A photo is being circulated on social networks, in which, next to cans of canned vegetables and a postcard in Russian, it says: “Dear soldier, happy New Year! We wish you all the best and a speedy victory!”. In a post posted on a Facebook news group in the city of Yartsevo (Smolensk region of Russia), it was also reported that Russian soldiers were greeted by the head of the Russian Bonduelle in Russia, Kateryna Yelisieieva. The leaflet also contains information that 10,000 Russian soldiers will receive gifts in the form of four cans of canned vegetables. Now the original post, where they posted a photo of the “gifts”, is not available. According to StopFake, this is a fake.

At the very least, the head office of the French company Bonduelle officially denied involvement in the “New Year's gift sets” allegedly sent on its behalf to the Russian army. On December 31, Bonduelle released a statement saying that “Russian social media has spread false information about our activities in Russia”. The company continues to operate in Russia, unlike thousands of other Western companies, but denies any involvement in congratulating Russian infidels. “This information, as well as statements attributed to Bonduelle and its management, are fake”, the statement said. The press service added that Bonduelle continues to work in Russia “with the sole purpose of ensuring the population's access to basic food products in Russia and neighboring countries”. Later in a comment to AFP, the company said: “We do not send packages to Russian soldiers”.

At the same time, the head of the Russian office, Kateryna Yelisieieva, did not comment on the appearance of the fake. But it is known from open sources that she is a graduate of the FSB Academy.

Russian telegram channels are spreading reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi “has officially abandoned the Christmas truce”, which, propagandists say, demonstrates the “inhumanity” of the Ukrainian authorities. But this is manipulation.

In reality, no one offered Ukraine a Christmas truce. Only the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kyryl (Hundaiev), called for a ceasefire on Christmas Day, and he addressed “all parties involved in the conflict”, that is, the military-political leadership of both Russia and Ukraine. And Russia did not respond to these proposals at all. But the adviser to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Polodoliak answered and called these calls of Hundaiev “a cynical trap and an element of propaganda”.

And he reminded: since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyrylo has supported this war, calls it “sacred” and “metaphysical”, promises forgiveness of sins for those who died in this war, and even blesses those who go to kill Ukrainians.

In addition to the fact that Kyrylo is one of the propagandists of this war (for which he was sanctioned by some countries), he also, together with state propaganda, divides Ukrainians into varieties on religious grounds since many people in Ukraine (Catholics, Greek Catholics, and part of the Orthodox) celebrate Christmas according to a different calendar, that is, on December 25. But two weeks ago, Kyrylo didn't care whether people would die under shelling on Christmas Day on December 25 or not. And the Russian army shelled the Ukrainians both on Christmas and New Year - massively launched rockets, drones, shelled infrastructure and destroyed houses, hospitals and kindergartens.

And, finally, it is known in advance that the Russian side that actually makes the decision (that is, the military-political leadership of Russia, and not the head of its church) is not interested in a truce for the holidays. This was announced on December 14 by Putin's press secretary Dmytro Pieskov. Then, answering the questions of propagandists, whether a truce is possible for the New Year or Christmas holidays, he replied: “No proposals have been received from anyone, and such a topic is not on the agenda”. That is, the very idea of a truce for the holidays was rejected by Russia back in December.

Telegram channels from the Russian intelligence-controlled network began to spread the message that the Office of the President allegedly “made a list of monuments” that need to be dismantled in Ukraine. That is why in different cities, including Dnipro and Odesa, monuments to Oleksandr Matrosov and Empress Catherine II have recently been dismantled. At the same time, Russian propaganda channels, such as the “Kremlin washerwoman”, Volodymyr Soloviov’s channel and others, spread the thesis that russophobic orders to dismantle monuments to Russian and Soviet figures in Ukraine are given directly in London and Washington. And that is why, supposedly, the US-controlled and UK-protected UNESCO does not make statements about their dismantling.

Firstly, none of the dismantled monuments was protected by UNESCO. Moreover, the monument to Catherine II was generally restored only in 2007, since it was demolished in 1917. Restoring it was an initiative of Odesa officials, which immediately caused a lot of criticism from local activists. Secondly, the dismantling of monuments does not mean their destruction as they are gradually transferred to museums, where they will be stored if they really have artistic value. And thirdly, the list really exists: back in August, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy compiled the top 10 most common toponyms associated with Russian or Soviet figures that really have nothing to do with Ukraine. The list includes Yurii Haharin, Oleksandr Pushkin, Ivan Michurin, Valerii Chkalov, Maksym Horkyi, Mykhailo Liermontov, Oleksandr Suvorov, Volodymyr Maiakovskyi, Oleksandr Matrosov, Volodymyr Komarov. The Ministry of culture and information policy of Ukraine expert council on overcoming the consequences of russification and totalitarianism recommended, first of all, to rename streets, squares, metro stations, squares and other names associated with these people. Monuments to these people from the cities of Ukraine are also gradually dismantled.

Before the start of a full-scale invasion, all these toponyms and monuments existed in hundreds of thousands in Ukraine. And the process of “de-russification” of Ukraine has a simple explanation: it is a military aggression against Ukraine, which was committed by Russia on February 24. Now no one, neither the authorities nor the inhabitants want to have anything to do with the aggressor. This is evidenced by the data of opinion polls: in May, 98% had a negative attitude towards Russia.

Russian media are spreading news reports that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging the West not to count on a Kyiv victory and to prepare for negotiations, although it is not known when they will begin. This is a manipulation brought to the attention of the StopFake fact-checker project.

Some of Stoltenberg's words were taken from his extensive interview with the BBC's World at One, Radio 4, but he did not say anything about the need to prepare for negotiations or about acknowledging Ukraine's imminent defeat in this war. On the contrary, he said that the West needs to prepare for long-term support for Ukraine because the war is on the verge of attrition, and it will not stop quickly. But both in this interview and in others, Stoltenberg repeatedly said that before sitting down at the negotiating table that ends any war, Ukraine must defeat Russia at the front. And the Ukrainian army has such plans and capabilities that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have repeatedly demonstrated.

The Russian media are spreading the information that NATO is “delivering scrap metal”, that is, old, ineffective weapons to Ukraine, in order to “clean out warehouses” and “recycle old trash”. This message earlier appeared on Russian telegram channels, but this time it has a specific source - the Polish website Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny. But this is a site that was created for the dissemination of Russian propaganda, and has nothing to do with journalism.

As the journalists of the Polish True Story portal found out, most of the publications were copied from other portals. Thus, the impression of a full-fledged media is formed. The few original materials are undisguised Russian propaganda and lies. For example, it was this publication that published fabricated statements by American generals that the Poles were drunkards, drug addicts, and thieves. Most of the texts are written in poor Polish, full of Russianisms, impossible linguistic constructions occur in the texts. According to True Story, this is the result of an unsuccessful machine translation. The editor of the publication, Adam Kaminsky, is a non-existent person. The photo posted on his Twitter and Facebook accounts (both now deleted) is actually a portrait of Lithuanian traumatologist Andrius Zukauskas. Also, real Polish journalists did not find anyone who personally knows the authors of the original articles Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny.

All this proves that Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny is another fake site created solely to spread propaganda messages beneficial to Russia.

Interestingly, almost simultaneously with the message about the “scrap metal” supplied by the West to Ukraine, Russian propaganda is also spreading another one: “Ukraine has become a testing ground for testing the latest technologies and weapons”. This is one of the features of Russian propaganda: not so much to promote some kind of alternative version of reality, but to distribute as many fictional versions as possible so that the audience simply gets confused and stops trying to find the truth or facts.

And they are like this: the West supplies Ukraine with old Soviet-style weapons, which were mainly armed with the Ukrainian army, and new, modern equipment. The first is getting smaller, the second is getting bigger. And this happens for understandable and obvious reasons: the Ukrainian military knew how to fight with Soviet weapons, and therefore they were supplied by countries that still had their stocks. Now there is less and less of it, and more and more Ukrainian soldiers are learning how to use modern Western weapons, while Europe and the United States are supplying more and more of it.