Russian media reported that Ukraine allegedly plans to include the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions under its control into Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions through administrative renaming in order not to “give up” these territories during negotiations. Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to this claim.

In reality, the issue concerns a draft law that is currently under consideration by the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The document may be amended or rejected during the voting process. The author of the initiative, Member of Parliament Hanna Skorokhod, explained that the draft law is aimed at optimizing administrative governance and ensuring social and financial guarantees for residents of territories under Ukraine’s control.

In an interview with Slidstvo.Info, Skorokhod stated that the goal of the draft law is to “strengthen Ukraine’s negotiating position”. According to her, changing administrative boundaries would make it possible to protect people and territories while avoiding their transfer to the other side. At the same time, this argument is absent from the explanatory note to the draft law.

The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, Mykola Lukashuk, criticized the initiative, calling it a possible “concession to Russian propaganda” and pointing to the risk of creating a dangerous precedent for territorial manipulation. He noted that the only potentially reasonable goal might be reducing the costs of maintaining regional administrations, but this could be achieved through other mechanisms. Lukashuk emphasized that the draft law does not address issues of security, service quality, or social guarantees for residents.

A representative of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Power Organization, Vitalii Bezgin, stated that the draft law is unlikely to be supported even at the committee level.

Such information injections are aimed at creating the impression that Ukraine is allegedly ready to “give up” part of its territory. This can fuel Russian propaganda about the “incapacity” of the Ukrainian state, undermining trust in the Ukrainian authorities both domestically and abroad.

By portraying Ukraine’s actions as “concessions” or “weakness”, Russia seeks to strengthen its own position on the international stage, justifying its aggression or claims to occupied territories.

Russian Telegram channels claim that Ukraine has allegedly banned Israeli pilgrims from visiting Uman for Rosh Hashanah because President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was “offended” by the Israeli authorities over the absence of Independence Day greetings for Ukraine.

This was noted by analysts from the Center for Countering Disinformation.

In reality, Ukraine has not introduced any bans on pilgrimages to Uman. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein confirmed that Ukraine’s policy regarding the arrival of worshippers for the celebration of Rosh Hashanah remains unchanged.

Moreover, claims about Zelenskyy being “offended” are fabricated. Israeli President Isaac Herzog officially congratulated Zelenskyy on Ukraine’s Independence Day on behalf of Israel and its people, which refutes the alleged “reason” for the ban.

Such disinformation is aimed at portraying Ukraine as a country that supposedly violates religious freedoms or creates obstacles for international pilgrims, which could damage its reputation.

By spreading false information about a “ban” on pilgrimages by Israeli worshippers, Russia is trying to create tension in relations between Ukraine and Israel and provoke discontent within Jewish communities.