Top PSYOPs of the Week (July 27 – August 02, 2026): A 6-Meter Cyclops in Kharkiv Region, the "Partition" of Ukraine, and Strikes from Iran. How "Ahmed the Lawyer" Almost Collapsed the Schengen Area

However, while statements from across the ocean change every couple of days, our eastern neighbor's playbook hasn't been updated in years.

These past few days, war criminal Putin pulled his favorite worn-out sophism out of the archive once again. According to his latest "forecasts," "nothing will soon be left" of Ukraine because its territories are allegedly ready to be carved up by "treacherous NATO": Poland is supposed to take the western regions, Romania the south, and Hungary Transcarpathia.

It seems Kremlin scriptwriters decided that if they repeat the fairy tale about the "partition of Ukraine" for the hundredth time, it will suddenly become more convincing. Naturally, no one in Warsaw, Bucharest, or Budapest confirms these fantasies, but for the internal Russian consumer and for rattling nerves inside Ukraine, it's just what the doctor ordered.

Let's break down why the Russians revived this fake narrative once again and exactly how they are trying to push it into our information space...

The Disinformation: Putin publicly claimed that neighboring NATO and EU states (Poland, Hungary, Romania) plan to annex parts of Ukrainian territory, leaving nothing left of Ukraine.

Fact Check: No neighboring country has ever made official territorial claims against Ukraine. As NATO/EU members, their policies uphold the inviolability of internationally recognized borders. The narrative is pushed purely by Russian propagandists and defectors.

Kremlin's Goal: Undermine Ukrainians' trust in foreign partners, sow internal panic, and convince the West that Ukraine is an "artificial state" not worth funding or arming.

The Disinformation: Russian Telegram channels circulated an AI-generated story claiming a "6-meter-tall giant soldier" single-handedly captured a village in the Kharkiv region.

Fact Check: Pure absurdity violating basic laws of physics and biology, reliant on neural-network art generated by low-tier Z-channels to boost morale.

Kremlin's Goal: Escapist hero-making for internal audiences amidst stagnant battlefield progress, shifting propaganda into literal fantasy.

The Disinformation: Claims that all gas stations along the strategic Kyiv–Kharkiv–Poltava highway ran out of fuel due to a "systemic collapse."

Fact Check: Debunked by the Spravdi Center for Strategic Communication. Gas station chains (OKKO, WOG, ANP) along the M-03 continue operating normally with full supplies.

Kremlin's Goal: Trigger artificial panic, inducing drivers to hoard fuel and destabilize key military/civilian logistics routes to the east.

The Disinformation: Claims that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha "humbly apologized to Iran" over an incident involving an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea.

Fact Check: Minister Sybiha explicitly rejected Tehran's claims. Ukraine highlighted that Russia turned the Caspian Sea into an active war zone and logistics channel for arms shipments.

Context & "Gromada" Commentary: Media reports (The New York Times) revealed Iran weighed launching a ballistic missile at a Ukrainian port, but backtracked after Western diplomats warned that Ukraine's response would be unpredictable and severe.

Fact Sheet: Iran still has not paid compensation for shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in 2020, while continuing to supply Russia with thousands of Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones killing Ukrainian civilians daily.

The Disinformation/Incident: A legal loophole in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta allowed immediate deportation of illegal migrants crossing "border fences"—but didn't mention sea borders. Exploiting this, ~60,000 migrants swam across from Morocco over two days, sparking border panics and military deployments across Europe.

Fact Check: Russian-linked bot networks and TikTok accounts targeted African audiences to spread news of the loophole and coordinate the influx. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha confirmed pro-Russian botnets amplified the Ceuta footage to destabilize European politics.

Kremlin's Goal: Distract the EU from supporting Ukraine, stoke internal migration disputes within Schengen countries, and bolster far-right populist parties ahead of European elections.

Read more in the Ukrainian edition....