How Nigerian news outlets spread disinformation on the Ukraine-Russia conflict


by Shehu Olayinka, a journalist and researcher specialised in data and investigating disinformation and digital manipulation.

1,100,000 on Cartier jewellery.

“Best use of UK taxpayers’ money ever”, the text posted by the official X account of the Russia embassy in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2023.

Caption: Screenshot captured Russian embassy X account

The Russia embassy post featured a link that was direct to the online version of The Nation, one of Nigeria’s leading newspapers, with a headline that read, “Olena Zelenska spends $1,100,000 on Cartier jewellery, gets sales employee fired.”

But the story is false. The claim published by The Nation on October 2 alleged that the wife of Ukraine President, Olena Zelenska spent $1,100,000 on Cartier jewellery and also got a sales employee who questioned her fired.

Caption: Screenshot captured from The Nation website.

The story became a global hit. Going viral on social media, especially on X, starting on October 4, among accounts online that have been observed to share posts that align with the Russia talking point in relation to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Prior to being picked up by The Nation in Nigeria, the report was published on October 2 on the Benin Republic website L’investigateur and one day earlier on the French news portal NetAfrique in Burkina Faso. The Nation, on the other hand, was the first English-language publication to publish the report under its sponsored post category, indicating that it was paid to appear there.

The Nation story emerged as the primary source that numerous accounts on X (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and Russian websites, including RT and Lenta.ru, cited as the original publisher of the report when they also published the claim.

However, the receipt for the purported purchase, which the woman in the video allegedly provided as proof, dismantles the claim. Although the receipt was dated September 22, 2023, Olena Zelenska could not have been in New York on that particular day, as she and her husband travelled to Ottawa, Canada, where she had a meeting with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada.

Following the October 2 report, The Nation ran at least six further stories (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)  about Ukraine between October and December 2023 that were confirmed to be false through fact-checking information and sources included in the reports.

One of such reports alleged that Zelensky had provided Hamas with weapons to fight against Israel. It had embedded a Facebook video from an account with one video post, which it said showed Hamas fighters claiming that they received military aid from the Ukrainian army and thanking President Zelensky for weapons and his aid in the fight against Israel.

However, the Ukrainian military intelligence service had already responded to a similar video that surfaced online in early October 2023 on its official Facebook page, accusing Russia of launching a disinformation campaign, which included the claim that Ukraine was supplying weapons to Hamas.

Prior to The Nation’s report on October 30, a video had appeared on X alluded to a BBC report that claimed Bellingcat, an investigative platform, found evidence of weapons trafficking to Gaza from Ukraine. Bellingcat denied the claim. The video is a duplicate of the BBC’s unique language and logo, which is done to trick social media users into believing it to be a genuine story.

The Nation published another report on November 30 alleging that Zelensky approved of the organ surgeries being performed on Ukrainian soldiers by NATO physicians. The report, just like others, was also published under The Nation sponsored category with no author’s name.

Prior to The Nation publishing the article, a Ghana news outlet MyNewsGH had published a similar article on November 28 – however with different headline but same body content. The report’s author seems to speak with a physician who claimed he used to work at Global Surgical and Medical Support Group (GMSSG).

The doctor claimed that GSMSG’s objective was to harvest the organs of soldiers and civilians in grave and critical conditions, according to the article. He claims that the US Army has kidnapped “organ donors” from Somalia. GMSSG denies the claim in a response to Gwara Media, a Uranian fact-checking platform.

The Global Surgical and Medical Support Group is a nonprofit organisation that offers medical aid in disaster and conflict areas worldwide, including primary care exams, neurosurgery, and medical and surgical care. “Offer the highest quality medical care and training in harsh conditions and conflict zones overseas,” states the organisation’s official website. There is no evidence to prove that the NGO is involved in the illegal organ trade.

The claim appears to have come from “Stop Organ Harvesting,” a YouTube account created on November 22, 2022, and has only posted one video.

It was observed, after an analysis of some news platforms in Nigeria, that The Nation was not the only such platform publishing unconfirmed stories using unverifiable sources relating to the Russian-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine-Africa relationship, Russia-Africa relationship, Africa-United States relationship, or relationship with other western countries. Some news outlets in Nigeria such as Leadership Newspaper, Daily Post were found to publish reports relating to the Russia-Ukraine conflict using inaccurate information and unidentified experts.

Over the past two years, there has been a sharp increase in disinformation tactics directed at African information systems, especially by influencers on social media. Some traditional Nigerian media outlets now amplify similar narratives through their online platforms, further spreading false information.

Caption: A screenshot of report published by Leadership Newspaper

One such news outlet is Leadership Newspaper, a popular Abuja-based Nigerian newspaper, which claimed in an article published on July 20, 2024, that Ukraine is spreading disinformation and russophobic narratives in Africa. The article alleged that the Ukrainian regime sought, by hook or by crook, to discredit Russia in the eyes of political and expert circles and the population of African states.

Despite claiming that Ukraine is aggressively disseminating disinformation and Russophobic narratives throughout Africa, the story included no reference to the report, its title, or the person or organisation that published it.

A quoted paragraph in the article read: “Ukrainian propagandists also do not ignore the countries of the “black continent.” Moreover, the pragmatic and sober assessment by the states of the “Global South” of the causes and course of the Ukrainian crisis forces Kiev to increase the scale of aggressive anti-Russian propaganda in Africa, actively spreading disinformation and Russophobic narratives here,” the report quoted.

“With its lies, Kiev intends to neutralise Moscow’s successes in creating a just multipolar world order, establishing and developing strong and mutually beneficial trade and economic ties with the states of the macroregion, allowing, in particular, to neutralise threats to food security.” An internet search turned up no reports from which Leadership had obtained quotes. Furthermore, no such report was found when a Google search was conducted using keywords from the paragraphs that were quoted in the article.

In another article published in August 20224, Leadership published a report where it alleged that Kyiv was struggling to justify Russian war crimes claims, alleging that Ukraine was using disinformation campaigns to accuse Russia of war crimes and breaching warfare norms. The article also accused Ukraine without providing evidence of using chemical agents during combat with Russia forces.

It further said American political commentator Jackson Hinkle had, in an interview with One America News, a far-right news outlet, claimed the U.S. had evidence of Kyiv’s use of prohibited weapons. However, a search conducted on the One America News website, X and YouTube page did not turn up any interview the station had allegedly conducted with Jackson.

Jackson Hinkle is an American political commentator and social media influencer who is mostly known for his support of Vladimir Putin in the Russo-Ukrainian War and for his opposition to Israel in the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Leadership was asked about the Hinkle interview it was talking about in the report in an email correspondence but the outlet did not respond.

Another article published by the outlet in September 2024 had the name Alain Kone, a purported political expert with the International Centre for Political Studies. The expert claimed that the U.S. and Ukraine, through Kyiv embassies in some African countries, were aiding separatist and terrorist movements, which paved the way for regional instability. However, there was no information regarding who Alain Kone is or the think tank, despite numerous searches conducted online on the name and the think tank.

The name Alain Kone was noted to first emerge online in 2023 as an expert on stories about Africa, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. The think tank was included in each article that included Alain Kone as an expert.

Additionally, no evidence existed regarding the registration of think tanks or their specific activities in any African country. The name and the think tank also appeared on a Tanzania news outlet, Daily News in an article published on May 24, 2024 .

Another expert without record before appearing on reports published by news outlets in Nigeria about Ukraine in April of 2024 is Kassi Kouadio. Identified as an international political analyst who has written about a range of African and international political topics, his analysis has centred on issues such as the role of Russia and France in the Central African Republic and the wider ramifications for global affairs. For instance, he stressed the role of Russian experts in stabilising specific African countries and questioned France’s strategy for military involvement.

There doesn’t seem to be a consistent web presence for Kassi Kouadio. His presence online began in April 2024 with three Nigerian news outlets, suggesting his visibility might be relatively recent. He appeared in three stories in three Nigerian news outlets in April 2024 about Ukraine’s plan of opening embassies in some African countries and France’s relationship with the Central African Republic (CAR).

Leadership Newspaper and Vanguard Newspaper had published reports in which Kassi Kouadio, as an expert, had analysed the opening of embassies by Ukraine across Africa, while the Daily Post reported on an alleged article written by Kassi on the role of France and Russia in CAR.

Caption: Screenshot of the stories published by Leadership and Vanguard Newspapers

There is no information available on Alaa Dardouri, another political analyst and expert in international events, although he is known for his commentary on geopolitical issues in African contexts, especially those involving Russian and Ukrainian activities on the continent.

Dardouri has appeared in at least five articles starting in April and September 2024 about the African relationship with Ukraine and Russia. For example, in September 2024, Dardouri emphasised the Wagner Group’s vital role in stabilising Mali through military cooperation. He maintained that Wagner’s assistance in combating terrorism is crucial to Mali’s security and framed the collaboration as essential to retaking areas controlled by jihadists.

The story was published by the Daily Post, a Nigerian online news outlet, fringe news platform Arogidigba News, and Media Talk Africa.

Wagner Group is a Russian private military force that operates in some African countries such as Mali, Niger and Burkina that has been accused of carrying out human rights abuses against civilians in some African countries they operate in.

Human Rights Watch, in a report published in March 2024, said Malian armed forces and Wagner Group foreign fighters have unlawfully killed and summarily executed several dozen civilians during counterinsurgency operations in Mali’s central and northern regions since December 2023.

In another instance, Dardouri discussed Ukraine’s strategy to expand its diplomatic presence in Africa, characterising the efforts as a bid to counter Russian influence on the continent. He suggested that such measures would face significant challenges due to Russia’s historical partnerships with African nations, which are built on long-standing cooperation in education, agriculture, energy, and security.

There is no sighting of any article or information about Alaa Dardouri online before appearing in a report published by Daily Post in April of 2024. Alaa Dardouri also appeared in a Burkina Faso online news outlet, Burkina24 on September 29, in which the platform, without providing any evidence, accused Moldova of helping Ukraine smuggle Tuareg separatists who travelled from Mali to Ukraine for special training.

Dardouri was quoted in the article accusing Moldova of becoming a transit point for terrorists from Mali, which poses a serious threat to regional security in Africa. Burkina24 in response to an enquiry about the author, the article and Dardouri in a message sent on WhatsApp said it was going to look at it and respond, but has not responded as of the time of filing this report.

The claim also appeared in a Daily Trust article published in October 1 accusing Ukraine of supplying Starlink to separatist rebels in the Sahel by an author, Oumar Diallo.

Bio: Shehu Olayinka is a journalist, researcher specialised in data and investigating disinformation and digital manipulation.

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