A clone page of the French newspaper Le Parisien has been spotted online, where the authors broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric and spread disinformation. For example, on a fake website, the newspapers published an article titled “Mass Escape for the sake of salvation from military slavery. Ukrainians are trying to avoid inevitable death on the front lines”.

Of course, such material has nothing to do with the official newspaper Le Parisien. However, in the fake material itself, misinformation was spread about evasion of mobilization and desertion, which seem to have been “long since common in Ukraine”. In addition, the authors of the material argued that the Ukrainian army is incompetent and loses to the Russian, more combat-ready army.

French journalist Fabrice Despres drew attention to the fake Le Parisien page and explained that the design of the fake site is really very similar to the original one, only the domain name is different. For example, the address of a fake website is leparisien.ltd, and a real newspaper is leparisien.fr. The navigation set up on the fake site (link to other materials\subscription) directs the reader to the real Le Parisien site. Moreover, the false page does not ask one to agree with the collection of cookies.

They are currently investigating who is behind the spread of disinformation and anti-Ukraine narratives.

Disinformation is the misleading of an adversary or competitor with false information, false documents or audiovisual materials. Disinformation as a tool, in particular, is used for propaganda, military and commercial purposes. Russian propaganda uses it systematically to, for example, discredit the Ukrainian government, split society, create despondency about the victory of Ukraine, etc. Also, disinformers are trying to convince Western allies that Ukraine is an unreliable partner, a “failed state”, etc. Another function of disinformation is to rally the Russian people in support of the so-called SVO, a full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.

With the start of a full-scale war against Ukraine, Russian propaganda began to work even more actively than 8 years before. For example, one of the disinformation attacks at the beginning of a full-scale war was the drawing of marks on roads and houses. The attack had some success: state structures and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine at first perceived the tags as a serious threat. It was believed that they help the ground forces of the enemy navigate the territory of Ukraine, help direct missile and air strikes, position for snipers and conditional marks for saboteurs. Law enforcement officers detained many for applying these labels. It turned out that this was disinformation to spread panic and chaos in Ukrainian society, to show that there are many potential traitors in it who are ready to help the enemy for money.

Also, Russia systematically spreads messages that military assistance to Ukraine from Western partners is useless, because they allegedly sell weapons to third countries, criminal groups around the world, including the EU, and even ISIS terrorists. On August 5, 2022, the American television channel CBS released a 23-minute report “We arm Ukraine”. This product contained a number of manipulations with the help of supposedly Western experts and promoted the Russian propaganda message that 70% of American weapons in Ukraine are stolen and only 30% end up at the front. After a sharp reaction from the Ukrainian authorities and a wave of criticism, the channel removed this film. Disinformation of this kind is dangerous, because it can lead to a decrease in military and financial assistance from Western allies.

Also, Russian propaganda regularly spreads disinformation to accuse Ukraine of developing the so-called “dirty nuclear bomb” and preparing provocations using it. Propagandists claim that the Ukrainians want to add nuclear fuel from its nuclear power plant to a conventional bomb and use it against Russian or civilian troops. So, Russia is trying to present Ukraine as an aggressor state and a threat to the nuclear security of the whole world.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. After the start of the “military operation”, the Ukrainian leadership urged young people and children to flee the war to Europe, reports say. Allegedly, there they can find shelter or guardians. According to the authors of the messages, now the Europeans use young people as labor force, and they are in no hurry to return the children to their native lands.

Fact-checkers EU vs Disinfo took up this case and explained that Europe does not “abduct” Ukrainian children, but on the contrary, it helps to adapt to a new environment, provides resources for learning and a quiet life. All Ukrainians who fled the war can receive refugee status. Both children and families. European countries provide asylum, but people can return at any time without restrictions on movement. That is, the EU is not engaged in either “deportation” or “kidnapping”.

But Russia is vice versa deporting Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories. It calls it salvation, but this is only a substitution of concepts. On March 15, 2023, UN international experts published a report containing the results of the investigation into Russian aggression against Ukraine. The report contains war crimes committed by the Russian occupiers. A separate block of the UN report is devoted to the results of the investigation into the forced displacement and deportation of Ukrainian children by Russian occupiers. That is, this is indeed a war crime, which is why the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, children are taken out not only from Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but also from other occupied territories of Ukraine. In particular, children were taken out of Kherson. As of December 29, 2022, 13,876 Ukrainian children are known to have been expelled by Russia. Ukraine regards such actions as the abduction of its citizens. Analysts of Detector Media conducted their own investigation on how Russia justifies deportation and other war crimes in Ukraine. You can read it here.

In social networks, in particular, in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook, information was disseminated about payments from Privat bank and Raiffeisen bank. Allegedly, users of a particular bank can receive a cash reward in the amount of 7300 hryvnia. To receive a reward, the authors of the messages offer to follow the link.

Fact-checkers of NotaYenota say that in this way the authors mislead Ukrainians as most of the messages are replicated by the social network using an advertising tool. That is, unknown people set up ads on a social network with a message about “cash assistance”. Thus, the likely number of users who may encounter a fraudulent post increases. Fact-checkers also explained that in Ukraine there is a single register of social payments - eDopomoha (eHelp). There one can find up-to-date information about payments. All other sites offering assistance with a similar domain (for example, “edopomoga gov.ua”) are fraudulent.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that before May 9, a “red flag of Victory” was placed on the building of the Bundestag. The authors of the messages add photos and videos, as if the Soviet flag with a hammer and sickle flutters over the parliament building. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and found out that not a single flag was set over the Bundestag, even without authorization. The Soviet flag was not on the parliament building. This was confirmed by the representatives of the administration of the German parliament in their comments to the news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Fact-checkers are convinced that the videos are edited and the photos are edited using Photoshop. This is indicated by various inaccuracies that the fact-checkers recorded. For example, in the video, the Soviet flag and the German flag are flying in different directions, although they are “placed” relatively close to each other. Moreover, such photos can only be found in the Russian segment of social networks.

By spreading such fakes, Russia once again seeks to show its greatness to the “Nazi West” since the message about the “red flag of Victory over the Reichstag” is an allusion to the image of a Soviet soldier raising the Soviet flag to the Reichstag in Berlin a few days before the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the commander of the territorial defense units, Ihor Tantsiura, was killed in Bakhmut. Like, the Ukrainian TRO is stupid as the Russians quickly managed to neutralize the enemy. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case, and determined that the information was not true. The Territorial Defense Forces also denied this information. TRO spokesman Denys Zelinskyi said in a commentary for Suspilne about “all goals”. After that, the commander of the 127th brigade of the TRO of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also told the Suspilne that there had been an unsuccessful attempt to kill the commander Tantsiura.

Let us remind you that earlier analysts of Detector Media denied the fake that Russia had liquidated all the commanders. In addition, we refuted the case about the destruction of another TRO commander.

In social networks, in particular in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook, information was disseminated that the EU government is introducing a project for the issuance of financial assistance to people of retirement and pre-retirement age. Like, people can get up to 200 euros per day by participating in this program. The authors also claim that the funds are provided by the Provision Fund. Then the message asks to follow the link for the registration.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project worked on the case and found out that the program for paying 200 euros per day does not exist at all. The Provision Fund itself exists in the USA. The purpose of the fund is to create additional funding for residents of Sheridan County, Wyoming, in areas that do not have sufficient funding from the government. That is, this fund has nothing to do with the EU. In fact, group admins use the financial assistant thesis as a bait to increase the reach and membership of the channel. As fact-checkers explained, the group can later change its subject and spread fake information, and due to the large number of subscribers, potential readers will get the impression that this resource can be trusted. However, this is not true.