Telegram channels, which are administered from Russia by employees of information and psychological special operations structures, are spreading lies about an alleged offensive toward Odesa and Mykolaiv. The speaker of the Odesa regional military administration, Sergei Bratchuk, said this on Facebook.

"So, everything goes to the fact that after the Donbass it will move towards Mykolaiv-Odesa. And then there will be a mess..." - promise the authors of the fake. Bratchuk notes that the purpose of another "throwing in" of the Russians about the alleged Russian offensive on South Palmyra after the fighting in the Donetsk and Lugansk direction is nothing but an attempt to disorient Ukrainians, sow panic, dissuade citizens and cover their own defeats from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"As you know, in the East of our state, the Armed Forces of Ukraine rejected the enemies in the Kharkiv direction, conduct successful combat operations in the Zaporozhye direction, deter the Rashists in the Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Luhansk directions. The enemy simply does not have the forces and opportunities for active operations in the south," says Serhiy Bratchuk.

Pro-Kremlin media actively spread the opinion that the temporarily occupied cities of Ukraine are preparing to celebrate Victory Day openly for the first time in many years and that the St. George Ribbon is becoming increasingly popular among the local population, especially among children. A video circulated on social networks shows a Victory volunteer in Mariupol tying a St. George's ribbon to children's clothes and asking what it means. The girl replies: "It's beautiful" and says that she has never worn such ribbons before.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmila Denisova reported that in Melitopol, temporarily occupied by Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia, children are forced to wear St. George ribbons and learn poems about the war. "From the media it became known that in the occupied Melitopol of Zaporozhye region forced children to wear St. George ribbons and learn poems about the war. Such actions are committed by school principals cooperating with the occupation troops," she stressed. According to Denisova, teachers distribute children's thematic drawings and videos of schoolchildren reciting poems about the war with St. George ribbons on their chests online. There is information that this is happening without parental consent. The ombudsman stressed that school is one of the means of educating a child, the formation of the worldview, which is continuously connected with the upbringing in the family. According to her, "this imposition of the racist ideology in educational institutions is aimed at destroying the Ukrainian identity in the minds of children". Denisova stressed that these actions of the Russian invaders are a violation of Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This document stipulates that the education of a child should be aimed at fostering respect for the child's parents, cultural identity, language and national values of the country in which the child resides, his country of origin. The above is direct evidence of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

According to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, the "St. George's Ribbon" is an element of Russian propaganda. The formation of the symbol "St. George's Ribbon" has a long and complicated history. It first appeared on the Order of St. George, founded in 1769 by Empress Ekaterina II. The Order became the highest military award of the Russian Empire and was given to officers for special courage in battle. Later, a whole set of awards associated with St. George was formed: the Order, the medal, the cross and the flag. They were accompanied by the St. George ribbon, which, according to official statutes, consisted of three black and two yellow stripes. It was also allowed to use orange instead of yellow.

The most likely version is that the gamma of the ribbon was taken from the black-yellow-white flag of the Russian Empire. Another version is that the color symbolizes the fire and smoke, which emphasizes its military nature. Read more here.

In 2015, instead of the "St. George's Ribbon" as a symbol of remembrance of victory and honoring the victims of World War II, Ukrainians were suggested to use the red poppy flower. Striped black and yellow ribbon in the perception of Ukrainians became a negative symbol, which is associated with danger and terrorism. Since 2015. On May 8 and 9, Ukraine celebrates Memorial and Reconciliation Day and Victory Day over Nazism in World War II. The traditional slogan of these commemorative days "We Remember - We Win!" this year is somewhat modified at the state level and sounds like "We defeated the Nazis - let's defeat the Rashists too!.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced provocations from Ukraine on May 8 that the "Kiev regime" was allegedly preparing to fire Tochka-U missiles at crowds of people in the Lviv and Volyn regions. This "announcement" was disseminated by the Russian media, in particular the propaganda publication RIA Novosti. Of course, according to the Russian version, Kiev "plans to carry out another sophisticated provocation with the deaths of civilians to further accuse the Russian armed forces of indiscriminate missile strikes," and they add that "as it was at the train station in Kramatorsk.".

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy urges residents not to succumb to Russian provocations and not to leave the city. "Never trust Muscovite news, reports and telegram channels. Let's agree that for us there are none," Sadovy stressed. "There is no need to leave the city anywhere. Don't waste fuel. Better take care of shelter in case of an alarm," he added. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President, stressed that Ukrainians should be very careful on May 9 because of the threat of shelling and provocations by the Russian occupiers. "I do not expect such unconventional, which can create certain panic moods. I expect the behavior of a classic Russian. It is to stab one in the back. In this case, to throw another extra missile on some peaceful city of ours," he said in an interview for Radio NV.

Read more here about how Russian propaganda applies the methods, tested after the 2014 downing of the Malaysian Boeing to the story of the shelling of the Kramatorsk train station.

Russian propagandists claimed that Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol allegedly surrendered. "Azov" fighters explained that the white flag near the Azovstal plant is used to evacuate citizens , that the defenders surrendered into captivity, the Telegram reported.

"Attention!" information is spreading from some Internet sources that the defenders of Mariupol came out to the Russian military with a white flag. In reality, white flags are used by both groups to implement the plan to evacuate civilians. This time, both groups used such flags to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal plant. We would like to note that this procedure has been carried out for the fourth time," Azov fighters said. As reported, on May 6, during the ceasefire on the territory of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, the Russian invaders used an anti-tank missile system and drove up a vehicle moving towards civilians. As a result of the shelling, one fighter was killed and six were wounded.

On May 6, the operation to evacuate people from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works continued - 50 people managed to be evacuated. Today, May 7, the evacuation continues. Russia's aggression has caused one of the greatest humanitarian disasters in Mariupol. The invaders are bombing unarmed residents and blocking humanitarian aid. The Azov Regiment, National Guard, Ukrainian Marines, and motorized riflemen continue to defend Mariupol.

Pro-Kremlin media and Telegram channels spread information that "the Kiev government is once again engaged in a 'culture of cancellation,'" as the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture allegedly plans to withdraw Russian literature from Ukraine's library collections. In particular, the propaganda publication RIA Novosti reported that "works of Russian literature, which is considered propaganda," will be withdrawn. In fact, these statements are manipulation, reports StopFake.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said that Ukraine will launch a process of removing Russian books from libraries, but it is not talking about all works of Russian literature, but only those that promote war and the elimination of Ukrainian statehood. The Council for the Development of Librarianship under the Ministry developed criteria, according to which books will be withdrawn. First of all, the works that meet one of these criteria will be withdrawn:

• whose content is aimed at eliminating the independence of Ukraine, propaganda of violence, inciting interethnic, racial, religious enmity, committing terrorist acts, encroaching on human rights and freedoms;

• propaganda of war, national and religious discord, changing the constitutional system or the territorial integrity of Ukraine by violence; contain justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including by presenting the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine as an internal conflict, civil conflict, civil war, denial of temporary occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine; glorify persons committing armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, present;

• publishers, as well as authors to whom restrictive measures (sanctions) have been applied in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions";

• authors who publicly supported the aggression against Ukraine, information about which is publicly available on the Internet.

Apparently, the Russian language of the work is not a criterion according to which the Ministry of Culture will withdraw literature from library collections.The Council for Library Development, founded in April 2022, is engaged in the process of developing the criteria according to which literature will be withdrawn. They regularly publish information about their meetings on the official Facebook page of the Ukrainian Library Association. According to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, libraries can create advisory bodies, which will give recommendations on how to update the library collection in the conditions of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Library Association says that the issue of removing propaganda literature from the libraries of Ukraine will be approached carefully and in a balanced way. Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy Larysa Petasyuk confirms this: "Propaganda is a dangerous weapon. Today Russian lies poison everything around us. We have all the means to fight this phenomenon. The Ministry has defined clear criteria according to which Russian literature will be withdrawn from Ukrainian library collections. We approach this question carefully and in a balanced way. We hope that all this will have a positive effect on the development of Ukrainian book publishing.The Ministry of Culture reports that the withdrawn books will be replaced by Ukrainian works and books of Ukrainian publishers.