As reported by Ukrinform, this was reported by the AP.

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, said it detected and halted the continuing disinformation operation before it reached a large audience.

At the same time, Meta noted that this was the largest and most complex Russian propaganda incident discovered since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of this year.

The operation involved more than 60 websites created to emulate leading news sites such as the British publication The Guardian and the German Der Spiegel. However, instead of the real news reported by these media, fake sites featured links to Russian propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine. More than 1,600 fake Facebook accounts were used to propagate to audiences in Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain and Ukraine.

“Fake staging revealed in Bucha!” – Claimed one of the fake news accusing Ukraine of killing hundreds of its citizens in a city captured by the Russians.

The fake social media accounts were then used to post links to fake news and other pro-Russian posts and videos on Facebook and Instagram and other platforms like Telegram and Twitter. The network was active all summer.

“The content of the operation was shared several times on the official Facebook pages of Russian embassies in Europe and Asia,” said David Agranovich, director of Meta’s threat prevention department.

He also added that this is “perhaps the largest and most complex operation by the Russians we have blocked since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.”

The network’s activities were first noticed by investigative journalists in Germany. When he started meta research, he found that Facebook’s automated systems had removed many fake accounts. Thousands of people followed their Facebook page, which was disabled earlier this year.

Meta said he couldn’t attribute the network directly to the Russian government, but Agranovich said Russian diplomats were involved and the operation relied on sophisticated tactics, including the use of multiple languages ​​and carefully crafted fraudulent sites.

Since the full-scale war began in February, the Kremlin has used online disinformation and conspiracy theories to undermine international support for Ukraine. Groups linked to the Russian government have accused Ukraine of orchestrating the attacks, made false claims about the development of biological weapons, and portrayed Ukrainian refugees as criminals and rapists. Social media platforms and European governments tried to curb the spread of Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, but in response, Russia began to change tactics.

As Ukrinform reports, the propaganda of the Russian Federation also increases blackmail on social networks on the eve of the heating season.