Propagandists are spreading information that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation allegedly does not provide US Congressmen with details regarding the $5 million bribe that the Ukrainian authorities provided to current United States President Joe Biden during his tenure as Vice President. This is manipulation.

The authors of messages on this topic in anonymous telegram channels that spread pro-Russian rhetoric refer to the corresponding article of the British tabloid The Daily Mail. The article notes that the Republicans in Congress held a closed meeting, where they heard the details of the “bribe”. The authors of this article took a comment from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, who expressed her outrage at the situation. In addition, the emphasis in this case is on the fact that the person who first reported the “bribes” now fears for his safety, allegedly because of the threat of political reprisal. Citing this article, Russian propagandists have already predicted impeachment of Joe Biden, imprisonment for the head of the FBI, and refusal of further assistance to Ukraine. Like, this situation gives the Republicans carte blanche to block aid to Ukraine, and the Americans will only support this, because they are tired of the war.

In fact, the article is intended for a purely American audience, as it adds fuel to the fire of an already existing message that has been manipulated by Republicans from the very beginning of Joe Biden's presidential term. In particular, Biden's “corruption activities” as vice president became the central theme of a whole conspiracy theory against Ukraine, which was publicly supported by US ex-president Donald Trump. The Daily Mail is considered a tabloid by independent British media experts. In addition, the article feels unbalanced coverage of the topic - it contains only comments from congressmen who support the main message of the material. Congresswoman Taylor Green is an odious figure in American politics, as she is one of the most active members of the Trumpist movement within the US Republican Party. Her statements and actions almost always coincide with Trump's rhetoric, and the admins of pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels actively use her as a representative of the American politicians, since she plays along with the messages of Russian propaganda. It is clear that there is no confirmed data on bribes anywhere, and propagandists do not mention specific data that ordinary Americans are tired of the topic of the war against Ukraine in their comments on the material. Although the Trumpist movement has some influence, at the moment it is not so numerous as to launch impeachment proceedings against Biden or completely block aid to Ukraine.

Using such stories, propagandists are trying to cause panic among Ukrainians and distrust of Western partners. In addition, in this way they want to personally discredit Joe Biden and his assistance to Ukraine. Like, he only helps us because he was paid a lot of money. However, the Russians are doing this solely out of their own interest, trying to justify their aggression against Ukraine by “fighting for real values”.

Propagandists are distributing a video on social networks, in which a report by the Mexican TV channel Milenio allegedly mentions that Mexican drug cartels are receiving weapons transferred to Ukraine as military aid. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the AP Fact Check project drew attention to the video. They found out that the propagandists deliberately mistranslated the comment from him. In fact, it says that members of the Golf Cartel “own javelins”. The host of this news program only recalls that this is the type of weapon used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but does not say that the drug cartel received it with the participation of Ukrainians or that the specific weapon from the video should be in service with the Ukrainian army. In addition, the journalists of the TV channel incorrectly identified the weapon in the report - in fact, it does not show the Javelin, but the AT4, another type of anti-tank weapon.

Thus, propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and disrupt the supply of armed aid from NATO countries. Like, Ukrainians resell it on the black market, and it falls into the hands of criminals. However, military experts, at the request of AP Fact Check specialists, replied that the drug traffickers probably bought the weapons in a way not related to Ukraine.

According to the statements of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Russian troops blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant last night. Ukrainian officials claim that because of this, about 80 settlements are at risk of flooding. Since the reservoir of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is connected with the operation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, temporarily occupied by Russia, the propagandists did not leave this topic aside.  Detector Media highlighted the main messages of the Russian propaganda on undermining the dam.

1. The dam collapsed by itself due to shelling / outdated design

Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that the dam collapsed on its own due to shelling by the Ukrainian army. There is also a version that the Ukrainian authorities did not properly care for the state of the dam and therefore they have now collapsed. As evidence, the authors of such reports cite the German newspaper Bild, which allegedly removed the phrase “Russia blew it up” from the title of its report on the bombing.

These versions were refuted by the Ukrainian authorities. The office of the president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and a number of other state structures indicate that it was Russia that committed the targeted undermining. If one considers the situation with Bild, the report on the events at the Kakhovka HPP on the newspaper's website now has a completely different name.

2. Ukraine purposefully blew up a dam

Propagandists also accuse Ukraine of undermining. Allegedly, the goal is to ease the conditions for a counteroffensive or “deliberate escalation” for the “whims” of Western partners. Also, according to one version of the propaganda, the Office of the President needs this as an information drive in order to block other problems and crises. Like, this is indicated by numerous materials published in the Ukrainian media about the incident. They draw attention to a number of comparisons and emotional messages from Ukrainian opinion leaders. Allegedly, this is too dramatic and theatrical, and for this you need to prepare for a long time.

Such conclusions are groundless, since it is inappropriate to draw them on the basis of publications in social networks. Ukrainian civil society is a dynamic environment that can quickly and comprehensively respond to current events. Given this, the accusation of “staging” on the basis of the reports of his representatives cannot logically explain the situation. In addition, we are talking about people and the threat to their lives, some tend to express their opinion emotionally in a crisis situation.

Using these two messages, propagandists want to shift the responsibility for the actions of the Russians to Ukraine, looking for various excuses and explanations for undermining the dam.

3. Nothing happens in the temporarily occupied territories, everything is under control

The so-called leaders of the temporarily occupied territories, not far from the dam, report that the situation there is normal, and the so-called local authorities keep everything under control. Like, no flooding will occur, evacuation is also not planned.

Taking into account the fact that most of the settlements in the temporarily occupied territories are threatened with flooding due to explosions, such positioning is cynical and looks like a disregard for the lives of civilians. In addition, in this way Russia shows its true attitude towards the threat of an ecological catastrophe caused by undermining.

4. Ukraine is in a panic, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will soon burst

While, according to propagandists, “everything is calm in Russia”, Ukraine is panicking. Like, drinking water is already being bought up in Kryvyi Rih, and Ukrainian officials are allegedly talking about the critical state of the threat to the ZNPP, which could cause it to break out.

Such reports about the situation with drinking water in Kryvyi Rih can only be found in anonymous channels with pro-Russian rhetoric. In addition, Energoatom officially announced that the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP, although it is an additional threat to the ZNPP, is currently under control, since water for cooling the plant is used from internal storage facilities. Local authorities of territories in the flood zone organize the evacuation of civilians and provide support.

Using these two messages, propagandists want to play on a false contrast and show Ukraine in a worse light than Russia. They say that in Ukraine they only panic and neglect their lives, while Russia calmly saves people. However, in reality, the situation is the opposite - the Russians are silent about the scale of the threat, and the Ukrainians are trying to cope with the consequences of the explosion.

Propagandists are spreading a video on social networks, which allegedly depicts the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi in a national outfit. They claim that this is what it looks like after surgery to treat head injuries. It's fake.

Analysts of the MythDetector project drew attention to it. They found out that the video was created using a deepfake, where Zaluzhnyi's face was superimposed on an already published video of a Ukrainian blogger. In addition, propagandists previously distributed photoshopped images that allegedly show damage to the head of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This information has already been repeatedly refuted by videos and photographs showing Zaluzhnyi without injuries.

Thus, propagandists are trying to personally discredit Valerii Zaluzhnyi and cause panic among Ukrainians. Detector Media has recently repeatedly denied reports of the “death” of Zaluzhnyi.

Information is being disseminated on social networks that postcards with xenophobic overtones are being distributed in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The first postcard reads: “Pure blood means a healthy nation. If you hate Russians, bulbash (Belorussians), Tatars, Gypsies, Psheks (Poles) and other shit, join us. Harvest time has come!”. The second shows several dates, namely: the birthday of Adolf Hitler, the birthday of Stepan Bandera, the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the clash between supporters of Euromaidan and Anti-Maidan in Odesa in 2014, and the day of the explosion on the Crimean bridge. At the end of this postcard is written “your time for exploits” and the year 2023 is mentioned. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. Experts analyzed the text of the leaflets and found out that they correspond to the stereotypical image of a Ukrainian Nazi and contain a number of inaccuracies indicating that the text was created by foreigners without knowledge of the local context. In addition, analysts have not found publications with postcards in Ukrainian resources. Messages with them were published only by Russian propagandists and Polish-language anti-Ukrainian resources. Additionally, experts checked the photo postcards through FotoForensics and found out that some of them had images added using software. Moreover, on the postcards you can see photos with Azov fighters and members of the Centuria organization, but they did not spread the hate speech contained in the postcard.

Thus, propagandists are trying to justify the war against Ukraine and reinforce stereotypes about Ukrainians. In addition, they want to discredit the Ukrainian armed forces and Ukrainian civil society. However, by creating such fakes, Russians reinforce their own xenophobic beliefs, which is adjacent to the ideology of Nazism.

Moscow is trying in every possible way to show that it has not experienced any economic or social consequences of its aggression. Like, the country is flourishing, no sanctions are working, the economy is growing, the unemployment rate is falling - “everything is stable”.

“Stability” is often referred to by both Russian “politicians” and propagandists. The latter argue that everything in Russia is much better than expected: food prices are lower and utilities are not exorbitantly priced. But in Ukraine it’s completely different: people are not respected, guaranteed payments are taken from them, and in general, Ukrainians live on meager salaries. Such messages have several objectives: to demoralize the Ukrainians as  they say that Ukraine will not survive the war against Russia, so it is better to surrender immediately; to paint a positive picture for Russians so that they do not criticize the impact of a full-scale war on their own lives; to prove to the Ukrainians that it is economically beneficial to be with Russia.

When politicians talk about “stability” in Russia, they most often turn to the Russians themselves, convincing them that the country continues to prosper. So Russian propaganda seeks to ensure the loyalty of citizens to the government. For example, during the plenary meeting of the Eurasian Economic Forum on May 24, dictator Putin argued that the EU's GDP is declining to critically low levels, while Russia's is only increasing. Of course, this is not true.

Propaganda tries to pass off wishful thinking. Indeed, according to the conclusions of the Council of the European Union, 2022 has become bad for the Russian economy. According to experts, in 2022, Russia's gross domestic product fell by at least 2.2% in the best scenario and to 3.9% in the worst case. And many studies prove that sanctions really destroy the Russian economy. One can also mention the level of wages, social well-being. However, the real figures are hidden by the Russian leadership, masquerading as “stability”, which is indeed the stagnation of many areas of Russian life.