In Ukrainian social networks, there are widespread reports that allegedly three years ago the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko was fired to "prevent him from applying for Ukraine's accession to NATO." The contributors claim that Zelenskyy deliberately did this "while Muzhenko was on his way to the summit", "so that he would not have the authority". The message became viral in the context of the public signing by the president of Ukraine's application to join NATO in an accelerated manner. This message is fake. The summit of the leaders of the member countries of the Alliance was indeed held in December 2019. However, Viktor Muzhenko could not be a participant, because he was dismissed from the post of Chief of the General Staff by the decree of the President of Ukraine № 301/2019 dated May 21, 2019. Therefore, he could neither represent the country at the summit nor submit any documents on its behalf.

Viktor Muzhenko confirmed in a StopFake comment that he was in Brussels in May 2019. At that time, a meeting of the NATO Military Committee was held, in particular in the Ukraine-NATO format (May 21). At this meeting, Muzhenko was supposed to represent Ukraine (AFU), but on the eve of the meeting, the Decree of the President of Ukraine was signed on his dismissal. By the decision of the Military Committee, Muzhenko was allowed to make a speech as a representative of Ukraine. There was no mention of an application to join NATO.

In January 2019, there was another meeting of the military leaders of the member countries of the Alliance, in which Muzhenko took part - the meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels. At that time, Petro Poroshenko was still the president of Ukraine. However, there was no discussion of applying to join NATO at this meeting either. Russian propaganda tries to devalue, ridicule, and discredit Ukraine's desire to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russian media and anonymous Telegram channels actively reacted to the statement of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy about applying for accelerated accession to NATO with numerous fakes and manipulations.

The Russian media write about this regarding the words of Vasily Nebenzya, the permanent representative of Russia at the UN.

For example, Western delegations demonstrate double standards by denying residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine the right to self-determination. This situation allegedly has no difference from the exit of Kosovo from Serbia. Nebenzya referred to the decision of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations in 2008. He also said that annexing Ukrainian territories to Russia is more legal because of "referendums".

The referendum in Kosovo was held from September 26 to 30, 1991. It was boycotted by the Serbian minority living in the region. The turnout of Albanians was 87%, and 99% of them voted "for" independence. Kosovo Albanians were not in danger at that time. Yugoslavia no longer existed, and there was a foreign peacekeeping contingent in Serbia. Instead, in Ukraine, Russia held "referendums" in violation of international law and under the pressure of armed soldiers.

So there is no question of the legitimacy and voluntariness of the expression of will. Democratic countries unanimously declared their non-recognition of the results of the illegal "referendums" held by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories, even on the eve of their holding.

Since 2020, 97 states out of 193 (50%) UN member states have recognized the independence of Kosovo; 22 out of 27 (81%) member states of the European Union; 26 out of 30 (87%) NATO member states. Among those who didn`t recognize the independence of Kosovo were Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Ukraine.

The UN International Court of Justice has never recognized the independence of Kosovo. The court ruled that the declaration of independence adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo didn`t violate international law. At the same time, the court didn`t consider the legality of unilateral secession and the question of Kosovo's independence.

It is not the first time that Russia uses manipulative statements about the Western "policy of double standards", although it actively uses them itself. Earlier, propagandists wrote that accusations against Russia regarding the violation of the Budapest Memorandum are "impossible" because "Russia's opponents have repeatedly disrespected the fundamental norms of international law, the principles of the UN and the OSCE." The message was noticed by the fact-checkers of The Insider publication.

Russian media write about this. The reports refer to the materials of the German publication Der Tagesspiegel, which published the article based on information from its sources. This is manipulation.

StopFake's fake checkers found an article referenced by Russian media. It was published on September 27 in Der Tagesspiegel Background in the Energy and Climate section. This is the author's column of the journalist Jakob Schlandt, hidden from free viewing through personal registration.

In fact, the author considers the possible involvement of both Russia and Ukraine in the damage to the gas pipeline. However, the author of the article calls the accusations against Ukraine "speculations that can`t be substantiated in any way." Russia, in his opinion, has more reasons to carry out such an attack, since blackmail around energy carriers has been ongoing on the part of Russia for several months. The author also notes that the level of gas in Germany's storage facilities continues to rise steadily, even though the gas pipeline has been down for four weeks. According to the Federal Agency for Network Technologies, the current level of occupancy of German gas storage facilities is about 91%.

According to CNN, on September 26 and 27, European security officials observed Russian Navy support ships and Russian submarines near the leak sites in the Nord Stream pipeline.

Two Western intelligence officers and another source familiar with the issue gave the newspaper this information. So far, the involvement of the ships in the explosions on the gas pipeline has not been established, investigators are studying the evidence.

The Russian media manipulates the statements in Der Tagesspiegel Background, deliberately suppresses information about alleged sabotage by Russia, and focuses only on Ukraine.

Earlier, Russian propagandists said that the US was supposedly "behind the explosions" on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

The Russians spread such rumors and intimidate people who, for various reasons, remained in the temporarily occupied territories. All of them allegedly will eventually be punished for collaborationism.

Currently, there is no law on collaborationism in Ukraine. Since March 15, certain regulations regarding responsibility for cooperation with the occupiers have entered into force, and a single punishment in this regard has not been provided for yet. Depending on the circumstances, it can be different: from a ban on holding certain positions to life imprisonment. But it is precisely about cooperation, and not about staying in the temporarily occupied territories for various reasons.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to this message in his daily address. "If a person did not serve the occupiers and did not betray Ukraine, then there is no reason to consider such a person a collaborator," the president said.

The occupiers deliberately spread such rumors to intimidate the inhabitants of the temporarily occupied territories and induce them to cooperate. Earlier, they claimed that Ukrainians would be punished for receiving Russian humanitarian assistance in the temporarily occupied territories.

Russian media and pro-Russian Telegram channels write it regarding the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmytro Peskov.

They said that there is no final decision on the extent to which the region will be "joined" to Russia, so the opinion of the residents will be asked. It is manipulation.

Before the illegal pseudo-referendums, the collaborator Rogov said that the Zaporizhzhia region would "join" Russia within the current administrative borders. Moreover, the Russian media deliberately coined the term "territories occupied by Kyiv", which is a technology for replacing concepts. Carrying out the so-called "expression of will" in violation of legal norms and "under the muzzles of machine guns" shows that Russia is not interested in what the residents of the temporarily occupied territories want. The situation at the front changes daily, so propagandists manipulate and leave room for an information retreat.

There can be no question of "joining" the temporarily occupied territories to Russia. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the decision on territorial integrity is made exclusively by the citizens of Ukraine in an all-Ukrainian referendum.

Russian propaganda tries in every way to justify the occupation of Ukrainian territories. To do this, they create the illusion of support for their actions by the residents of the occupied territories. They previously wrote that the turnout for the pseudo-referendum in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region "exceeded 50%." Foreign "observers" also allegedly confirmed the "transparency" of Russian pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The message is spread by the Russian media concerning the deputy of the Russian Duma Serhii Mironov.

The Russian official called to "destroy" the entire infrastructure of Ukraine: traction substations, power plants, all bridges, and roads. He said it was necessary to "liberate" the territories and protect the lives of civilians. The message got into the Ukrainian information space through pro-Russian media.

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation, such statements are associated with defeats on the front line. The Russians, under the guise of rescuing civilians, openly call for the destruction of civilian objects. In this way, Russian propaganda exerts emotional pressure on Ukrainians — it tries to intimidate them, force them to surrender, and sow distrust in the actions of the authorities. Leaving people without light, heat, and means of livelihood is not "care" for the lives of civilians, but genocide, which Russia is trying to blackmail against the background of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

It is not the first time Russian agitprop has spread such messages. Similar calls were made during the liberation of the Kharkiv region. Moreover, on September 11, the Russians attacked the Kharkiv CHP plant and left several regions without electricity: Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, and partially Donetsk. At that time, the propagandists claimed that the Ukrainian energy system was under "self-fire."