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 22 December, on the 1032th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2602
Fake
774
Manipulation
753
Message
541
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake "Six reasons why Ukraine shall not join NATO"

A video with the same title is circulating online. Its author is allegedly the European Security & Defense College, an EU body that provides training in the field of general security. The video says that the EU will allegedly be forced to stop the reform of "green" energy, since the funds provided will be used to restore Ukraine; it will pay for assistance to Ukraine from NATO at the expense of state medical programs, fight the growing Ukrainian corruption.

It is not true.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, European Security & Defense College is not the author of this video. Also the claims that are circulating in the video are false. Ukraine's accession to NATO and accession to the EU are not interrelated processes. NATO includes not only EU countries. Therefore, the authors of the video manipulate causal relationships.

The Center emphasizes that all information, even the one published by allegedly well-known Western institutions, requires careful verification.

Message The history of Odesa will be rewritten, "displacing and changing" its unique flavor to the "new Ukrainian" reality

Anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. The message is confirmed by the alleged decision to dismantle the monument to Catherine II. Reports claim that the decision was made on the basis of a "fictitious" vote. Like, the Office of the President gave a clear instruction to the mayor of Odesa, Trukhanov, to demolish the monument, so that the latter is allegedly doing everything possible for this.

In fact, the monument is called the monument to the "Founders of Odesa", and not Catherine herself. However, it is the figure of Catherine whose stone statue is the central figure of the monument that Russian propaganda manipulates the most. The Russian myth about Catherine II as the “founder of Odesa” is spread by Volodymyr Putin among other things.

There is no decision on dismantling yet. On the website of the President of Ukraine, several petitions have been registered regarding the future fate of this monument. Some of them got the required 25,000 votes. According to the current legislation, Volodymyr Zelenskyi submitted a petition to the Odesa City Council with a request to consider it in accordance with its competence.

According to the order of the Odesa Mayor No. 404 dated September 20, 2022, the townspeople had the opportunity to express their opinion on this issue for a month. There were seven options to choose from. About 8 thousand inhabitants of Odesa took part in the voting. About 1800 more votes were blocked, most likely due to problems with identification. The voting results were transferred to the Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Odesa city council for further development and preparation of a draft decision of the city council.

Fake Ukraine prepares law on "association of Poland and Lviv oblast"

Russian information resources and social networks are circulating reports that Ukraine is allegedly going to sign a bill on the association of Poland and the Lviv region. The messages allegedly quote Volodymyr Zelenskyi saying that “Poland will come to Ukrainian land not as an occupier, but as a brother and ally” and that “it doesn’t matter who formally is the host of the land, what matters is the well-being and prosperity of the people living on it” . It is not true.

There is no draft law on the association of Poland and the Lviv oblast. Zelenskyi's quote was also made up. At the same time, there is a law in Ukraine that establishes the rights and guarantees for Polish citizens who are on the territory of Ukraine. The law was developed in gratitude to the Polish people for their solidarity and support for Ukraine in the face of a full-scale Russian invasion.

Manipulation US troops are fighting in Ukraine

In social networks, they write that supposedly the US military is already on the territory of Ukraine. Social media users write that Biden is allegedly “approaching World War III” or “risking the lives of Americans to launder taxpayer dollars to enrich himself, his family and his corrupt allies”. This is manipulation.

In fact, US military personnel are checking the delivery and distribution of weapons in Ukraine. There is no evidence of the presence of combat forces in the country, Reuters fact-checkers note. During a November 1 press briefing, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder provided details on US military personnel in Ukraine. He said small teams of embassy personnel conduct "inspections" and provide security assistance. Their mission is to “track the US-provided weapons and prevent their illegal distribution throughout Eastern Europe”. Ryder also said that this should not be taken as an escalation of U.S. involvement in the war noting in particular that U.S. personnel "are not going to operate on the front lines".

Manipulation The notebook made in 2021 indicated in advance the date of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

In the Georgian segment of social networks, a video is being circulated in which they open a notebook with Ukrainian symbols and show that on the page with the date February 26 it is noted that this is the “Day of the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine”. The author of the video also emphasizes that the notebook was made in 2021, and the full-scale invasion of Russia began in 2022. As a result, they note that this notebook confirms that the Russian attack on Ukraine was pre-planned by the West. This is manipulation.

In fact, the notebook notes the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea on February 26, 2014, and not the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. So, the videos distributed on social networks are manipulation, probably counted on ignorance of the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations. The Georgian fake checkers from MythDetector drew attention to the spread of the fake.

Manipulation Anti-government rallies were held in Prague, in particular against support for Ukraine

Last week, the third demonstration in the last two months took place in the Czech Republic, organized by the ultra right, the Communist Party and fringe groups. Among the demands of the protesters: to start negotiations with Russia on the purchase of gas. To do this, they believe, it is necessary to cancel sanctions and stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine. They also demand to ensure the status of neutrality, that is, withdrawal from NATO and the EU. More than 100,000 Czechs took part in these protests, organizers say. This is manipulation.

In fact, eyewitnesses say that this demonstration was the weakest, with no more than 10-20 thousand people taking part in it. According to the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project, according to the results of the poll, 8 out of 10 Czechs do not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, in support of Ukraine, many more demonstrators once again come out to Prague squares than to pro-Russian rallies. These actions are held under the slogans "Czech Republic against fear" and "We can cope".

Anti-government rallies in the Czech Republic are organized by pro-Russian leaders. One of them is Ladyslav Vrabel, known as "an ardent admirer of Putin." The day before, he noted the need to go to Moscow and conclude gas agreements. Vrabel repeatedly gave interviews to Russian propaganda media and rejoiced at pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The action was filmed by Czech videographer Zharko Yovanovich who previously worked on the Russian army TV channel “Zviezda” (Star).

The Czech government has already taken action to deal with the crisis by capping energy prices and launching broad support for families and individuals struggling with rising gas prices. The government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala is taking a hard line on the Russian invasion and is an important partner for Ukraine. The Czech Parliament declared the Russian regime a terrorist one. Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov announced more than 50 projects with the participation of the Czech Republic to strengthen the Ukrainian army.

Fake 3D graffiti with Volodymyr Zelenskyi made in Warsaw

In Russian telegram channels and social networks, a picture is being distributed that depicts 3D graffiti with Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Allegedly, it was committed on one of the central streets of the Polish capital. The caption is added to the picture: “They found “a black hole” named after Zelenskyi in Warsaw”. This picture is fake.

To create a fake, they used an old photo for repairs at the intersection of Złota and John Paul II streets in Warsaw. According to Ukrinform, residents of the district have not seen such graffiti. Local authorities did not receive any signals from residents about its appearance. Ukrinform also received a photo with a real view of the intersection, taken on the evening of November 4.

The source of the fake was the telegram channel of the Russian TV channel. This image appeared there on November 3rd. Further, for distribution, they used a small telegram channel “11 lipca (July 11), which is in Polish. It was created on July 2, 2022, on the eve of the annual celebration in Poland of the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy on July 11. From there, the fake was spread by telegram channels of Russian propagandists. Also, the picture was distributed by pro-Russian Twitter users to the English-speaking audience.

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.