Backpedaling and Fabrication: How Russian State Media Invented a Fake EU Statement to Cover Up the Ceuta Hybrid Crisis

Caught red-handed orchestrating a malicious disinformation campaign to fuel the migrant surge in Ceuta, the Kremlin has resorted to outright fabrication. Following high-level EU confirmations—reported by Berlingske and The Guardian—detailing how Moscow weaponized social media to destabilize Europe and disrupt Algerian gas routes, Russian state media panicked.

Propaganda outlets rushed to push a fabricated narrative claiming the European Commission found “no Russian footprint” in Arab social networks, falsely attributing this quote to EC spokesperson Guillaume Mercier. In reality, Mercier never made such a statement. On the contrary, EU officials confirmed they are actively tracking these hybrid attacks, noting that the operational investigation into the border breach is being handled directly by Spanish law enforcement. A textbook case of creating a crisis and manufacturing lies to cover the tracks.