Newsletter #5
This is the fifth issue of a newsletter produced by the AHRC-funded research project (Mis)Translating Deceit: Disinformation as a Translingual, Discursive Dynamic.
The project brings together researchers from the University of Manchester, Chatham House, Loughborough University, and the University of Leeds in an effort to bring an important new dimension to a global challenge of increasing concern.
This newsletter covers events, engagements, and publications from September 2025 to November 2025.
Project Team Update
In November, Elena Racheva joined the project team as a Leverhulme Early-Career Fellow at The University of Manchester.
Together with our project, Elena is carrying out research on a related topic: 'War Without Peace: Analysing Russian Civil Militarization Propaganda and Hybrid Warfare in Former Soviet States', focusing on Moldova, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
Before joining the University of Manchester, Elena was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford. She contributes to the ERC CrimGov project, exploring the role of criminal governance in the Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Elena finished her DPhil project in Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford in 2022. Her thesis was focused on the legacies of wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya for contemporary Russian society as well as the militarisation and patriotic mobilisation of Russia.
Previously, Elena worked as a special correspondent for independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, covering different political and social issues in the former Soviet countries. She was a Fellow of Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2015-2016) in Washington, DC and published a book 'Article 58. Unseized. Stories of GULAG Survivors and Perpetrators' (2016), translated into four languages. She holds an MA in History from The University of Manchester and an MA in Journalism from The Moscow State University.
Academic Publications
Alyukov, M., Makhortykh, M., Voronovici, A., & Sydorova, M. (2025). LLMs grooming or data voids? LLM-powered chatbot references to Kremlin disinformation reflect information gaps, not manipulation. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-187
Abstract: Some of today’s most popular large language model (LLM)-powered chatbots occasionally reference Kremlin-linked disinformation websites, but it might not be for the reasons many fear. While some recent studies have claimed that Russian actors are “grooming” LLMs by flooding the web with disinformation, our small-scale analysis finds little evidence for this. When such references appear, they can be due to “data voids,” gaps in credible information, rather than foreign interference.
You can read the research note online, or download the PDF, via the Misinformation Review website link - https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/llms-grooming-or-data-voids-llm-powered-chatbot-references-to-kremlin-disinformation-reflect-information-gaps-not-manipulation/.
From M.Alyukov and A. Voronovici’s article. Image Credit: YAMU_JAY on Pixabay
New Blogs
Gosia Koroluk writes about the Polish media coverage of the 2025 Moldovan elections.
Nicolas Hénin provides a vulnerability study on Mauritania's information ecosystem, and provides solutions on how it can strengthen these vulnerabilities.
Olga Vlasova's blog examines Russian propaganda, through the lens of emotional governance.
Latest Events
- 3rd November: Members of the project team and affiliated researchers took part in the Aleksanteri Conference 2025, held in Helsinki from 22 to 24 October. For further information, please visit the event page on the website here - https://www.mis-translating-deceit.com/research-events/project-team-at-the-aleksanteri-conference-2025.
- 20th November: Sabina Mihelj gave a keynote at the 11th annual conference of the International Journal of Press/Politics, held at the National University of Singapore on 19-21 November. For further information, please visit the event page on the website here - https://www.mis-translating-deceit.com/research-events/sabina-mihelj-at-the-11th-annual-conference-of-the-international-journal-of-press-politics.
- 23rd November: Vera Tolz presented a paper at the 57th Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), held in Washington, D.C., on 20-23 November 2025. For further information, please visit the event page on the website here - https://www.mis-translating-deceit.com/research-events/vera-tolz-at-the-57th-annual-convention-of-the-association-for-slavic-east-european-and-eurasian-studies-aseees.
Helsinki Cathedral. Image Credit: Stephen Hutchings
Public and Policy Engagement
Our project participants have contributed to public discussions by making appearances in media and policy circles.
Stephen Hutchings was interviewed by Belarusian oppositional TV channel, Belsat, on Russian disinformation and the political situation in Belarus. You can watch the interview or read in the transcript (in Belarusian) online.
Stephen Hutchings was quoted in Lupa for articles on Russia's Global Fact Checking Network and Russian propaganda in Latin American and the Global South.
Stephen Hutchings was quoted in Sweden's public broadcaster SVT's article on Russia's "Intervision" contest.
Affiliated Projects Updates
Beyond Disinformation Research Network
This project has now concluded. You can read the research fund report by clicking the download button below:
MMT Joint Research Fund Report (Oct 2025)
Manchester members of the “(Mis)Translating Deceit” project team established the “Beyond Disinformation” research network together with our colleagues at the University of Toronto and the University of Melbourne. The project “Beyond Disinformation: Assessing Digital Communications Strategies of Hybrid Neo-Authoritarian Empires” received funding from the three universities involved.
It aimed to bring together faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students from Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto (MMT) for virtual and in-person research cluster events. The project was headed by Stephen Hutchings (University of Manchester), Dara Conduit (University of Melbourne), and Kenzie Burchell (University of Toronto).
Resources
Bibliography
We have a working bibliography which represents a selection of publications that our team found useful in our research. The bibliography will be regularly updated (on average once every 6 months).
To download this list, please click the link here - https://www.mis-translating-deceit.com/resources/bibliography
Selective List of Counter-Disinformation Units (CDUS)
The following is a selective list of analytical units and organisations that aim to research and combat disinformation. To download this list, please click the link here - https://www.mis-translating-deceit.com/resources/selective-list-of-counter-disinformation-units-cdus
Social Media
Want more updates from us? Follow us via the links to our accounts below:
X/Twitter: @m_deceit
Bluesky: @m-deceit.bsky.social
LinkedIn: (Mis)Translating Deceit (AHRC Funded Project)