Russians show disdain for their neighbors, including through the use of state names. We wrote about the name “Moldavia”, and another example of this is the name Belarus.

Belarus is the Soviet name for the Belarusian SSR, which was part of the USSR. After the collapse of the Russian Union, the official name of the former Russian republic became the Republic of Belarus.

Now the Republic of Belarus is one of the most loyal states of the former socialist camp and the USSR to Russia. And the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Oleksandr Lukashenko, continues to bring his state’s policies closer to the interests of Russia. This rapprochement was even recorded in the 1999 international treaty on the gradual merger of Russia and Belarus into one “union state”.

In Belarus, Lukashenko's opponents use the term “Belarusia” to name the country where Lukashenko rules. And “Belarus” is used to designate a country without Lukashenko. In particular, many Belarusians are offended by the use of the Sovietized name “Belarus”, as they perceive it as a slight.

Using this term, propagandists want to emphasize the subjectivity of the policy of the self-proclaimed Belarusian president and once again remind that it is Russia that leads Belarus.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric disseminate information that “most likely, the strike was carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in order to beg for more weapons”. Volodymyr Zelenskyi allegedly decided to “put pressure on Blinken”. They also call Kostiantynivka a “large village”. It's fake.

The case was studied by fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. On September 6, 2023, the Russian military shelled the city of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region. As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, as a result of a missile attack by Russians on a market in Kostiantynivka, 16 people were killed and 33 were injured.

During a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Matte Frederiksen in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyi emphasized: “This is yet another deliberate terrorist attack by the Russian Federation”. He also commented on Russian statements about an allegedly Ukrainian plane that “got to the wrong place”: “This is an absolute lie. We understand what is happening there and what types (of weapons) they hit us with”.

Russian propaganda is trying to shift responsibility for the actions of the Russians onto the Ukrainians, saying that it was Ukraine itself that launched a missile strike on Kostiantynivka, in order to intimidate the citizens of our state. Also, in this way, Russian propagandists intend to encourage Ukrainians to put pressure on the authorities to stop the counter-offensive or demand peace negotiations. Earlier we wrote that the Russians disseminated information that the missile attack on Kostiantynivka was allegedly carried out by the Ukrainian military.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing the cover of the supposedly French publication Franc-Tireur with the headline “The House That Zelenskyi Built”. It depicts Volodymyr Zelenskyi standing at the door of the building, and the bloody bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. It's fake.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation. There is no edition with this cover, and the cover of issue 95 looks different on the magazine's website.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Russian propagandists systematically publish fake covers of famous foreign publications to show that the West is allegedly laughing at Ukraine, and Zelenskyi is to blame for the war because he does not want to stop it. Previously, we refuted the fake news that the American publication Chronicles published a cover story about Russia’s superiority over Ukraine in aviation.

Ukrainian users of the Signal application, popular among military personnel, receive messages calling for them to surrender. Allegedly, according to a certain frequency, the Ukrainian military can voluntarily choose life.

The case was studied by fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. Russian propaganda has monkeyed with the Ukrainian project ”I Want to Live”, which appeared in 2022 thanks to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, where Russians can surrender. The Red Cross and the media have access to the prison camp in Ukraine, and it meets the standards of the Geneva Convention.

However, Ukrainians in captivity are tortured and subjected to psychological violence, and international organizations do not have access to their places of detention. The Russians also commit mass murder. As the Main Intelligence Directorate reported, “On July 28, a powerful explosion occurred on the territory of the former correctional colony No. 120 in the city of Olenivka in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, which is now used as a detention center for Ukrainian prisoners of war”. As a result, Ukrainian prisoners died. As of July 28, 2023, of the 59 returned bodies of dead people, 52 have been identified.

Rusian propaganda is trying to divert attention and deflect responsibility for the torture, mistreatment and murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war, saying that they created all the conditions for a safe surrender. Previously, we refuted the fake news that Azov commander Denis “Redis” Prokopenko was captured again.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that Volodymyr Zelenskyi staged a circus by arresting Ihor Kolomoiskyi. This is happening to show Ukrainians that no one is untouchable, to show Russians that there is real democracy in Ukraine, and to show citizens of the United States and Europe that Ukraine is fighting corruption. “The showmen of the Kyiv regime are organizing a circus for the poor and poorly educated”, the text says. It is not true.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the EUvsDiSiNFO project.

Russian propaganda is trying to discredit ongoing anti-corruption measures in Ukraine so that the country receives EU membership. The arrests and release of well-known people in Ukraine, in particular the oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi, are one of such measures as part of this campaign.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and ridicule the President of Ukraine, appealing to his past as a comedian. The ongoing anti-corruption initiatives refute the narrative of Russian propagandists that Ukraine is the most corrupt state. Previously, we explained the message that international support for Ukraine is being reduced due to corruption.

Russian propaganda media are disseminating information that the largest mobilization is taking place in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. Russian propaganda notes that this is genocide - under the pretext of conflict, the Russian-speaking population is destroyed, but sometimes they are forced to mobilize residents of western Ukraine. It is not true.

EUvsDiSiNFO fact-checkers drew attention to the case. There are no facts or evidence that mobilization in Ukraine is aimed at the Russian-speaking population. The idea that Ukraine is committing genocide of its own population is promoted in his speeches by Volodymyr Putin. However, there is no evidence to support this in the reports of the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OSCE.

It is Russia that attacks Ukrainian cities where many Ukrainians live who use the Russian language, such as Odesa or Kharkiv.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to sow discord between the Russian-speaking population and the Ukrainian-speaking population, to divide them and discredit the authorities. Also, Russian propagandists are trying to shift responsibility for the crimes of Russians onto Ukrainians.