Russian state media claimed that a "Norwegian mercenary" was killed in Ukraine based on a video showing an attack on a Ukrainian trench, but the video was found to be staged.
Experts from military and intelligence backgrounds confirmed that the video appeared manipulated and staged, and it serves Russia’s interest to promote conflict with NATO.
The video showed inconsistencies such as the bunker remaining undamaged after a grenade explosion and the lack of proper military gear on one of the soldiers.
The video’s release coincided with recent Norwegian decisions to impose restrictions on Russian citizens, suggesting an attempt to influence public opinion in Norway and Scandinavia.
The video followed a typical pattern of Russian disinformation dissemination, starting on Telegram before spreading to other platforms in multiple languages.
Early detection and understanding of such information operations are crucial to mitigate their effects.
