among the false narratives are claims that “Ukrainian hackers are stealing money from Europeans through fake hotel booking websites in Italy,” presented via a falsified video allegedly linked to a well-known accommodation booking platform. Another fake video, disguised as content from Italy’s Ministry of Health, falsely alleges that “Ukrainian refugees in Italy are calling on restaurant workers to spit in Italians’ food.” Russian sources have also circulated a completely fabricated story claiming that Israel’s Mossad advised Israelis to hide national symbols due to supposed threats from “Ukrainian neo-Nazi refugees.”
The CCD emphasized that, as in previous information operations, these fakes are deliberately masked as reports from reputable media outlets or official government statements. However, their origin can be traced directly to Russia’s Telegram ecosystem, after which the narratives are amplified through a wider network of pro-Kremlin propaganda platforms.
The primary objective of the campaign is to destabilize the information environment ahead of the Olympic Games and to preemptively discredit potential protests against the participation of so-called “neutral” Russian athletes. By linking Ukrainians to criminal activity, extremism, and social hostility, Russia seeks to inflame public sentiment and shift attention away from its own actions.
In addition, the CCD recalled a recent wave of cyberattacks targeting Italian diplomatic missions and facilities associated with the Winter Olympics. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani previously stated that these attacks were orchestrated by Russia. Italian media have linked the incidents to the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16).
Earlier, on February 4, Tajani confirmed that Italian authorities had prevented a series of Russia-directed cyberattacks against Italian embassies and hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of the key Olympic venues. The official opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games is set to take place on February 6 at San Siro Stadium in Milan.
