A builder works at an underground school construction site in Shyroke, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine, on Aug. 15, 2024. (Ukrinform / NurPhoto / Getty Images)Claims of an alleged migrant "influx" have become increasingly common in Ukraine in recent months, in what experts describe as a coordinated disinformation operation.The central theme in these claims is that foreign labor migrants are allegedly arriving in Ukraine to replace the country's population while Ukrainian men continue fighting at the front.The claims have spread quickly across social media and Telegram channels, and even appeared in mainstream reporting.Although Ukrainian media outlets and government agencies have repeatedly debunked claims of mass migration, the wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric has continued growing, even fueling two small protests.The Kyiv Independent examined what is really happening — and who may benefit from turning migration into one of Ukraine's newest social fault lines.What's going on?Posts about a sudden "influx of labor migrants" from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and elsewhere began flooding Ukrainian online space in early spring.The claims largely shared a common thread: that Ukraine's workforce — depleted by war and emigration — was being intentionally replaced by migrants.Actively pushed by pro-Russian Telegram channels, Russian-friendly Ukrainian figures — like fugitive lawmaker Artem Dmytruk — and the Pravda disinformation network, the narrative quickly gained traction in public discourse.A video, widely shared in May, showed a supposedly Indian man speaking in English, inviting his compatriots to Ukraine, promising work and good pay as "all men went to war," adding, "there are many beautiful boys and girls here."