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Experts at the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) detected 30 TikTok videos containing false information about Ukraine and the Russo–Ukrainian war that the platform promoted to users over the course of two days.

The study* was conducted on 9–10 September 2025 and focused on the most popular hashtags related to Ukraine and news about it.

The disinformation videos included:

• narratives about “Russia’s imminent victory” and “conspiracies of the West”;
• stories aiming to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and the Defense Forces.

Of the total number (30) of the videos, 17 were classified as fake news and 13 as manipulation, making the disinformation ratio within this sample 57% fake news versus 43% manipulative videos. This points to a systematic combination of blatant lies with half-truths disguised as analytics or forecasts, the IMI report says.

Some of this content was shared by bloggers and former officials known for their pro-Russian stance. The videos were often framed as analysis, using clickbait headlines and emotional manipulation.

Disinformative videos aim to influence the Ukrainian audience’s morale and mental wellbeing, causing distrust and sowing doubts about Ukraine’s capacity to resist, according to the report.

The disinformation methods include staged news stories, altered or AI generated videos, as well as formats mimicking news stories. The authors of such content exploit the themes of war, conscription, economic crisis, and internal instability. According to IMI experts, the mass promotion of such content poses a direct threat to the country’s information security.

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