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 22 December, on the 1032th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2602
Fake
774
Manipulation
753
Message
541
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Message Ukrainian volunteers "cynically collect money" during Russian attacks

The message was widely distributed by pro-Russian Telegram channels as a reaction to the announcement of the joint meeting of Serhii Prytula and Serhii Sternenko, which was joined by other volunteer initiatives.

Propagandists claim that the volunteers are allegedly using the attack on Ukraine to get more money for themselves or for what the West is already giving Ukraine for free.

In fact, as reported by Serhii Prytula, Ukrainian volunteers prematurely announced the fundraising for RAM II kamikaze drones scheduled for October 12. In the post, Prytula also argued for the need to purchase such weapons for the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainians once again demonstrated their resistance to Russian propaganda and disinformation. When Russia was massively shelling almost all of Ukraine with missiles, despite the lack of electricity and interruptions to the Internet, Ukrainians actively sent donations for weapons for the Ukrainian army. As of the morning of October 11, the number of fees exceeded 276 million hryvnias, the final amount hasn`t been announced yet.

Russian propaganda systematically tries to discredit the work of volunteers who significantly help the army. Previously, propaganda massively spread fakes about the purchase by the Serhii Prytula Foundation of "People's Satellite" for 600 million hryvnias.

Manipulation Western journalists "denied" the reports about the torture chamber near Kharkiv

It is reported by pro-Russian Telegram channels and resources concerning an article by the German publication BILD.

Journalists of the publication allegedly exposed and refuted "fake Ukrainian propaganda about "torture house" and "golden teeth" in the village of Pisky-Radkivski, Kharkiv region." It is manipulation.

There is no refutation of the information about torture camps for residents in the territory of the village of Pisky-Radkivski in the Kharkiv region in the BILD materials.

On the contrary, the BILD article confirms this fact. As StopFake notes, the question arose only about the container with the removed dentures, photos of which were published along with other evidence. The materials state that the local dentist recognized his box of dentures.

But this fact does not deny the authenticity of other tools for torture, as well as the existence of the "Kativen" themselves in the territory of the village. BILD journalists write: "One thing can be said for sure: in the village - as in many other places occupied by Russia - brutal torture was used." Residents said that they constantly heard cries for help from various buildings.

The article also includes the testimonies of victims of Russian torture. Russian propaganda tries to justify the crimes of the Russian army and deliberately manipulates information.

In anticipation of the events, they claimed that the Ukrainian authorities were preparing for a fake "Buchi-2" in the direction of Kharkiv and were convinced that the exhumation of bodies in the places of mass burials in Izyum was a desecration of the remains of the dead. 

Fake The number of foreigners in the Ukrainian army will soon exceed 50%

Pro-Russian Telegram channels and media write about this. The Russian army is allegedly opposed not by the Armed Forces, but by foreigners, "NATO armies", "battalions of Poles", etc. According to Russian intelligence, the Ukrainian army is currently filled with foreign mercenaries by 30%, and soon the number will exceed 50%. That's when the message will allegedly be made that NATO troops are fighting in Ukraine. It is a fake.

According to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers are resisting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The number of foreign volunteers is estimated from several hundred to several thousand people and can`t be "half" of the Armed Forces.

In August 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that no more than 100 foreign servicemen are serving in the Ukrainian army under contract. As StopFake writes, in March 2022, about 20,000 volunteers applied to participate in the International Legion of Terror Defense of Ukraine. The legion includes fighters from all continents. The largest number of representatives are from the USA, Great Britain, Poland, the Baltic countries, Canada, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. In general, it is 70–80% of foreign volunteers. According to the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA, more than three thousand Americans applied to join the Legion. However, the final number of foreigners is not announced by the military command for security reasons. The indicated numbers are only applications, and it is unknown how many of those who expressed a desire to go to the front actually went to fight.

Russian propaganda spreads fakes that the NATO army is allegedly opposing them in Ukraine to justify the failures of their army for the Russians. Moreover, the agitprop said that allegedly the Ukrainian military can`t reach the level of military training according to NATO standards. Furthermore, the successful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces is due to the Pentagon's direct participation in the development of the plan.

Fake Russia found "evidence" of Ukraine's involvement in "sabotage" on the Crimean bridge

Reports spread on social networks that Russia allegedly established the identity of the man who committed the "terrorist attack" on the Crimean Bridge. He turned out to be a Ukrainian. His passport allegedly evidences it. Photos are added to messages. This photo is fake.

The photo of the passport of the "terrorist" actually turned out to be a photo-edited image illustrating a sample passport of a citizen of Ukraine (ID card) on Wikipedia. The authors of the fake changed only the name, photo, and gender, and all other "document details" remained the same as in Wikipedia. Fraudsters also added alleged blood stains or damage "due to a terrorist attack" with the help of a photo editor. The same picture was also used for a fake Twitter account.

In fact, there is no objective evidence of Ukraine's involvement in the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. The Ukrainian authorities also rejected any accusations in this regard.

Message There are "more and less important" regions for the Ukrainian authorities

Such information is spread by pro-Russian Telegram channels, speculating on Russian shelling and the operation of air defense systems.

The day before, anti-aircraft defenses were allegedly taken away from the Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, leaving these regions without adequate protection. Now, these systems are "urgently" returned. Instead, according to reports, Kyiv and Dnipro are "excessively" protected because they are "more strategically important" to the authorities. The same speculations were previously observed in local telegram channels of Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv regions, etc. Propagandists deliberately spread messages as "insides" or "rumors" after shelling, manipulating the victims' emotions and taking advantage of the fact that the location and number of anti-aircraft warning systems are not disclosed. In this way, the propagandists also advance the narrative about the division of Ukrainians by place of residence.

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.