The public of Georgia actively opposes the adoption in the first reading of the law “On the transparency of foreign influence”, called the “Russian law”. It is considered analogous to the notorious ban on “foreign agents” in Russia, which actually suppressed the already weak voices of the opposition and ruled out the possibility of the presence of international monitoring missions inside the country. The law, adopted by the Georgian Parliament on March 7, 2023, provides for the creation of a register of “agents of foreign influence”. The authorities will create a special open database of organizations and individuals if the share of foreign investments in their activities is at least 20%. The Ministry of Justice will have the right to “observe” the work of potential “foreign agents” and receive the necessary information, including personal data. It is noteworthy that the voting was held in violation of the rules of parliament without public discussion. There is still a second and third reading, but since the law has the support of the ruling Georgian Dream party, the parliament will probably approve the document.

The law marginalizes key international organizations that monitor rights and freedoms in Georgia. This is exactly what happened in Russia after the adoption of the relevant law in 2012. Also, due to the adoption of the law, funding for opposition media, whose work is supported from abroad, will potentially decrease. In addition, the adoption of the law may indicate the actual departure from the European integration course, which Georgia announced together with Moldova and Ukraine (Associated Trio). The law could deal a blow to the Georgian economy. Georgian entrepreneurs are being helped by a European program to support traditional small and medium-sized businesses (for example, in the distilling industry), and the new law will put this program in jeopardy.

The state has come to the so-called “Yanukovych crossroads”, when society and the authorities have diametrically opposed visions of Georgia’s development, and contradictions peaked after the missed chance for EU membership in July 2022. Against the backdrop of these upheavals, a number of messages appeared on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric aimed at discrediting the Georgian protest movement. We consider them in more detail below.

The events in Georgia are the beginning of the “color revolution”, the “beautiful life” will soon come, as happened in Ukraine. The term “color revolutions” refers to the most civilized disintegration of the 20th century - the “velvet divorce” of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where, as a result of the bloodless and democratic Velvet Revolution, the post-communist elites of both parts of Czechoslovakia headed for independence, announced a transition from socialist relations. Currently, “colored” or “velvet” refers to peaceful protests that result in certain political changes. Despite the non-violent nature of the protests, Russian propaganda interprets such revolutions negatively, they mark a departure from the communist course, the dismantling of the socialist system and the transition to democratic governance. Propaganda uses this term in a negative sense, assuring that such protests advocate false values. The mention of Ukraine in a disparaging way reproduces the narrative of condemning the Revolution of Dignity and devaluing its positive consequences. Propaganda claims that due to the removal of Yanukovych from power and following a new pro-European course, the life of Ukrainians has worsened, so they “warn” the Georgians that if the protesters succeed, their society will expect the same thing. Yes, Ukraine had to endure a deep economic crisis in 2014, but at the same time managed to take a confident course towards Euro-Atlantic integration and strengthen its democracy. Russia is afraid of a “velvet divorce” with Georgia, because it does not want to lose it from its field of influence for a number of geopolitical and economic reasons.

Local “Sorosiata” (Soros’s supporters) are trying to prevent the cessation of foreign funding. This message discredits representatives of Georgian civil society who stood up for democracy and ascribes a far-fetched mercantile goal to their actions. The protests in Georgia are not about funding, but about protecting democracy and freedom of speech. Similar assessments were made about the events of the Euromaidan. It seems to be, in particular, a struggle for the opportunity to receive Western “handouts” and grants in exchange for sovereignty. With such statements, propagandists are trying to substitute  concepts, calling the struggle for values a struggle for money.

“Verkhniolarsivtsi” (Russins who fled to Georgia through the border crossing point “Verkhnii Lars”)  join the ranks of the protesters and chant anti-Russian slogans. With this neologism propagandists call Russians who fled to Georgia in order to avoid mobilization or to avoid reprisals for their anti-war position. In autumn, the line at the “Verkhnii Lars” checkpoint stretched for tens of kilometers, because there were hundreds of thousands of people who wanted to leave Russia. Propaganda claims that the “Verkhniolarsivtsi” have settled down well in their rented apartments, and having lost any sense of shame and dignity, these “traitors” went to the “Georgian Maidan” and chanted slogans insulting to Putin and chanted “Sa-kart-ve- lo”*. This message rather works for the internal Russian audience, forcing once again to condemn those who are hiding from the mobilization.

Local Georgian authorities are out of control. The US State Department is concerned about this fact, therefore it supports the protesters in every possible way, and wants to “calm down” the elite with their hands and direct it to the true path. This message is a classic reproduction of the “external control” narrative carried out by “Western curators” to please the US State Department and powerful international corporations. Propaganda assures: all the events of the Revolution of Dignity were orchestrated from the outside and successfully implemented by local actors from the “Soros structures”. Now Russian propaganda is convincing that the same thing is happening in Georgia: representatives of grant structures allegedly actively oppose the “legitimately elected” government, undermining its authority and the legality of its decisions. The purpose of this message is to disregard the sovereignty of Georgia, leveling the independence of decision-making and discrediting any actions of civil society.

* Sakartvelo is the name of Georgia, which is used by its inhabitants themselves. The name “Georgia” is used by Russia and 20 other states, including Ukraine; in most countries of the world, the name “George” (or its derivatives) is adopted. Against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with Russia and the Russian-Georgian war of 2008, official Tbilisi calls on other states to abandon the name “Georgia” in favor of Sakartvelo or “Heorhia”. Lithuania, Japan, Israel and South Korea have already abandoned the name “Georgia” in official documents.

Such messages are spread by Russian propaganda to foreign audiences. The reports refer to the words of the head of the Russian troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection, Ihor Kyrylov. He claims that “preparation for the crime is in full swing”." Like, psychotropic weapons have already been taken to the territory of Ukraine. In particular, sixteen hermetically sealed metal boxes were allegedly delivered to Kramatorsk in a railway carriage accompanied by foreigners, half of them had a chemical hazard sign BZ (Chinuclidil-3-benzilate). Also supposedly on the boxes there is a marking with two red lines, which corresponds to a certain class of toxic substances. It is not true.

EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of the fake. They note that Russia did not provide any evidence to support what was said. At the same time, such reports nourish Russian narratives about Ukraine's alleged use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons against Russia. Russian propaganda also recently spread reports that radioactive substances were brought to Ukraine for provocations against Russia.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, because if any of these types of weapons are used, civilians living near the front line are also at risk. The Russians intimidate Ukrainians and try to instill distrust in the Ukrainian authorities and partner states.

There are reports on the network that Nova Poshta has launched a drawing where it offers to take a survey and win 6,000 hryvnias “as a gift for Women's Day”.

VoxCheck fact-checkers checked the messages and found out that the company never hosts such events. The official website and Facebook page of “Nova Poshta” denied the message about the drawing.

The site referred to by the fraudsters does not belong to the Nova Poshta company. To convince users to take part in the draw, theн added “joyful” comments from those who had already allegedly won money. Nevertheless, these users resemble bots, because they have uncharacteristic names for Ukraine or significant grammatical errors can be noticed in the comments.

To “win a gift”, users must answer a few questions. These questions are also misspelled. After that, the user has the opportunity to win a cash gift from 3 attempts. The fact-checkers managed to “win” the money on the first try. To “receive a gift”, one needs to share the information about the draw in 5 groups or with 20 friends and complete the registration. After that, the site prompts you to enter the code and wait for the administrator to consider the application. However, when you try to enter the code, a third-party site opens, access to which is restricted.

Detector Media has repeatedly talked about such schemes, when users were offered to “win”: five thousand hryvnias of assistance from Ukrposhta and Nova Poshta, five thousand hryvnias of assistance from PrivatBank, six thousand hryvnias of “New Year's” assistance and so on.

Such messages are distributed in the Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels. They say that the trade turnover between Russia and the European Union at the end of 2022 reached a maximum in eight years, while the import of goods from Russia was at a historical maximum. Allegedly, this is confirmed by Eurostat data. This is manipulation.

The volume of trade actually increased, but the entire increase occurred at the beginning of the year, that is, before the start of a full-scale war. According to The Insider fact-checkers, immediately after the outbreak of the war, exports from EU countries fell sharply and have remained at about the same level since then. Imports of Russian goods in March were still at a high level (probably due to previously contracted supplies of raw materials), after which they began to decline, by May they had decreased to about last year's level and continued to fall until the end of the year. One of the main trends in EU trade policy has been to reduce dependence on Russian raw materials. For example, in 2021, about 45% of EU coal imports came from Russia, and in 2022 only about 13%. Russia's share in gas imports during the year decreased from 36% to 18%, oil - from 25% to 14%, fertilizers - from 29% to 16%.

By spreading such manipulations, Russian propaganda aims to show that European sanctions are ineffective and Russia is still a serious economic player.

Pro-Russian media and social media users are spreading information that Israel has allegedly banned the use of the Ukrainian flag at the legislative level. Like, for placing on cars, clothes, in the form of a tattoo or any other arbitrary images of the Ukrainian flag one will get a fine of ten thousand shekels equal to about three thousand dollars. It's fake.

In fact, there is no ban on the use of the Ukrainian flag or any other Ukrainian symbols in Israel. StopFake fact-checkers checked the legislation and found no confirmation of such reports there. The fact-checkers also sent a request to the Israeli Embassy in Ukraine for a comment. The Embassy assured that Israel has never prohibited and does not prohibit the demonstration of the Ukrainian flag.

Thus, Russian propaganda nourishes the narratives that Ukraine is losing international support. Earlier, they spread fakes that Ukrainian flags were banned from being used in a refugee center in Spain. They also wrote that allegedly Twitter restricts the use of the Ukrainian flag in the names of profiles.

The telegram channels distribute a video where supposedly teenagers (14-15 years old) load mortars, aim and shoot. The reports claim that the Ukrainian army does not hide the fact that teenagers are taking part in hostilities. It is not true.

In the video, distributed in telegram channels, one can see an adult soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine. StopFake fact-checkers checked the video using software and identified the military man. In personal correspondence, he provided fact-checkers with proof of his age - a passport photo.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the participation of Ukrainian children or teenagers in hostilities. In this way they use inhuman enemy tactics. Like, Ukrainians don't even feel sorry for their children. Periodically, they spread fakes about combat training or mobilization of teenagers.

Russian media spread information that Ukraine is allegedly ready to help Moldova stop destabilization in the country by military means. Like, in Ukraine “they do not exclude the invasion of Ukrainian troops in Transnistria”. Oleksii Danilov, a secretary of the National security and defense council of Ukraine, said this in his recent interview. This is manipulation.

Oleksii Danilov did not say that Ukraine is ready to provide military support to Moldova. It was not even about the fact that Ukraine is preparing an invasion of the temporarily occupied Transnistria. As the StopFake fact-checkers explain, they are talking about an interview given by the secretary of the National security and defense council on March 3, 2023. Oleksii Danilov answered the question whether Ukraine is ready, including by military means, to help Moldova if a corresponding request is received from President Maia Sandu. He said that such an appeal could be considered taking into account all ongoing processes and circumstances. The propagandists took these words out of context and gave them a different meaning.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to destabilize the situation in Moldova and discredit the cooperation between Ukraine and Moldova. Recently, the Russians circulated a document that supposedly confirms that Ukraine is preparing to attack Transnistria and claimed that Ukraine is dragging Moldova into the war.

The network quotes the representative of the Russian foreign ministry Mariia Zakharova. She believes that the world is “demonizing Russia”, carrying out “forced Ukrainization” and supporting the culture of abolishing everything Russian that exists. Zakharova calls the report on crimes against Ukrainian culture an attempt to “shield the Kyiv regime” and “infringe on the rights of Russian speakers”.

According to the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News”, in this way Zakharova reacted to the statement of UN experts regarding the destruction of Ukrainian identity by the Russians, published on the eve of the anniversary of a full-scale war. UN experts published a report in which they note that Russia continues to “denigrate the history and identity of the Ukrainian people to justify war and hatred”. It says that among the important cultural sites of Ukraine affected by the shelling are museums, libraries and churches.

From February 24, 2022 to March 1, 2023, UNESCO registered 245 cultural heritage sites of Ukraine that were damaged or destroyed due to the war unleashed by Russia. There are 106 religious sites, 20 museums, 88 historical and/or artistic buildings, 19 monuments, 12 libraries among them although they add: according to other sources, there may be about a thousand damaged objects.

According to the report, in Mariupol, Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne, historical buildings were destroyed for 90%. More than 10 thousand works of art were taken out of the Kherson Art Museum. In the Donetsk region, the invaders use burial mounds as field fortifications. The report also reminds that Russians have destroyed important cultural monuments in the temporarily occupied Crimea since 2014.

Thus, the Russians are trying to deprive Ukrainians of their historical and cultural heritage. Also, such messages feed the Russian narrative about the inferiority of Ukrainians. And the words of Zakharova are an example of the substitution of concepts: they say they destroy and devalue Russian culture, and not Ukrainian. Earlier, propagandists said that Ukraine was striking at its own cultural heritage, and the Kyiv totalitarian regime was waging a cultural war against Russia.