Russian propaganda accuses Ukraine of attempted assassination of Fico

This was reported by Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation.

"Russian state propagandists are trying to use the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in a disinformation war not only against Ukraine but also against Slovakia," the center writes.

Ukraine's agency notes that while various countries expressed condolences to Robert Fico, the Russians immediately began to manipulate and speculate on the assassination attempt. Russian propaganda falsely accuses Ukraine of involvement in the assassination attempt on the Slovak prime minister.

In particular, Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan was quick to accuse Ukraine of assassinating Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. She wrote about this on her Telegram channel.

"The Prime Minister of Slovakia is wounded. The one who said that the special military operation began as a result of the rampage of Ukrainian neo-Nazis and Putin had no other choice. This is how they work," she wrote.

"With such a disinformation campaign, the Russian state only shows its contempt for Slovakia and actually admits that Russia's only goal is to create the greatest possible split between European countries, in particular between Ukraine and Slovakia," the Center for Countering Disinformation said in a statement.

• On Wednesday, May 15, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting after a government meeting.