Russian propagandists fake Polish newspaper claiming Ukraine faces famine

Russian disinformation operatives employed the Matryoshka propaganda network to disseminate a digitally altered front page of the Polish weekly Przegląd Regionalny. The fabricated article claimed that Ukraine faced imminent famine during the autumn and winter, exploiting genuine concerns over Russian attacks on food storage facilities.

However, no such article had been published; the altered image was created using graphics-editing software. The purpose of this disinformation campaign was to sow fear among Ukrainians and undermine public trust in foreign media, presenting a fabricated independent voice for Russian propaganda. Despite targeting Polish readers, the ultimate goal was to influence Ukrainian public opinion.

While Ukrainian officials acknowledged significant disruptions to the country's food supply chain, they dismissed the fabricated predictions of mass starvation as unsupported. Russian tactics in Poland have long involved manipulating local information spaces to exacerbate political, economic, and security tensions against Ukraine, exploiting both economic and security anxieties to fuel anti-Ukrainian sentiment.