The Kremlin and Kremlin-aligned media are co-opting fact-checking tropes to spread disinformation and distort the truth about its invasion of Ukraine, undermining the trustworthiness of fact-checking as an institution.
The Kremlin has long been a fan of stoking conspiracy theories about its enemies, but these have often come directly from the mouths of government officials and Kremlin-adjacent media pundits who could easily be viewed as biased. Now, the tactic of fake fact-checking leverages the way people process information to make conspiracies more believable.