Murder of Ex-Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament Used by Russia to Stoke Division in Ukraine
Russian propaganda is exploiting the assassination of Andriy Parubiy, former Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament and a prominent political figure, to spread disinformation, deepen divisions, and destabilize Ukrainian society.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.
Parubiy was killed on August 30 in Lviv: a gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying a delivery service backpack shot the politician several times with a pistol and fled on an electric bicycle. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Russian special services were involved in the crime.
The Kremlin used this situation to spread conspiracy theories, undermine trust in state institutions, and provoke internal conflicts.
The main directions of the Russian information campaign included: mobilizing its own audience and the population of the occupied territories, reinforcing narratives about “Ukrainian Nazism” and the “2014 coup d'état,” as well as destabilizing the socio-political situation in Ukraine.
Between August 30 and September 1, Russian Telegram channels published about 4,500 posts mentioning Parubiy, reaching over 60 million views. The murder was presented as “liquidation,” “destruction,” or “elimination,” which was aimed at “dehumanizing the deceased by equating him with a terrorist, criminal, or armed enemy on the battlefield.”
The message about “Nazi Parubiy” was primarily broadcast to Russian audiences, but was also disseminated in foreign languages. The Russians used fake statements from neo-Nazi organizations and employed sanctioned bloggers to reinforce the narrative that “radicals” were responsible.
Russian information interference after the murder of Andriy Parubiy was aimed at undermining trust in Ukrainian institutions and creating internal conflicts and divisions in society. It included spreading conspiracy theories about the involvement of the authorities and President Zelenskyy in the murder. The Kremlin also reinforced narratives about “rampant Nazis” and a “failed state,” while Russian media actions provoked disputes and antagonism between different groups on social media.
“These efforts are aimed at provoking artificial conflicts and diverting the attention of Ukrainians to the search for ‘internal enemies’ among their own fellow citizens and military and political leadership,” the report says.
The spread of conspiracy theories began even before the murder. The fake information spread by blogger Vsevolod Filimonenk on August 20 concerned the alleged involvement of the Ukrainian authorities in the future murder of Andriy Parubiy and the preparation of “peace with the Russian Federation” after “Zelenskyy's escape to London.”
On August 30, resources that regularly participate in Russian information operations spread accusations against President Zelensky and cast doubt on the objectivity of the investigation.
To reinforce the version of “radicals” as the alleged perpetrators of the murder, statements were used from the “neo-Nazi organization White Phoenix,” which “claimed responsibility” for the murder of Parubiy and SSU Colonel Igor Voronych.
Of the more than 160 publications with this statement, more than 140 were posted on Russian resources targeting Ukrainian and international audiences.
“The Kremlin's efforts will be aimed at discrediting the results of the investigation and further destabilizing Ukrainian society by spreading conspiracy theories,” the report concluded, emphasizing that the Parubiy case is part of a larger Russian propaganda campaign.
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