Spilnota Detector Media
Detector Media collects and documents real-time chronicles of the Kremlin disinformation about the Russian invasion. Ukraine for decades has been suffering from Kremlin disinformation. Here we document all narratives, messages, and tactics, which Russia is using from February 17th, 2022. Reminder: the increasing of shelling and fighting by militants happened on the 17th of February 2022 on the territory of Ukraine. Russian propaganda blames Ukraine for these actions.

On 19 September, on the 938th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2395
Fake
732
Manipulation
713
Message
508
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Newspeak How Russia blurs reality with the help of the newspeak: “intervention by outsiders”

When freight trains involved in military logistics derail on Russian railways, official reports often say it is the result of “intervention by outsiders”. Thus, with just three words, railway workers in Russia are distorting Russians’ perception of news about accidents. Indeed, in fact, often the reasons for the derailment of freight trains used for military purposes are attacks by Ukrainian drones or the work of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

For example, on May 14, 2024, pro-Kremlin media, citing Russian railway workers, stated that in the Volgograd region, due to “interference by outsiders” in the operation of railway transport, freight train cars derailed. However, the real cause of the accident was precisely the attack of Ukrainian UAVs, and not abstract sabotage. As a result, at least nine fuel tanks derailed, two of which caught fire and one exploded.

Also, when 19 freight train cars derailed in the Riazan region in November 2023, the official channel of the Moscow Railway wrote that the reason for this was nothing more than “interference by outsiders”. In fact, the accident at that time was caused by the Ukrainian GUR in order to complicate the logistics of Russian troops in the area. But there is not a word about this in official communications.

So, every time pro-Kremlin sources resort to rhetoric about “intervention by outsiders” in the operation of the railway, they seek to hide the real cause of the accidents. According to the logic of federal propaganda, ordinary Russians should not think that incidents on Russian railways are an echo of a real war (and not the so-called “special military operation”), which has already come to the territory of Russia itself.

Message Ukrainian soldiers “mock” women and take them “prisoner”

In the Polish segment of social networks, they are distributing photos of Ukrainian fighters and adding that “Zelenskyi lied when he said that women would not be at the front, they would be mobilized en masse and even mocked at them”. Actually, in support of this thesis they add photos of women practicing certain exercises while lying down.

It turned out that these were photos from training, created by photographer and correspondent Andrii Dubchak. That is, the photographs are real and there are fighters in them, although no one is “bullying” at them; they are training to perform further combat missions.

Previously, we explained the message that they were supposedly recruiting women “massively” from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because the men were “already tired”. And now Moscow is trying to work on this topic by demonstrating the negative attitude of the Ukrainian leadership towards its citizens. Allegedly, both women and men are already being recruited to the front. But there is nothing wrong with women expressing their own desire to serve. Kremlin propaganda presents such a situation as forced and irreversible: as if the Ukrainian leadership is ready to “recruit” everyone so that there is someone to fight. Although this is all the absolute will of the citizens.

Women can be drafted into the army only with voluntary consent, that is, forced mobilization is prohibited. Cases of forced mobilization of women were not recorded even before the adoption of the relevant law. Moreover, the situation of a child being left without guardianship, since both parents have been mobilized, is simply impossible. Indeed, according to the law, persons who have a minor child/children and a spouse who is already serving in military service are not subject to mobilization.

Fake The children's hospital in Kramatorsk will allegedly be repurposed into a military hospital, a document

Kremlin telegram channels are distributing a photo of an order allegedly from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated July 15, 2024. With reference to the decision of the Ministry of Defense, the document writes about the reformatting of the children's hospital in Kramatorsk into a military hospital for soldiers and their families. As a result, the admission of children will allegedly be prohibited.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and found that the so-called order was forged, as indicated by numerous errors. For example, in the first sentence, the authors of the “document” did not agree on the words. In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not publish any orders on July 4, 2024. The press service of the Ministry of Defense also did not report the orders of July 4.

The Russians also made a mistake in the number of the document itself, since the Ministry of Health of Ukraine issued the last order number 476 on March 20, 2024. The document is related to amendments to the Ministry’s Action Plan for the preparation of draft regulatory acts for 2024. In original orders, the signature of an authorized person, for example, the Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko, must be at the bottom.

Fake Romania allegedly “reported” on the “failed training” of Ukrainian pilots, document

The Russian media is disseminating a fake report from the Romanian Ministry of National Defense about the allegedly “failed training” of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. This document states that they were able to train only 3 pilots out of 50. The reasons for this low rate are given as “inability to learn English” and “alcohol consumption”.

“The Romanian Ministry of Defense prepared a report in which it recognized problems in the results of training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters... Also noted is the careless attitude of Ukrainians to training, reluctance to study English and a drop in athletic performance due to weight gain and alcohol consumption”, the publications added .

StopFake analysts investigated this case and found that the Romanian Ministry of National Defense denied the existence of a report on the failed training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. Russian propaganda created a fake document using fragments of this report, making a number of mistakes.

The department added that the fake document also states that the training of Ukrainian pilots was allegedly carried out at the European F-16 training center at the airbase in the city of Feteshte. But, as the Ministry clarified, this is also an “absolute lie”, since only Romanian pilots have studied at the center.

Message In Paris, they don’t want to rent apartments to Ukrainians “even for an additional fee”

A screenshot of an advertisement from the popular Airbnb rental service is being circulated on social networks, in which they note that apartments are not rented out to Ukrainians “even for additional rent”.

“Paris no longer wants to rent housing to Ukrainians”, they write in propaganda publications.

StopFake analysts took on the case and determined that the ad photos were compiled using graphic editors. But in the real advertisement on the website there was no mention of Ukrainians.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research. Since the beginning of the big war in Ukraine, Russian propaganda has been trying to discredit refugees who were forced to leave Ukraine in order to save their lives. Propagandists regularly spread fake news about them; call refugees dependents; they claim that they went abroad not for safety, but for profit; they convince that residents of countries that have accepted Ukrainian refugees are dissatisfied with the behavior of Ukrainians. Propagandists need this in order to stake out the opinion that Ukrainians are pagans who do not value the help provided to them by residents of other countries; take advantage of the kindness of people in other countries.

Fake A Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee allegedly threatened the woman over the phone to take her away along with her “evader - husband”

Russian telegram channels are distributing a video of a “telephone conversation” between a woman and an alleged Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee. In the video, during a conversation, a Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee threatens a woman to take her away along with her “evader -  husband”.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and found out that this video was staged. The author of the video did not provide any information about the Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee who called, his phone number or a Territorial center of recruitment and social support address.

Previously, we explained the message that they were allegedly recruiting women “massively” from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because the men were “already tired”. And now Moscow is trying to work on this topic by demonstrating the negative attitude of the Ukrainian leadership towards its citizens. Allegedly, both women and men are already being recruited to the front. But there is nothing wrong with women expressing their own desire to serve. Kremlin propaganda presents such a situation as forced and irrevocable: as if the Ukrainian leadership is ready to “recruit” everyone so that there is someone to fight. Although this is all the absolute will of the citizens.

Orest Slyvenko, Artur Koldomasov, Vitalii Mykhailiv, Oleksandra Kotenko, Oleksandr Siedin, Kostiantyn Zadyraka, and Oleksiy Pivtorak are collaborating on this chronicle. Lesia Bidochko serves as the project coordinator, while Ksenia Ilyuk is the author of the project.