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 17 May, on the 813th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2151
Fake
693
Manipulation
649
Message
441
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Message Russia allegedly does not violate the UN Charter

Russian President Volodymyr Putin recently said that Russia has no partiality towards anyone in the UN and that its actions do not violate the UN Charter. However, this is not true.

This message was noticed by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. They recalled that on the day the full-scale invasion began, the war criminal stated that his actions were in accordance with the UN Charter. Later, he repeatedly justified the war in Ukraine, explaining it by the need to “protect the inhabitants of the people’s republics of Donbas”, which is one of the main narratives of Russian propaganda. The aggressor country constantly abuses its membership in the UN by blocking resolutions in support of world peace and stability.

Propagandists use such messages to provide validation for their actions. They say that the international community supports his actions. However, it is not. Detector Media has already written about how Russia uses international organizations to spread its propaganda, in particular the OSCE.

Disclosure Propagandists began to use more personal information of Ukrainian prisoners of war

The number of telegram channels and pages on social networks promising to help in the search for captured or missing Ukrainian military personnel has recently increased. It is indicated that to complete this task they contact relatives and friends with questions about personal data and other information. This information is subsequently used by propagandists.

Specialists from the “Beyond the News” project cited the answers of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War to the most common questions. In particular, one cannot share their phone number and other contacts, residential address, social media profiles, brigade number, unit location, as well as photographs, including images with comrades from the army, to strangers.

The dissemination of such information could lead to a deterioration in the situation of military personnel. If scammers can simply profit from someone else's misfortune, representatives of enemy intelligence services can manipulate or resort to blackmail.

The project specialists note that no one on social networks, such as Facebook or Telegram, will effectively search for your loved one. This work is performed professionally and free of charge only by specialists authorized by government agencies. A Road Map is available on the official website of the Prisoner of War Coordination Headquarters, which details what a family should do in cases where a family member is captured, missing, or killed.

Disclosure Turkish publication LeMan allegedly published a cover with a caricature of a dead Joe Biden

Propagandists are spreading images on social media of a purported cover of the Turkish satirical magazine LeMan, depicting a dead Biden and a calm Xi Jinping. Along with the illustration is a Turkish phrase: “If you sit by the river for a long time, you can see the body of your enemy floating by”. The reports came after Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping from November 15 to 17 in San Francisco, during which Joe Biden called him a dictator. However, this image is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that LeMan magazine had not published an issue with such a cover. It contains the following data - date and issue number: November 17, 2023, issue 45 since the beginning of the year, as well as another issue number - 1652. However, they did not find confirmation of this cover on the official LeMan pages on social networks. VoxCheck also checked to see if issue number 45 or 1652 was published on November 17th and found that LeMan had not published any new issues at that time. Issue number 45 (or 1652) did not appear until November 22 and had a different cover dedicated to living conditions in the hostels.

By spreading such fake news, propagandists want to create the impression that the foreign press is skeptical not only of the United States, but of the West as a whole. Creating false covers of foreign publications is a regular practice of Russian propagandists, as Detector Media has repeatedly written about. 

Fake The Office of the President of Ukraine allegedly transferred Ukrainian land to Soros' son for storing toxic waste

A number of netizens spreading pro-Russian rhetoric are disseminating information that Alexander, the son of the famous philanthropist George Soros, allegedly entered into an agreement with the Ukrainian authorities to allocate 400 sq. m. km of land for disposal of hazardous waste from chemical, pharmaceutical and oil refineries. It is noted that this information was allegedly exposed by an investigation by French journalist Jules Vincent. He showed two “documents” that supposedly confirm this agreement - a Memorandum on the provision of land to foreign companies, allegedly signed by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak on the one hand and Alexander Soros on the other, as well as the Decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on the allocation of land in Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi and Chernivtsi regions. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the information was first published by a user of the X network (formerly Twitter) under the nickname @VincentVinxent1. In his 6-minute video, this user, introducing himself as Jules Vincent, said that he was allegedly approached by a representative of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, who anonymously handed over documents to the “independent journalist” @VincentVinxent1, which, according to him, confirm the transfer Ukrainian black soil for storing hazardous waste to the Soros family StopFake analysts discovered that the French journalist Jules Vincent really exists, but the @VincentVinxent1 account probably belongs to someone else. On the Strategic Horizons website one can find a biography and photo of columnist Jules Vincent, who, according to him, worked as a documentarian and journalist. However, a comparison of the photos shows that the people in the photos on the site and on Network X are different. A reverse search of @VincentVinxent1's profile photo yielded no positive results. It is also surprising that the “independent journalist” page consists mainly of retweets. So far, it has existed since September 2018, but there are only seven of its own publications, and all of them are without curse words or retweets. In addition, 1,129 accounts subscribed to the profile, a significant number of which are bots.

As for the information about the transfer of land to the Soros family, which is disseminated by this profile, it is not true. Documents distributed online are forgeries. The Decree of the President of Ukraine on the transfer of land plots to American companies shows that the document was supposedly signed on November 13, 2023 and has number No. 603/2023. However, such a document was not found on the website of the President of Ukraine, where all decrees are published. There is also a gross error in the spelling of the Ternopil region and insignificant differences in spelling. In addition, the “document” contains a mention of Part 1 of Article 116 of the Land Code of Ukraine, which does not correspond to reality. This part of the article provides for the transfer of the right to use a land plot by the President of Ukraine. Also, according to Ukrainian legislation, foreigners and foreign companies cannot purchase agricultural land.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to strengthen the myth of Ukraine’s subjectivity. They say that the Ukrainian authorities do not care about the rights of Ukrainians, they do not own their territory, and therefore they distribute it to their leaders. Russian media regularly spread disinformation about the Soros family, which was refuted by the Detector Media.

Manipulation The first teenager from an orphanage mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly died in the war

Propagandists are disseminating information that the first mobilized teenager from an orphanage died during the fighting. In these messages they refer to statements by the “director of the orphanage” Olesia Chykel. Together with them, they used a real photo of the deceased Ukrainian soldier. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the picture shows a native of the village of Oselia, Yavoriv district, Lviv region, 26-year-old Volodymyr Sachala. On December 2, information about the death of a Ukrainian serviceman and an obituary dedicated to him appeared on the official page of the Yavoriv City Council on Facebook. It was these photos that the propagandists used. In addition, there is no evidence in the original publication of the Yavoriv City Council that the Ukrainian defender is a minor child of an orphanage who was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Official information notes that after graduating from the Ivano-Frankivsk School in 2017, Volodymyr Sachala joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Over time, he was demobilized and returned to civilian life. In January 2023, Volodymyr again joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and served with the 24th Mechanized Infantry Brigade named after King Danylo. At the end of November, Volodymyr Sachala received injuries incompatible with life as a result of Russian mortar attacks. On December 4, the deceased defender was taken home.

In a comment for StopFake, Olesia Chykel, whom propaganda media called the “director of the orphanage”, also categorically denied the Russian reports. According to her, she is the administrator of a patriotic Ukrainian group on Facebook, where on December 2 she posted an official message from the Yavoriv City Council about the death of fighter Volodymyr Sachala. Russian media immediately picked up the post, but cut off the text of the message and came up with information about the “deceased orphanage resident”.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to reinforce the myth of Ukraine as a powerless state. They say everything is so bad at the front that children have to fight. However, in reality there is no mobilization of minors in Ukraine. Detector Media has already repeatedly refuted the fabrications of Russian agitprop on the topic of mobilization.

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.