Top PSYOPs of the Week (March 30 – April 05, 2026): How to orbit the Moon and avoid ending up in the Uzhhorod RTCK

Astronaut Christina Koch looks closely at a monitor where a circuit board with the inscription "Made in Kharkiv" is blinking, and replies: — "That’s true, Commander. But if these 'microbes' don't come to their senses, we will be observing the next 'beautiful view' not as researchers, but as the last refugees from our own home…"

"Today, missiles are flying over Kharkiv again, while 'Orion' flies over the Moon. At first glance, there are 400,000 kilometers of void between a basement in Saltivka and the orbit. But in reality, they are connected by a thin line of intellectual tension.

Yes! Those 'microbes' down there are currently spending billions to convince each other that no one is flying anywhere, and that 'Artemis' is being filmed in a Hollywood pavilion. When we look at the sky, we see the future. When the enemy looks at our successes, they see only a target for their information attacks.

While Ukrainian intellect helps humanity reach for the stars (as 'Hromada' has already written), inside the offices of Russian special services, the chefs of the 'digital GULAG' are cooking up another portion of fakes. The scale of these manipulations is striking: from attempts to discredit Ukrainian participation in international space programs to primitive plants about 'housewives' supposedly assembling the future of the defense industry on their knees. The goal is one — to devalue, ridicule, and force us to lower our eyes from the sky to the mud under our feet.

So let’s break down exactly which 'information viruses' tried to infect the information space this week..."

The "Ghost" Annexation of Luhansk Region

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the "complete liberation of the LPR." The Reality: According to DeepState, 80 km² of the Luhansk region remain under Ukrainian control. The fake serves to boost the morale of the "pensioner in the bunker" (Putin) and mask the failure of the Russian spring offensive.

The Digital Shield of the Iran War

NewsGuard identified 63 false narratives regarding the 2026 Iran war, fueled by Russia and China to support Tehran. Key tactics include AI-generated imagery (e.g., missiles dedicated to "Epstein Island victims") and the "mirror technique," where authentic reports are labeled as AI-fakes to confuse Western audiences.

Weaponizing the Mobilization Discourse

The Center for Countering Disinformation (CPD) exposed a coordinated network (including the "ZOV" network and GRU-linked Telegram channels like "Legitimny") that generated 85.4k posts to sabotage Ukrainian mobilization. They use bot farms to mimic "public outrage" and provoke internal conflict.

The Systemic Failure: The Uzhhorod RTCK Incident

A tragic "real-world" counter-point to propaganda: Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets revealed appalling conditions in the Uzhhorod recruitment center (torture-like hygiene, illegal detention for up to 50 days, and medical neglect). The report emphasizes that such internal failures are more damaging than any Russian PSYOP, as they provide an undeniable factual basis for enemy propaganda.

Distorting the UNDP Youth Report

Russian agitprop cherry-picked a single statistic from a UNDP report to claim that Ukrainian youth are "returning to the Russian language." The Reality: The full report shows a massive shift toward Ukrainian identity, with 75% of youth using Ukrainian in public and a significant decline in bilingualism.

The "AFP" Masquerade

A sophisticated fake video used the AFP logo to claim that Ukrainian activists are being arrested in Europe for protesting against US support for the Iran war. Fact-checkers at VoxCheck confirmed the video is a total fabrication designed to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its Western allies.

Read more in the Ukrainian edition....