Oleksandr Lukashenko has continuously served as President of Belarus from 1994 to the present day. For the authorities of Belarus, there is no doubt that the only legitimate and almost lifelong president of this country is and should remain Lukashenko. The last presidential elections in Belarus took place in August 2020.

Although the elections were recognized by the Belarusian authorities, they were not recognized by its people, Western democracies and Ukraine as well. The European Union also did not recognize the legitimacy of the electoral process, since it was neither free nor fair. During the elections in Belarus there were interruptions on the Internet, the work of social networks and instant messengers, as well as large Internet media. Lukashenko claimed that the Internet in the country was turned off allegedly from abroad in order to “cause discontent among the population”.

The self-proclaimed president of Belarus, then preparing for the election race, “withdrew” three potentially strong opponents in advance - blogger Serhii Tykhanovskyi, ex-banker Viktor Babaryk and diplomat Valerii Tsepkal. Criminal cases were opened against the first two, and the third left the country, fearing criminal prosecution. Subsequently, the headquarters of three oppositionists who failed to register as presidential candidates united and began promoting the candidacy of blogger Tykhanovskyi’s wife, Svitlana. Almost immediately after the presidential elections, she was forced to leave Belarus due to threats and pressure from the authorities.

After the secret inauguration of Oleksandr Lukashenko, which took place on September 23, 2020 in Minsk, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belarusian cities. Immediately after the ceremony, military trucks, paddy wagons and water cannons began to arrive in the center of Minsk. A little later, fighters in green uniforms without identification marks appeared there, like in Crimea in 2014. The police began spraying people with water cannons mixed with orange dye. Former Minister of Culture Pavel Latushko said: “For us, citizens of Belarus, for the world community, he is now a nobody. An unfortunate mistake of history and a disgrace to the civilized world”.

Back in 2021, Volodymyr Putin and Oleksandr Lukashenko signed a decree of the Union State. We are talking about a superstate formation of Russia and Belarus with a step-by-step organized single political, economic, military, customs, currency, legal, humanitarian, market and cultural spaces. Already in 2022, Lukashenko stated that he fully supports Russian aggression against Ukraine and is an ally of Russia in this war, which he, like Putin, calls a “special operation”. The self-proclaimed president of Belarus appears to the world as Putin's military henchman and dictator controlled by the Kremlin.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels claim that German cities are in debt because of “too much” aid for Ukrainian refugees. They say that local politicians emphasize that refugees “don’t want to go to work” because they receive a large amount of funds as part of social assistance. Propagandists cite statements by officials such as the Lord Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd Richard Arnold, the Minister for Migration of Baden-Württemberg Marion Gentjes and the President of the Baden-Württemberg District Council Joachim Walter. At various times they actually made similar statements, which were refuted by journalists from the regional public broadcaster SWR.

1. Ukrainian refugees receive 3,000 euros of net income per family from Germany

This is not true. According to SWR calculations, single parents or family members receive €502 per month, partners in the same family €451 each, children aged 14 to 17 €420, children aged 6–13 €348 and children under 6 – € 318. Therefore, a family of four with two children aged 12 and 14 will have a total benefit of 1,691 euros. But a single mother with two children under 6 years old will receive only 1,138 euros per month. The broadcaster's journalists note that this is not very good for German prices, given inflation. Moreover, of the 177,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Baden-Württemberg between March 2022 and September 2023, only 98,347 received assistance from the state. This refutes the fact that the poor economic situation in the region is caused solely by Ukrainian refugees.

Analyzing the statements of President Walter, journalists came to the conclusion that in order to overstate the amount of assistance to Ukrainian refugees in his statements, he is using an initiative that will come into force on January 1, 2024, according to which the amount of assistance will be increased by 50 euros per person, that is, by approximately 200 Euro more for one average family. But even after this, the increase in the benefit will not reach the mentioned 3,000–3,500 euros. In addition, Walter refers to the fact that refugees still have a lot of benefits, for example, for school children - school supplies or payment for housing. However, not everything is so simple with them either.

2. Employment centers pay for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees in Germany

This is true, but this solution does not have unanimous support in German society due to its economic feasibility. For example, the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt criticized the idea due to the fact that job centers spent too much money on renting apartments. According to a calculation made for the trade union by the Pestel Institute, employment centers will spend more than 20 billion euros on accommodation in 2023. Because of this, the overall rental price in Baden-Württemberg increased from 5.43 euros to 7.75 euros per square meter. Trade unions say the state should provide and build social housing, for example in the Austrian capital, so as not to destabilize the property market.

3. Ukrainians in Germany don’t want to work

This is a standard message of Russian propaganda, which is being picked up by German politicians this time. However, SWR journalists refuted these claims. In particular, they note that the majority of Ukrainian refugees in the region are women with children, who must often care for them independently. Accordingly, due to lack of time and the need to care for their families, they are unable to go to work.

In addition, in Germany there are still problems with the recognition of qualifications and professional training received in Ukraine. For example, SWR told the story of Ukrainian doctor Olha Soloviova, who was forced to work as a cleaner in Germany because her qualifications were not recognized. She currently works in an Austrian clinic. These restrictions are another obstacle for those refugees who have high qualifications and years of work experience and want to work in the EU, but cannot due to lack of recognition of all this during employment.

By spreading such messages, Russian propagandists want to once again discredit Ukrainian refugees and demotivate Europeans to support Ukraine. Detector Media has previously published a great investigation on what other harmful narratives about Ukrainian refugees are being spread by Russians.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that the West has admitted that Ukraine may disappear from the world map because it is “tired and no longer wants to deal with the catastrophic consequences caused by the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive”. They refer to an article by the author of Al-Ayyam Abdel Majid Swailem and distribute an image of a “map” according to which Western partners allegedly conduct their policies. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of The Insider project drew attention to it. They found out that the author of the article is not an employee of the famous Moroccan magazine with this name, but of the Palestinian publication of the same name. Swailem did not indicate in his material a single Western politician who spoke about the possible disappearance of Ukraine from the world map, but refers only to the statements of one person, namely Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmytro Medvediev. Statements by Western politicians about the disappearance of Ukraine could not be found online. Project specialists also analyzed other materials from the author, in particular about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Poland, and discovered a bunch of unreliable information.

Propagandists spread such fakes to cause panic and despondency among Ukrainians in supporting Western partners. They say that the West abandoned Ukraine to its fate, so it is necessary to “fraternize” with Russia. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes regarding support from Western countries.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media and anonymous telegram channels claim that the European Commission and the European Council allegedly officially sent a letter to the King of Spain with a request to grant permanent residence permits in the country to the children of the President of Ukraine, the ex-minister of defense and minister, as well as other Ukrainian officials. It's fake.

The fact-checker of the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that the “letter” being circulated by propagandists is a fake, likely based on a letter from the European Council to King Mohammed VI of Morocco dated September 9, 2023. This letter can be found on the official website of the European Union. Meanwhile, the “letter” that propagandists talk about is not there, which is atypical, since all letters and statements from EU institutions are published on the website. The “letter” is not on the European Commission website either. In addition, Russian media have not been able to decide on the status they are “asking” for the children of Ukrainian officials. While it is about “citizenship” or “nationality”, the “letter” talks about a certificate of permanent residence. The procedure for obtaining a certificate in Spain by applying to the king is illogical, since without it it can be obtained using a simplified procedure in accordance with European Council Directive 2001/55/EC. In addition, the “letter” lists only male persons with a purely Russian transcription of first and last names, which does not coincide with the official transcription for Ukrainian foreign passports. The fake was refuted by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and cause panic among the population about a “comprehensive mobilization”. They say that while some are caught on the street and taken to the centers of recruitment and social support, the children of politicians are taken abroad so that they are not taken to war. Detector Media previously talked about other fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels claim that three thieves robbed the house of the family of a deceased military man during his funeral in the Lviv region in 2023. They say that while the defenders are being buried, other Ukrainians are robbing them. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the story, which is being distributed as evidence of this message, was published on July 25, 2016. The event occurred on July 22 of the same year in the city of Zolochiv, Lviv region. Thieves broke into the house during the funeral of serviceman Andrii Shvets, who served as a volunteer during the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine. Later, the police detained the suspects - three teenagers who stole money and property worth 40 thousand hryvnia.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to ridicule and discredit Ukrainians. Detector Media previously refuted other Russian lies about the Ukrainian military.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social media claim that Ukrainian soldiers sent abroad for treatment and refugees contracted infections in Ukrainian hospitals and then spread these diseases to the EU. They say that these infections are resistant to most antibiotics, and this supposedly proves that the United States is testing bioweapons in Ukraine. In doing so, they refer to an article by the Financial Times.

The message was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project. They found out that this was not true. An October 2 Financial Times article titled “Ukrainian infections show rising threat of antibiotic resistance” stated that Russia's invasion of Ukraine back in 2014 contributed to the rise in drug-resistant infections in Western Europe. As the authors point out, this could be due to the toxicity of heavy metals in the balls, which caused injuries and wounds that could lead to infections, as well as the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The situation was also complicated by the fact that medical facilities in combat regions were often damaged, tests to determine the necessary antibiotic were largely lacking, and local residents forced to leave the region could carry these diseases. The article also pointed out that after the start of the full-scale invasion, due to the arrival of Ukrainian military and refugees in EU countries, there was indeed an increase in the number of drug-resistant infections. In particular, they explain this by the fact that in some regions the healthcare system was overloaded.

The VoxCheck experts once again note that there are no US biological laboratories in Ukraine, and no country is engaged in the production or testing of biological weapons here. They also found that antibiotic resistance is an international trend that occurs due to the limited number of effective drugs available and the low number of new drug developments. According to the publication, even states that spend a lot of money on financing the healthcare system cannot cope with this problem.

Propagandists spread this message to discredit Ukrainians and create artificial panic about their presence in Europe. They say that helping Ukrainians is dangerous. Detector Media also wrote about other messages and fakes with which Russia is trying to discredit both the Ukrainian military and refugees.