A blatant attempt at spreading misinformation about the war in Ukraine has been exposed after Russian-linked sources attempted to pass off a fake front page of a British newspaper, the Hull Daily Mail, as genuine.

The fabricated image falsely claimed that 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died “in vain” in the Kursk region—an assertion completely detached from reality.

The manipulated front page first gained traction on social media, particularly among pro-Russian accounts. It featured the masthead of the Hull Daily Mail, a local newspaper in the UK, with a dramatic headline alleging massive Ukrainian military losses. The headline read:

“70,000 UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS IN THE KURSK REGION DIED IN VAIN”

Beneath it, the text suggested that the UK had poured “hundreds of millions of pounds into Zelensky’s crushing failure,” attempting to paint Western support for Ukraine as futile.

Despite the attempt at authenticity, the choice of publication raised immediate red flags. The Hull Daily Mail, a regional paper primarily focused on local news and sports, was an odd vehicle for reporting such a significant international claim.

Social media users, including journalist Andrew Fox, quickly pointed out the absurdity of the situation. Rather than fabricating a front page for a major national newspaper like The Times or The Daily Mail, the disinformation campaign inexplicably opted for a small local publication, making the deception even more glaring.

“This is fucking amazing,” Fox posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The Russian Disinfo unit have tried to make a fake British newspaper headline, and rather than a national newspaper like the Daily Mail, they’ve picked tiny local newspaper the Hull Daily Mail as the paper to spread their disinformation.”

The false front page was soon flagged by X’s Community Notes, which provided links to the actual Hull Daily Mail front page from March 13. These sources confirmed that the real edition of the paper contained no such story, exposing the attempt at manipulation.

Charles, an OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) contributor working with the UK Defence Journal, pointed out that this operation fits a well-established Russian disinformation pattern.

“This is almost certainly a Russian disinformation effort, not only because of the nature of the claim but also due to how it was amplified,” Charles explained. “It was pushed by accounts that frequently spread Kremlin-aligned narratives, including ‘DD Geopolitics,’ which is known for promoting Russian state messaging. The tactic here is to fabricate a plausible-looking Western source to make it seem like internal dissent about Ukraine is growing, a technique we’ve seen used repeatedly in Russian influence campaigns.”

He further noted that Russia has previously targeted local and regional media, knowing that casual audiences might be less skeptical of an outlet they’ve never heard of.

“This isn’t new. Russian ops often choose obscure sources in the hopes that casual readers will assume legitimacy without checking. If they faked a front page from The Times, it would be scrutinised immediately. A lesser-known regional paper makes people pause and wonder if it’s real.”

This incident is just the latest in a series of Russian disinformation attempts targeting Western audiences. Russia has been accused of using doctored images, AI-generated news anchors, and manipulated social media campaigns to spread misleading narratives about Ukraine and its allies.

While this particular attempt was laughably inept due to its choice of publication, it underscores a broader strategy: flooding the information space with falsehoods in the hope that some will stick. Disinformation campaigns often rely on mass confusion rather than outright belief, aiming to erode trust in legitimate reporting.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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15 COMMENTS

  1. Given Ukraine only ever deployed 15,000 to Kursk losing 70,000 would be quite some feat. No doubt, Donald Trump, JD Vance and Musk et al will now start parroting this number, along with the false claim that the Ukrainians have been surrounded in Kursk and will be slaughtered, but have been spared due to Trump’s ability to appeal to Putin’s compassion.

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  2. What really pisses me off is that it’s still on X..yes it’s got a community note attached but that is just a user note. Essentially Elon Musk is allowing X to be complicit in political warfare against western liberal democracies…but then Musk is aligned with a group that theorise liberal democracies are actually anti personal freedoms and the true path to a libertarian society is via authoritarianism.

    • Complete and utter pro NATO woke propaganda, and I agree with every word, double the budget and stop the spread of utter lies (sorry I use the PC term misinformation) that undermine our democracy and our geo-political situation.

      • Okay, not sure what point you are making there. Are you saying the fake headline is real and that the people revealing it as fake are actually a pro NATO team of spin doctors trying to make out that the UK aren’t wasting millions helping Ukraine? If so I know a man called Chamberlain that would like to sell you peace in our time.

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  4. Fox isn’t really in a position to talk about misinformation, he’s a useful idiot, who’ll happily undermine UK interests if I means bigging up his old capbadge.

    • The BBC are covering the Ukrainian retreat and their heavy equipment loses.

      Overplaying enemy casualties while reducing your own loses is Propaganda 101. Releasing an easily disproven story to be ridiculed loudly enough to hide your own victories* is a bit embarrassing.

      *In as much as taking your own country back from a nation you were supposed to steamroll in 3 days, (3 years later) can be considered a victory.

  6. Confusing the Hull Daily Mail with the Daily Mail? We’ve all done it. But for the grimness of all war, it would be funny.

  8. Propaganda. Well it is a two way street eh? Any DT browsers here will know, if they think laterally of course, that western propaganda is a bit more sneaky beaky. After all, we know Zelensky has not squirreled away billions r that some Ukranians are not corrupt. And I know for a fact, many in Hull don’t read, or write. Take everything with a pinch of salt. ( Trigger warning, written by a cynical veteran who has little trust in government of any shade ) Oh, did you see the one about Elon being the antichrist?

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