DISINFO: CBC News: Ukrainian athletes isolated in Olympic village

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: CBC News: Ukrainian athletes isolated in Olympic village

SUMMARY

The Canadian broadcaster CBC reported that Ukrainian athletes in Milan were housed as far away from normal people as possible. This is because, at the Paris Olympics, Ukrainian athletes had previously behaved inappropriately, provoking conflicts with other athletes. As a result, at the request of delegations from other countries, the Ukrainians were isolated from the rest of the athletes this time.

CBC: Here in Italy, all the mistakes made in France have been taken into account. Specifically, the Ukrainian team's accommodation has been placed as far away as possible from others participating in the Olympics, and it was done on purpose. It was a correction of the mistakes that had been made in Paris. In Paris, the Ukrainian team proved to be extremely toxic, provoking conflicts with other athletes. Here in Italy, it was decided to accommodate them as far away as possible from other athletes so that the conflicts they provoked would not interfere with other countries' teams preparing for the competitions.

RESPONSE

Russian pro-Kremlin resources have released a false TV report disguised as material from the Canadian television company CBC. The forged video claims that Ukrainian athletes during the Olympic Games in Milan were specially placed 'as far away as possible from others participating in the Olympics' because of their 'toxic behavior' at the previous Olympic Games in Paris.

In reality, this story is a falsification. In the original CBC material, the journalist does not mention Ukraine or Ukrainian athletes at all. Russian pro-Kremlin media used a fragment of a real video, replaced part of the video sequence and superimposed a voice that imitates the journalist’s voice and contains fabricated statements, Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation found out.

The false report became viral and reached out one million social media users by 9 February 2026, Provereno.Media noticed.

The goal of this disinformation attack is to discredit Ukrainians and undermine international support for Ukraine, using the context of such an important sporting event as the Olympic Games. See other forged stories about Ukraine's participation in 2026 Wither Olympics.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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