Disinformation Trends
MONITORING SNAPSHOT 14
1– 14 April 2025
SUMMARY
DFRLab conducts a bimonthly analysis of data based on a search query including Ukrainian, Russian and English languages to identify spikes in CBRN disinformation narratives. This report (1–14 April 2025) reveals a lower volume of nuclear-related narratives and chatter on both Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) focused on who should have control of the disputed nuclear power plants and speculation about the possibility of disarmament; as well as claims about the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) allegedly attacking Russian nuclear power plants (NPPs) in violation of US-Russia treaty on non-attacks against energy infrastructure; and fearmongering around the possibility of Russia placing nuclear weapons in space and speculations on the possibility of nuclear war as a result of escalation of tensions between the US and Russia. Most biological narratives centered around claims tied to the Covid-19 virus and vaccines, falsely labeling them as bioweapons. Disinformation narratives concerning chemical weapons continue to be detected at lower volumes.
BIOLOGICAL DISINFORMATION:
Ongoing claims about Covid-19 as a bioweapon.
RADIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR DISINFORMATION:
Claims about alleged attacks against Kursk NPP and allegations of provocations of nuclear escalation between US and Russia.
EXAMPLES OF DISINFORMATION NARRATIVE TRENDS
Biological Disinformation
- Claim an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary is a biological attack
- Claims about Covid-19 and vaccines as bioweapons and use of USAID funding to aid bioweapon development
Sources: Twitter/X
Radiological and Nuclear Disinformation
- Discussion around nuclear treaties and fearmongering about disarmament concerns and nuclear potentials of the US, China, Russia and other states (link, link)
- Claim attack against the Chornobyl NPP was a provocation of the AFU
- False claims about violations of agreements on non-attacks against energy infrastructure by Armed Forces of Ukraine through alleged strikes against Kursk NPP (link)
- Discussions around the possibility of Russia placing nuclear warheads in space in an alarmist tone implying conflict escalation
- This includes mirror messaging that the West will do the same (link)
- Claims that AFU is attempting to stage a provocation against an NPP to force NATO to enter direct conflict with Russia and lead to an escalation (link)
Sources: Telegram; Twitter/X; Web
IDENTIFYING DISINFORMATION TRENDS
The Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GP) is committed to strengthening WMD disarmament and nonproliferation efforts. Disinformation campaigns significantly undermine cooperative threat reduction efforts. The GP Counter WMD Disinformation Initiative aims to track ongoing narratives, understand their impacts and counter state-sponsored or state-adjacent disinformation across Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats.
Narrative Trend Monitoring: As part of the GP efforts to identify, understand, and mitigate hostile CBRN disinformation, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) conducts a bimonthly search query of state-sponsored or state-adjacent disinformation narratives. This real-time detection allows the initiative to swiftly recognize, isolate and respond to disinformation narratives and networks as they occur.
Methodology: This snapshot report is created from a search query that includes content in Ukrainian, Russian, and English languages, providing an extended search base and corpus of analysis and scale. The focus of the query is centered around CBRN–related messages about the Russian War on Ukraine on social media platforms and online news websites. The report provides examples of notable messages that are likely to include disinformation or key discussions that might be used in mis/disinformation in the future.
Disclaimer: Links are provided for published news sources of official state accounts; links to private accounts are excluded for privacy preservation reasons.