The Insight News Media published the investigation.TKP.at and Report24.news have emerged as primary conduits for pro-Russian narratives in the German-speaking world, framing Moscow's invasion as a justified response to Western aggression while portraying EU support for Ukraine as criminal overreach by "warmongers" and a corrupt "mafia."The 'alternative expertise' strategyTKP (tkp.at) positions itself as an "independent science and politics blog" exposing alleged lies from EU elites and "system media." But behind this anti-establishment veneer lies consistent alignment with Russian state narratives, the analysis shows.In November, TKP published an article headlined "War Mafia: Commission demands billions for Ukraine," describing the European Commission as a criminal cartel. Another piece, illustrated with an EU flag in flames, claimed "citizens are the victims of an illegal anti-Russian crusade.""Since Ukraine is not part of the EU, and supporting Ukraine does not constitute an act of aggression by Russia against the EU, the 'emergency' was deliberately created by the EU administration," one article stated.The outlet regularly features Russian propagandist Andrey Korybko, who uses Kremlin terminology like "special operation" to describe the invasion. In one August piece explaining "one of the reasons for the 'special operation' is to stop NATO expansion in Ukraine," no critical context was provided—the euphemism appeared unchallenged.Rewriting history: Crimea, Donbas, and the ICJTKP's approach to territorial issues mirrors Russia's official discourse almost exactly. An August article claimed Crimea "separated from Ukraine in a referendum and joined Russia" in 2014, erasing the fact that this occurred under military occupation and lacks international recognition."For the war to end and for there to be some kind of stability in this part of the world, Ukraine must recognize that Crimea belongs to Russia, because that is the will of the Crimean people," the outlet argued, offering no balanced coverage.Perhaps most revealing is TKP's manipulation of International Court of Justice proceedings. When the ICJ accepted Russia's counterclaims for review in late 2025, TKP published a headline asserting "Claim against Russia dismissed, allegations against Ukraine further investigated."The article presented Russia's counterclaim as factual evidence: "The Ukrainian government, instigated by the West, employed a wide arsenal of war crimes against the civilian population in implementing its genocidal agenda."TKP failed to mention that in March 2022, the court ruled Russia must "immediately suspend the military operations" in Ukraine. The actual ICJ docket shows Russia's invasion remains under legal scrutiny—yet TKP's narrative inverted the roles of aggressor and victim.Report24: Conspiracy meets Kremlin messagingReport24.news operates as a more overtly conspiratorial outlet, blending war narratives with broader themes about the "US Deep State," "EU warmongers," and the "arms mafia."In December, the site argued that EU insistence on Ukrainian victory serves "not only moral or security policy goals, but also the self-preservation of the European bureaucracy." Another article declared: "The declaration reads like a manifesto of the Deep State: more pressure, more sanctions, more war economy, more trillions for the arms mafia and Kyiv's oligarchs."Report24 consistently depicts Russia as reactive, not aggressive. An October piece claimed "the only reliable guarantee would be the complete dissolution of NATO. Without NATO, there would be no danger of Ukraine or other states suddenly joining on Russia's borders"—a direct echo of Moscow's strategic messaging.The 'Ukraine has lost' drumbeatBoth outlets amplify the Kremlin narrative that Ukraine's defeat is inevitable. Report24.news published multiple articles with phrases like "endgame Ukraine" and "new borders," accompanied by AI-generated propaganda graphics."It is a plan that amounts to nothing less than a de facto admission of Western defeat," one headline proclaimed. Another warned of "fear of peace spreading in Europe" as "Washington and Moscow, without consulting Brussels, Berlin, or Warsaw, have struck a deal that seals Ukraine's defeat."Demonizing Ukraine: corruption and 'fascism'Report24's coverage systematically degrades Ukraine's government. A November article asked "48 Billion Shock: How corrupt is the Zelenskyy regime really?" and claimed: "Sometimes you get the feeling that Ukraine is less a state than a gigantic vacuum cleaner, sucking up Western taxpayers' money with uncanny precision."The outlet cited discredited figures like Alina Lipp, who is under EU sanctions for spreading Russian disinformation. Another article declared that language restrictions in Ukraine constituted "ethnic cleansing," concluding bluntly: "The EU and NATO supported racism in Ukraine at great expense, politically, financially, and militarily."In December, Report24 resurrected conspiracy theories about sniper shootings during Ukraine's 2014 Maidan revolution, labeling former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy a "Banderite, deeply rooted in fascist ideology." The article claimed he "coordinated paramilitary units that stationed their snipers in the Hotel Ukraina," ignoring multiple investigations that disproved these claims.Exploiting Austrian neutralityAustria's constitutional neutrality and ambivalence toward NATO create particular receptiveness to narratives framing the EU as aggressor and Russia as misunderstood neighbor. Both outlets transform "neutrality" from a legal principle into a moral identity—one supposedly justifying rejection of sanctions and viewing Ukraine's resistance as Western proxy warfare.The outlets' stylistic convergence is striking. Both rely on emotionally charged imagery—flames, collapse, vengeance—and quote Kremlin-approved commentators described as "experts" without revealing their propagandistic records. Both amplify pro-Russian Telegram channels that Ukrainian authorities have identified as components of Russia's hybrid information operations.The pro-Kremlin landscape extends beyond these sites. An Austria-branded version of Russia's Pravda and social accounts contribute to what analysts describe as a "narrative relay system"—locally branded outlets retransmitting Russian state narratives filtered through domestic grievances.In 2025, Austrian authorities announced they had revealed a Russian-driven campaign aimed at spreading disinformation about Ukraine, linked to Russia's agents of influence.Blurring moral linesThe cumulative effect isn't to convince readers that every Russian claim is true, but to blur moral distinctions: if "everyone lies," then Russia's lies are no worse than anyone else's.By reframing invasion as reaction, war crimes as reciprocity, and democratic solidarity as authoritarian coercion, these Austrian outlets have achieved what Russian state media can no longer do openly in the EU: make disinformation sound like dissent.What Moscow's own outlets cannot accomplish directly within the EU, these Austrian sites achieve through local adaptation—giving Kremlin talking points an Austrian accent.