In the Italian segment of Facebook, the social network X, which was formerly called Twitter, and TikTok, a video allegedly staged by Ukrainian military personnel is being distributed. The video shows two soldiers in camouflage pulling a dummy behind a tree, while a woman in a green vest follows them and takes pictures. One of the users who shared the video signed it: “Hollywood in Ukraine. It would have been nice if the woman in the green vest had stepped out of the frame when they were filming the scene”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the Facta project. In fact, the video was published on the page of the NGO of the Training Center 12 of the city of Kremenchuh. The video is signed as follows: “It is better to test yourself and really evaluate your strengths in training tasks ... Basic military training of the civilian population of GO STC 12”. So, the video shows the moment of military exercises.

In this way, Russian propaganda promotes the message that Russia does not commit any war crimes, and Ukraine lies and films “performances” to discredit it. The Russians are trying to remove responsibility for war crimes, saying that they do not kill Ukrainians, and Ukraine itself fakes events. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Ukrainian servicemen were filming “staging” with the wounded.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread the information that the Russians carry out precision strikes exclusively on Ukrainian military installations, and do not attack social infrastructure and religious buildings. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications drew attention to the case. The UNESCO international organization cites the following figures: as of July 20, 2023, experts have documented 270 cultural sites (temples, museums, historical buildings, monuments, libraries and archives) in Ukraine that suffered at the hands of the Russians. And the Institute for Religious Freedom said it had recorded the destruction, damage, or looting of at least 494 religious buildings.

On the night of July 23, as a result of Russian missile strikes on Odesa, the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral and 2 architectural monuments were damaged and 6 residential buildings were destroyed.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to whitewash Russia, which is attacking Ukrainian cities. They say that their goal is exclusively military facilities, and the Russians allegedly do not commit war crimes against Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that Ukrainian officials allegedly pass off military facilities as civilian ones.

In the Italian segment of TikTok, a video is being circulated in which President Volodymyr Putin says that “he who organized and prepared the military rebellion, who raised arms against his comrades in arms, betrayed Russia”. The video is also overlaid with text stating that the CIA allegedly paid $6.2 billion “for the loyalty of the Wagner fighters” and this could allegedly lead to a civil war in Russia. It's fake.

The fact-checker of the Facta project drew attention to the case. There is no information in any foreign newspaper and among the official statements of the CIA that the CIA paid 6.2 billion dollars to the Wagner group. The leader of the Wagner mercenaries himself has been criticizing the Russian military leadership for several months.

In fact, weapons sent to Ukraine over the past two years have been inflated by $6.2 billion. The figure on the financing of the “Wagner” group follows from this news about military assistance to Ukraine. Moreover, it all started with the fact that several verified users of the popular Chinese social media platform Weibo announced this. The message circulated on Weibo actually mistranslated the title of the Los Angeles Times article from English to Chinese and contains a photo of a paramilitary group that is not actually in the US newspaper article.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the United States and state the involvement of Americans in the rebellion in Russia. Like, Russia is a victim of a conspiracy and illegal actions. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that Pryhozhyn's rebellion was allegedly planned in the West.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread the information that the 37th US President Richard Nixon wrote in his letter to Bill Clinton that an “American” Revolution of Dignity and an “American War” would take place in Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. Richard Nixon envisioned a change in Russia's nascent democratic course to an authoritarian one and an invasion of Ukraine. Russian propaganda manipulates real quotes from Nixon's declassified 1994 letter to Clinton. He also noted that the situation in Kyiv is “explosive” and asked to strengthen the US diplomatic presence in Ukraine. There was no mention of “American” wars and revolution in Nixon's letter.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads the message that Ukraine depends on Western partners and is a puppet of the event, and the war is a confrontation between the United States and Russia, and not Russian aggression against Ukraine. However, it was Russia that started the war in Ukraine and is fighting not with the collective West, NATO or the United States, but with Ukraine. Earlier we talked about the message that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is a puppet of the West, and the “Kyiv regime” is similar to apartheid.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread the information that Ukrainian soldiers allegedly set up dungeons for children when the Russian army protects them. It's fake.

The case was studied at the Center for Strategic Communications. There is no evidence that the Ukrainian military tortures children. However, it is the Russians who illegally take Ukrainian children from the occupied territories to Russia, which is deportation, kidnapping and a war crime. It is for this that Volodymyr Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia, Mariia Lvova-Bielova, were put on the wanted list by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Also, the Russian military set up dungeons for children in the Kherson region and tortured and starved children.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian servicemen. They use the tactics of reflection: after the Russians were accused of torturing Ukrainian children, they began to accuse the Ukrainian military of the same crimes. Earlier, we refuted the fake that Ukrainian battalions kill Ukrainian children and then export their organs under the grain export code.

In contrast to the deteriorating situation on the battlefield and the state of the economy, Russian propagandists need to give something positive. Often it has to be sucked out of the air, because it is necessary to maintain a sense of national pride, for no reason to do so. That is why Russian propaganda is trying hard to play on the feeling that “everything is the best in Russia”.

In particular, this also applies to “import substitution”, which Russia reacted to because of international sanctions. Russian manufacturers are trying to create the impression that the West is simply jealous of the quality of Russian goods. Also in this context, it is said that Western brands allegedly do not want to leave Russia, since the Russian audience loves them faithfully. Propagandists even create and spread fakes to support this message, as with a fake package of “taste of victory” Pringles chips.

Russia cannot do without the fact that it calls itself the best in spiritual terms. By fighting for traditional values, Russia, in particular, justifies its aggression against Ukraine. This is the culmination of several years of Russian propagandists portraying the “collective West” as a “gay hell” where children are forced to change their gender.

Such formulations are toxic. The game, in its exclusivity, is yet another confirmation of Russia's imperial ambitions. In addition, often Russian goods are the best only in words - many products from Western manufacturers who left the Russian market could not be reproduced due to sanctions on resources and technologies. By demonizing people with a great lifestyle, Russia only deepens its inferiority complex, which results in an attempt to assert itself at the expense of victims among Ukrainians. Detector Media has already written about Russian disinformation against LGBT people and its threat.