Although Butina pleaded guilty to acting as Russian agent, pro-Kremlin outlets doubled down on disinformation about her arrest and prosecution.

Welcome to Episode 26 of Talk Eastern Europe! This episode features an interview with Marta Ardashelia of Sova.News – a Russian language portal based in Georgia.

This episode of Talk Eastern Europe features a conversation on fighting disinformation with Jakub Kalenský, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Kalenský worked for the European Union’s East StratCom Task Force as the team lead for countering disinformation.

Since 2013, Russian media has been disseminating anti-Ukrainian propaganda which would enable and explain Russian intervention in Donbas. If the region is ever reintegrated into Ukraine, the Ukrainian government and people will need a lot of work and effort to reverse the negative image of the country in the minds of Donbas people.

The disinformation scene in the Czech Republic is relatively developed and intertwined with some of the country’s leading politicians, including president Miloš Zeman. Nevertheless, both the government and the civil society have recognised the threat and efforts have been made to address the problem.