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 04 May, on the 800th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2122
Fake
691
Manipulation
645
Message
433
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake A Brazilian company used a photo of Zelenskyi to advertise condoms

Such information is being disseminated on social networks. In particular, in the Georgian language segment of Facebook. Brazilian company Platinum Studio allegedly released a condom ad featuring a caricature of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, reports say.

Such messages are supplemented by a photo of the advertisement and the inscription: “Some people should not have been born”. However, this is fake. The Brazilian company did not run such advertisements featuring Zelenskyi, although it did produce cartoons of other politicians wrapped in a condom. In 2017-2019, Platinum Studio created caricatures of only three people: Volodymyr Putin, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un.

As analysts of the Myth Detector project write, there is no cartoon depicting Zelenskyi either on the company's pages or among the authors' works. Also, in the three original cartoons, both the clothes of the characters and their poses are different. Also, all three politicians are trying to get out of the condom and have angry facial expressions. In the cartoon with Zelenskyi, his pose and clothes are identical to the Trump’s, only the color of the tie has been changed.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has been spreading fake cartoons of Zelenskyi. Thus, the propagandists want to demonstrate that the attitude towards Zelenskyi in the world is changing, because allegedly he is already portrayed not as a hero and a respectable president, but as a clown, they despise him, etc.

Message In the context of the war in Ukraine, Russia is the victim and NATO is the aggressor

This assertion is spread by the Russian propaganda media. The reports say that the aggressor, NATO under the Anglo-American leadership, is to blame for the war in Ukraine, while Russia is allegedly only a victim in these conditions.

However, NATO is not an aggressor in Ukraine. On the contrary, the countries of the West did everything possible to prevent the war, and only reacted to the full Russian invasion. Some NATO members provide Ukraine with military assistance to help defend against a Russian attack, but they do not engage in direct hostilities. Ukraine receives weapons for the sole purpose of restoring its territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.

Western instructors teach Ukrainian soldiers how to use modern weapons, and NATO officials have frequent political contacts with their Ukrainian counterparts, but NATO troops do not fight at the front. This case was noticed by EU vs Disinfo analysts. This is not the first time Russia has blamed NATO, the US and other countries for the war in Ukraine. Like, they are the aggressors, and Russia was forced to enter the war.

However, in fact, it was Russia that started the war back in 2014, seized parts of two regions and occupied the Crimean peninsula, and in February 2022 launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. It is Russia that is the aggressor, destroying daily Ukrainian cities and villages, killing thousands of Ukrainian women and men, both military and civilian.

Fake Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the trade in human organs has developed

In the Georgian-speaking segment of social networks, information is being disseminated that due to the war in Ukraine, an illegal business has significantly developed - the trade in human organs. First, this message was voiced by the host of the program, Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, on the air of the Georgian pro-Kremlin Sezoni TV.

He stated that the "organ trade business" was started in Ukraine, and the organs of the victims are exported to different countries of the world. Mzhavanadze also said that "there were serious allegations" of organ trafficking against the family of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in particular his ex-wife Sandra Roelofs. However, this is not true. According to Myth Detector analysts, allegations of organ trafficking in the conditions of the war in Ukraine are disinformation that has been spreading across Russia almost since the beginning of the big war, since the spring of 2022. Such information was disseminated by the Kremlin media in May.

In fact, organ transplantation is a complex and time-limited medical procedure that cannot be performed in the field. Unfounded accusations that after the start of the war in eastern Ukraine, military organs are actively traded in the country and various political leaders involved in this process have spread at different times since 2014. The International Committee of the Red Cross responded to a video circulated on May 31 that alleged new cases of human trafficking. The statement notes that the video contains false accusations. The organization explained that, as part of their work, they did not collect data on the health of children, noting that allusions to the involvement of the Red Cross in organ trafficking are "definitely false statements".

Fake Ukraine prepares fake attack to prevent Russian fertilizer exports

Such messages are spread by the Russian propaganda media. The same thesis is spread by pro-Russian users in social networks. Allegedly, Ukraine is preparing a fake attack organized by British special forces to prevent Moscow from exporting ammonia again through the Togliatti - Odesa pipeline. Allegedly, Kyiv wants to disrupt the UN initiative to resume the export of Russian fertilizers.

However, such reports are not confirmed by anything. In fact, the export of Russian fertilizers does not occur due to sanctions. According to EU vs Disinfo project analysts, the authors of such reports do not provide any evidence confirming the fact that Ukraine is preparing an attack. Analysts say that through such messages, Russia is trying to portray Ukraine and the UK as responsible for preventing the re-introduction of Russian fertilizers to world markets. As both the US and EU sanctions rule out fertilizer and food exports, propagandists resort to unsubstantiated accusations to mask what is largely the result of Russia's lack of willingness to compromise in UN-backed negotiations on the issue, and finally a consequence of the invasion of Russia in Ukraine.

This is not the first time Russia has accused Ukraine of provocations. So she transfers responsibility for her actions to Ukraine. For example, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly been accused of wanting to verify the grain agreement and so on.

Manipulation Weapons provided by Western countries to Ukraine end up in the hands of criminals in Africa

Such information is disseminated by the Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels. Reports claim that after Ukraine began to supply Western weapons, a problem arose in African countries. Like, all these weapons are increasingly falling into the hands of bandits.

All pro-Kremlin media cite the statement of Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasyl Nebenzia. In particular, he claims that the President of Nigeria said that the war in Ukraine is the main source of weapons for terrorists in the area of the Lake Chad basin. However, this is manipulation. The statement of the President of Nigeria about weapons in Africa really was claimed.

However, he did not say that it was specifically about weapons supplied to Ukraine from partner countries. According to The Insider, speaking at the summit of heads of state of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Nigerian President Mohammad Buhari said that Russia's war with Ukraine, like other modern armed conflicts, is a source of arms smuggling. “Unfortunately, the situation in the Sahel and the turbulent war in Ukraine are the main sources of weapons and militants who swell the ranks of terrorists in the Lake Chad region.

Much of the arms and ammunition purchased for the war in Libya continues to flow into the Lake Chad region and other parts of the Sahel. Weapons that are used for war in Ukraine and Russia are still starting to seep into the region”, he said. However, it is beneficial for propagandists to manipulate the statements of politicians and claim that Ukraine supplies weapons to terrorists around the world. The thesis that Western weapons go to the wrong places is not new to Russian propaganda. Thus, Russia discredits Ukraine and tries to make it guilty of creating terrorist threats in the world. Also, with the help of such manipulations, Russia seeks to quarrel Ukraine with partner countries, allegedly demonstrating that Ukraine is using their assistance for other purposes.

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.