EU Monitor Counts 1,825 Political Prisoners After Kremlin Denial; Fake German Video Tied to Russian Operation

Economic Warfare & Trade Policy

The Kremlin Senate building in Moscow (file photo). Photo: Bahnfrend, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

An EU disinformation monitor this week rebutted the Kremlin’s claim that Russia holds no political prisoners, and independent fact-checkers linked a fake German news video aimed at American voters to the Russian influence campaign known as Storm-1516. The Storm-1516 fake video and the prisoner dispute led a day in which Iran also repeated an unproven claim to have captured a US drone.

Key figures: 1,825 political prisoners recognized by memorial · 336 institutions where they are held · 78 russian regions covered

The Kremlin’s denial and the count

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “categorically” denies holding any political prisoners. EUvsDisinfo, run by the European Union’s East StratCom Task Force, said on October 30 that the political prisoner project of the rights group Memorial recognizes 1,825 people held in 336 institutions across 78 regions, using the Council of Europe’s definition, EUvsDisinfo wrote. The monitor said UN bodies, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch do not accept Russia’s counter-claim that Ukraine holds “political prisoners.” Memorial also lists 78 political prisoners who have died in Russian custody, the review noted.

A fake FOCUS Online report

An X account calling itself “American Pulse” posted a video carrying a FOCUS Online logo that said a German “Eco Sanitation Act” would limit people to three toilet flushes a day by 2027. Lead Stories found that FOCUS Online never published such a report, that the audio was generated by artificial intelligence, and that the video appears to belong to Storm-1516, its fact check said. The posts paired the German fake with hashtags aimed at US midterm voters, Lead Stories found.

Iran’s drone claim

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed through the state news agency IRNA that they brought down and captured an intact US MQM-170 drone near Qeshm Island using electronic warfare !Unverified claim, IRNA (Iranian state media), the second such claim in two days, Anadolu Agency reported. US Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins dismissed the first claim, and no evidence for the second had been published. Today’s Middle East report covers the latest strikes in the Strait of Hormuz.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called an 11-nation sanctions statement a Western “strategic failure” in comments carried by KCNA !Unverified claim, KCNA (North Korean state media), Yonhap reported. The statement made no checkable factual claim.

Viral claims about Israel

Lead Stories also debunked a post from an X account saying Gadi Eisenkot had been declared Israel’s new prime minister. Official results were not final, Netanyahu’s party had finished first without a majority, and the president still had to consult party leaders, the fact-checker said. A separate clip claiming Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Spain with “sudden power outages and train accidents” came from an April 10, 2026, statement that mentions neither, Lead Stories found.

By the numbers

Memorial’s list works out to an average of about 5.4 prisoners per institution and about 23 per region, TBR calculations from the EUvsDisinfo figures. The 78 deaths in custody equal about 4% of the current count of 1,825.

On the Binance theft, the main figures still do not line up. Binance said it reserved more than $6.34 billion to cover user losses and that about $3 billion had been frozen, Anadolu reported. TRM Labs estimated $6.36 billion stolen and put the frozen amount at about $2.7 billion, Yonhap reported. The $300 million gap between the two frozen-fund estimates is about 10% of Binance’s figure. No government had confirmed the North Korea attribution in the window. Our Oct. 30 information war report covered the first details of the hack.

Cyber front

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added two exploited flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on October 30, CISA said, with federal patch deadlines of November 2 and November 13, according to the catalog. In Japan, the Foreign Ministry said about 3,600 sets of names and email addresses may have been exposed after a third party stole login credentials for an email service, The Japan Times reported.

What to watch

Watch for more Storm-1516 fakes aimed at US voters before the November 3 midterms, any evidence from Iran for its drone claims, and whether the FBI or Treasury confirms who was behind the Binance theft. Today’s Ukraine war report covers the latest Russian strikes, and the Oct. 30 Iran daily briefing tracks Tehran’s messaging.

Sources

• EUvsDisinfo: Russia introduces new laws to jail critics, but denies it holds any political prisoners
• Lead Stories: Fact Check: FAKE FOCUS Online News Report About 'Eco Sanitation Act' Limiting Toilet Flushing In Germany By 2027 — AI-Generated Audio
• Anadolu Agency: Iran claims it downed, captured US drone near Qeshm Island in Strait of Hormuz
• Yonhap News Agency: N. Korea slams multination statement backing anti-Pyongyang sanctions as 'strategic failure'
• Lead Stories: Fact Check: Gadi Eisenkot Was NOT Declared New Israel PM, As Of October 30, 2026 — Country Still Deadlocked
• Lead Stories: Fact Check: Benjamin Netanyahu Did NOT Threaten Spain with 'Sudden Power Outages And Train Accidents'
• Anadolu Agency: Binance reports security incident, pledges to cover all user losses
• Yonhap News Agency: (2nd LD) N. Korean hackers blamed for record US$6.36 bln Binance cryptocurrency theft: U.S. firm
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (CVE-2026-118527, CVE-2026-111357)
• The Japan Times: Foreign ministry says 3,600 sets of personal information may have been leaked