How Pro-Russian Activists Are Threatening Europe With a 'Catastrophe' Over Supporting Ukraine

On March 9, 2025, CTV channel aired another episode of “SASS is Authorized to Declare” with the following headline:
Macron threatens Russia | Ukraine’s fate decided? | Lukashenko sends a signal | SASS is authorized to declare. Afterward, it is cut into shorts, which gather many more views than the program itself. Thus, a video with the headline “War with Russia will be a catastrophe for Western Europe! #macron #russia #war #news #politics” collected more than a million views in just 24 hours!
In it, the invited online expert Nikola Mirkovic stated the following:

And what is extremely dangerous is that the French army cannot fight against the Russian army today. And even the French, Germans and British combined, we don’t have knowledge of modern warfare that we see today in Ukraine. We don’t have the means, we don’t have enough missiles, so we can’t go to war. So I think he’s playing with this war rhetoric. However, this is very dangerous rhetoric, because a war between the West and Russia will end very badly for us, and it will be a catastrophe for Western Europe.

Our verdict based on our analysis:

Verdict: Incorrect

Reasons:

• The thesis or statement is completely false: information from several sources or opinions of several experts in the specific field contradict it.
• Cause-and-effect relationships and connections clearly do not exist as claimed.

Fact-checking rating scale

Full video:

Nikola Mirkovic is a figure whose name increasingly appears in the context of pro-Russian propaganda in Europe. This French activist of Serbian origin with dual citizenship does everything possible to strengthen the Kremlin’s position in the international arena, portraying NATO and the West as weak and Russia as invincible. In his speeches, he condemns NATO’s military operation in Yugoslavia, justifies Russian aggression against Ukraine, and participates in propaganda campaigns aimed at demoralizing European society.

He heads an organization – Association Ouest – Est, where he has an email address in the yandex.com domain.

Markovich participated in December 2018 in protest demonstrations of the “yellow vests” movement in Paris, which was distinguished by radical intentions – to penetrate the administration of the President of France (Élysée Palace) and the largest number of injured and arrested participants.
His activities go far beyond simply commenting on international politics. Mirkovic has repeatedly visited temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, promoting Russian narratives among the local population. In 2018, he acted as an “observer” in the illegal elections in the “DPR” and “LPR,” representing France and Serbia, although his participation in this event had no international legitimacy.
Nikola Mirkovic is in the database of fake observers of the European Platform for Democratic Elections.
In this statement on CTVBY, Mirkovic claims that Western armies are allegedly unable to counter Russian military power. He speaks of a “catastrophe” for Western Europe in case of conflict with Russia, emphasizing that France, Germany, and the United Kingdom do not have a sufficient level of training and weapons for modern warfare. However, these claims do not stand up to criticism. NATO, being the largest military alliance in the world, has significant resources, modern technologies, and combat experience accumulated over years of international operations.
Mirkovic’s rhetoric fits perfectly into the strategy of Russian disinformation, the purpose of which is to sow fear among Europeans and undermine support for Ukraine. By instilling in the audience that the West is doomed in a possible conflict with Russia, he tries to influence public opinion, make people doubt the need to help Ukraine, and lead to a weakening of European unity.
Such statements not only mislead but also pose a threat to information security. They form a false picture in which Russia seems like an insurmountable force, and Europe is a helpless victim. However, facts say the opposite: Western support for Ukraine continues to strengthen, and sanctions against Russia weaken its economic and military potential.
The manipulations and intimidation used by Nikola Mirkovic are part of a broader campaign to destabilize European society. His words should not be viewed as objective analysis, but as a propaganda tool aimed at sowing doubt and fear of a mythical “catastrophe” that does not exist in reality.
Now let’s perform an analysis of disinformation narratives and semantic analysis: