Propagandists on anonymous telegram channels that spread pro-Russian rhetoric claim that the French media website RFI has information that Ukrainian citizens took part in protests in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other French cities. Like, they say that they have nothing against the French authorities, but allegedly protested for money. However, the authors of the message hint that the protesters may be “lying”. According to them, the French authorities do not intend to give this “political shade”, but this could allegedly lead to a more negative attitude towards Ukrainian refugees in Europe. However, this is manipulation.

The authors of the message do not provide a link to the article, but only to the main page of the French media. There are no similar articles about this on the site or on other platforms.

By publishing such fakes, propagandists once again want to show Ukrainians as ungrateful provocateurs who want to destabilize the situation within Europe. Detector Media has already written about other manipulations against Ukrainian refugees, in particular about a Ukrainian who allegedly destroyed a monument to Polish soldiers who fought against Nazism.

Propagandists on anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that information has appeared on the website of the Finnish public broadcaster Yle that Finland wants to cancel social assistance for Ukrainian refugees, because it allegedly exceeds the payment for picking berries. Accordingly, since the Ukrainians do not agree with these conditions, it is necessary to introduce a system of assistance in exchange for employment. However, this is manipulation.

The authors of the message do not provide a link to the article containing such information, but only to the main Finnish-language page of the broadcaster. However, if one looks for news on the Yle website, in particular in the Ukrainian-language section, you can really find material related to the problem. However, it is not about plans to cancel aid. Moreover, its authors, on the contrary, note that Ukrainians would be happy to work on plantations for picking berries, however, according to the current Finnish legislation, such activity is not considered “sustainable income”, which may lead to a decrease in the amount of assistance. Accordingly, they have no choice but to go to a more stable job, so as not to lose help from the state. Therefore, Finnish companies have begun to hire more berry pickers from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Recent political transformations in Finland are also related to the migration legislation of the state. In particular, the new Finnish government is discussing a tougher approach to it. Ideas are being considered such as increasing the required period of permanent residence in Finland for obtaining citizenship, passing an exam in Finnish or Swedish for obtaining a permanent residence permit (now this is only necessary for obtaining citizenship) and, in particular, reducing the amount of social benefits for migrants. However, this does not apply only to Ukrainian refugees, but in general to all migrants in the state. These ideas have already caused outrage among them, which is why rallies were held in the country and a corresponding petition was created on Change.org.

Taking such news out of context, the propagandists once again want to show the Ukrainians as ungrateful, as well as devalue the help of European partners. They also want to cause panic among Ukrainian refugees by artificially inflating the scale of the problem. Detector Media has already written about other manipulations against Ukrainian refugees, in particular about a Ukrainian who allegedly destroyed a monument to Polish soldiers who fought against Nazism.

Propagandists in anonymous telegram channels, where they spread pro-Russian rhetoric, claim that one of the job search sites has a vacancy for a “mentor on tolerance for the front”. They say that among the requirements for candidates there are “an active sex life” and “the absence of sexually transmitted diseases”, and the list of duties includes such positions as “to detect hidden gays, conduct psychological work with them” and “for those who want to do physical exercises to strengthen the anal sphincter”. It's fake.

It is not possible to find this listing in an internet search. In addition, it was refuted by Yar Birzul, co-founder of the Kolo UA Foundation, where they were allegedly looking for a “mentor” according to the “advertisement”. In his tweet, he wrote that they are not looking for “mentors on tolerance for the front” in the Foundation. In the “advert” one can find a number of sentences pointing to harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ+ community. For example, one of the tasks for “positions” should be “prevention of the spread of HIV infection and AIDS”. Such claims are discriminatory as they support false information about LGBTQ+ people as allegedly the main carriers of the aforementioned diseases, even though statistics prove the opposite.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to reinforce harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ+ community and once again show that in exchange for the help of Western partners, they allegedly force Ukraine to “betray traditional values”. All this is part of Russia's large-scale disinformation campaign against the LGBTQ+ community, which Detector Media has already written about.

Anonymous users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the Georgian segment of social networks claim that “no one has fired the Russian ambassador in Ukraine” and that he allegedly “still works in Kyiv”. These reports are a reaction to the decision of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to send the Georgian Ambassador to Tbilisi for additional consultations on the state of health of Mikheil Saakashvili. However, information on the Russian ambassador is unreliable.

The messages were noticed by MythDetector, the Georgian project. They emphasize that Ukraine severed diplomatic relations with Russia on February 24, 2022 due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian authorities did not break off consular relations with Russia in order to protect the rights of Ukrainian citizens, including Ukrainian political prisoners who are still in Russia. In addition, on April 20, 2023, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitalii Klychko, terminated the agreement with the Russian Embassy on the lease of land and sent a request to the Cabinet of Ministers to return the embassy's land to Ukrainian ownership.

Project analysts also note that Russia has not had a full-fledged ambassador to Ukraine since 2016, since then this function has been performed by temporarily appointed persons. Until mid-February 2022, Oleksandr Lukashyk was acting as Chargé d'Affaires. After the termination of diplomatic relations, Volodymyr Zhehlov heads the embassy, but in his official position he is an adviser to the ambassador. Although he was presented with his credentials by Russian President Volodymyr Putin in August 2022, due to a break in diplomatic relations, Ukraine does not recognize him as an ambassador.

By spreading such disinformation, its authors want to destabilize the internal political situation in Georgia, cause skepticism about the sequence of actions of the Ukrainian authorities and aggravate the crisis in relations between Georgia and Ukraine.

Propagandists on social networks spread information that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and President of France Emmanuel Macron are allegedly depicted on the cover of the new edition of the French weekly Courrier international. In particular, it shows Macron pumping out a woman with the words: “Stop the riots! My wife has heart problems”.  Zelenskyi seems to be saying: “Stop the riots! All the money will go to repairs, but it has to help Ukraine”. It's fake.

Specialists in the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They could not find a similar cover either in the publication's social networks or on its website. Although the propagandist's publications list the issue number of 1705, in fact this number of the magazine had a cover titled “France: The Roots of Wrath”. Courrier international is a French weekly that translates and publishes fragments of articles from foreign publications, websites, blogs and newspapers. Its website, according to VoxCheck analysts, has a “War in Ukraine” section, where the publication condemns Russian aggression against Ukraine and ridicules the Russian leadership.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists regularly try to convince everyone that the foreign audience and the media community are no longer on the side of Ukraine and openly oppose it. Detector Media has repeatedly denied such “covers”, as recently in the case of the humor magazine Humor Times.

Russian propagandists claim that Russians everywhere suffer from hatred and oppression outside of Russia. They say that the Russian language is discriminated against, Russians are forbidden to move freely around Europe, and some countries do not even allow the use of weapons on their territory. In response, the authors use the term “oppression”, hinting at the “desire” of the world community to supposedly get rid of the Russians.

If propagandists talk about “oppression” in Ukraine, they talk about “discrimination” of the Russian language and all Russian, the rejection of Russian mass products. This is how propagandists justify a large-scale war, because russophobia needs to be fought with. Other countries are also accused of oppression. Propagandists wrote that Estonia was a follower of “Nazi Germany” because it banned “separate ethnic groups” from carrying weapons, including Russians. In fact, gun permits have become invalid for non-EU and non-NATO citizens. The changes affected not only ethnic Russians. However, Estonian Interior Affairs Minister Lauri Läänemets assured that the restriction is indeed a direct consequence of unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine.

That is, these are not “oppressions” of Russians, but the response of the world community to Russian aggression. The Russians bear collective responsibility for the aggression against Ukraine, which they supported either by their respective statements or silence. World condemnation, the rejection of Russian mass products and the restriction against the aggressor are the consequences of Russia's criminal actions, and not vice versa, as Moscow is trying to convince everyone. Using the rhetoric of so-called “oppression”, Russia seeks to oppose the “peace-loving” itself and other “hostile” countries. Moscow shows that the whole world seems to be opposed to the Russians, and they are hated everywhere. Thus propagandists, on the contrary, cultivate hostility towards different nations.