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 16 May, on the 812th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2146
Fake
693
Manipulation
648
Message
438
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake Ukrainians who did not travel abroad during a full-scale war will allegedly receive a one-time payment from the state

On behalf of Ukrainian TV channels, videos containing information are being distributed in TikTok, allegedly the government adopted Law No. 3386 regarding a one-time payment of 14 thousand hryvnia to those Ukrainians who have never left the country since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

In fact, these videos are fake. They are generated by artificial intelligence. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this. Law No. 3386 itself simply does not exist. Such content applies, in particular, to increasing the reach of anonymous telegram channels, which are linked in the description under the video.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda aims to split Ukrainian society. Like, “those Ukrainians who remained in Ukraine during the war are “more Ukrainians” than those who left, therefore the state in this way seeks to show the privilege of the former”. It is on this basis that the fake Russian propaganda is based.

• Read also: More money is spent on one prisoner in Ukraine every month than on pensions for Ukrainians

Fake In Kyiv, they will allegedly rename Chaikovskyi street to Victoria Nuland street

Russian media are disseminating information that in Kyiv, instead of the street of the composer Petro Chaikovskyi, there will now be a street named after the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland. As evidence, Russian propaganda is distributing a screenshot of a decision allegedly taken by the Kyiv authorities to rename the street, and the document itself is dated March 5, 2024.

In fact, this information is not true. Fact-checkers from the StopFake project write about this. The City Council did not make such decisions, and the screenshot itself is probably fake, since the “document” on it does not meet the established rules of record keeping in Ukraine. In particular, when comparing it with similar documents, you will notice that some points have been rearranged or paraphrased. In addition, the mayor’s last name is not written in capslock, as is customary in documents according to state standards.

In the end, the Kyiv Council made one of the recent decisions to rename streets in the city of Kyiv on February 8, 2024. And there is not a word about renaming Chaikovskyi street.

By spreading this fake news, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit the Kyiv City Council, headed by Vitalii Klychko. They say that the Ukrainian authorities are now making idols out of modern US officials in the hope of eventually receiving military assistance from this country. However, this is not true. Previously, we refuted information that the United States allegedly confirmed the theft of military aid in Ukraine.

Fake The budget of the American child tracing organization was allegedly cut to help Ukraine

Russian propagandists spread such information. In some US stores, milk cartons allegedly posted notices about a missing boy named Elijah. This was supposedly done by the public organization National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC),  the captures are as follows: “We would have found Elijah if the government had not cut our budget to send aid to Ukraine”.

In fact, these photo ads are fake. This was reported by checkers from the StopFake project. NCMEC Communications Director Angeline Hartman responded to StopFake's request that the organization did not print such postcards, someone else used their logo without permission.

Response from NCMEC Communications Director to StopFake request:

Probably, a caption about Ukraine was added to the photo of the milk carton in a graphic editor.

In addition, NCMEC is financed by the US Department of Justice, whose task is to ensure law and order and justice within the country, so there can be no talk of any “budget cuts to help Ukraine”. Moreover, funding provided by the Department of Justice to NCMEC has, on the contrary, increased compared to 2021.

If in 2021 the Department of Justice allocated almost $37 million to the organization, then in 2022 this amount was already more than 44 million. In 2023, the organization received more than $51 million. The organization also has other sources of funding. Many resources are provided by private donors, including large corporations like Google and Zoom.

Thus, Russian propaganda seeks to fuel the narrative that “Western society is already tired of the war in Ukraine”. According to propagandists, such fakes can influence the minimization of international support for Ukraine. Previously, we refuted information that economist Robert Kiosaki allegedly called any financial injections into Ukraine pointless.

Message Zaluzhnyi's appointment as ambassador to the UK is allegedly his “check” for the presidency

Pro-Russian resources write that the appointment of ex-head committee of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi as ambassador to the UK is connected with his “checks” for the post of President and with high ratings that “scare” the current President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that in fact, the approval of the candidacy of Valerii Zaluzhnyi for the post of Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK met one of the main requirements for an ambassador - an understanding of the military context. And the ex-head committee of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is perhaps the best candidate in this sense.

By promoting this message, Russian propaganda seeks to puzzle Ukrainian society. In addition, this is not the first case of such messages from Russian propaganda regarding Zaluzhnyi. Previously, we refuted the information that Zaluzhnyi allegedly joined the European Solidarity party, and also analyzed the fake that Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced a “coup d’etat” after his “resignation”.

Message The Zaporizhzhia “authorities” will allegedly take care of security during the “elections” of the Russian president

Pro-Kremlin media are spreading information that the Zaporizhzhia region is ready for “provocations” from Kyiv during the “presidential elections”. That is, Russia has allegedly already taken care of the safety of voters. The corresponding statement was made by gauleiter Balytskyi.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine writes that the “concern” of the occupiers and local gauleiters for the safety of the population is hypocrisy, because it was Russia that brought war, destruction and death to these lands. In addition, it is the Russians who expose the residents of Zaporizhzhia to danger. It is possible that the Russian army is preparing provocations with victims in order to blame Ukraine, the Center adds.

The pseudo-voting itself will not be considered legitimate in any case. After all, forcing people to participate in illegal elections, at a minimum, does not correspond to the general principles of democracy. We previously wrote that in temporarily occupied territories, Ukrainians are forced to publish photos with their family at “polling stations”.

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.