In the Russian segment of TikTok, a video is being distributed where supposedly ants are carrying an icon of the Savior “from a house destroyed by a shell in Makiivka, where all the inhabitants died”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project. The video that was discovered shows that the image of Jesus Christ was added in a photo editor. The ants were actually carrying cookies. Also, fact checkers from Reuters previously refuted this video. According to their research, it appeared back in 2019, that is, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Previously, we talked about the manipulation that supposedly because of the blasphemy of Kyiv, flocks of dark birds are circling over the city.

Russian propaganda resources began to spread the fake news that allegedly the new Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umierov accidentally revealed data on Ukrainian losses during the counteroffensive. A number of anonymous telegram channels disseminating pro-Russian rhetoric promoted the message, allegedly Minister Rustem Umierov in his first public speech named the amount that is not enough to pay the relatives of dead servicemen - UAH 250 billion. Next, propagandists resort to the following arithmetic: the amount is not paid immediately, the first payment is 3 million UAH. Consequently, according to propaganda, the Ministry of Defense must pay the families of more than 83 thousand victims. They say that this is the number of Ukrainian losses in recent months, and it indicates the failure of the counteroffensive. It is not true.

Rustem Umierov really spoke about 250 billion, speaking as a candidate for minister before the vote in the Verkhovna Rada. Quote: “Just until the end of this year we will need an additional 250 billion hryvnia for cash allowance, and these costs are growing every day”. Thus, Rustem Umierov was not talking about payments to the families of the victims, but about monetary allowances, in other words, about salaries for military personnel. We see that Russian propagandists took the real figure announced by Umierov, but grossly manipulated its value.

Let us recall that on September 6, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appointed a new Minister of Defense. The candidacy of Rustem Umierov was supported by 338 people's deputies. In 2019, Rustam Umierov was elected as a people’s deputy of Ukraine from the Voice party, in 2022-2023 he headed the State Property Fund of Ukraine, and after being confirmed as head of the Ministry of Defense, he became the first Crimean Tatar in the history of independent Ukraine to hold a ministerial post.

Propagandists ridicule the new minister, who “knows how to count money well”, but allegedly casually reveals state secrets about the number of deaths. Russian propaganda is also trying to sow panic among Ukrainians against the backdrop of the counteroffensive, saying that there are many losses in the Ukrainian army. Previously, we refuted the fake news that in Ternopil they are threatening to cut off gas and hot water to conscripts who do not come to the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

Anonymous telegram channels, Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, and propagandists are spreading information that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, allegedly received a British passport along with his wife and two close relatives. These passports were personally brought by Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his last visit to Ukraine on September 8. Ukrainian sources reported this. “A foreign passport provides the Ukrainian authorities with guarantees and protection of NATO countries”, the propagandists explained. It's fake.

The case was examined by fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. In fact, Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit on September 8 to participate in the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum and went to Lviv on September 9. Propagandists do not provide any evidence that the ex-prime minister brought passports to Budanov. And since Russian propaganda refers to Ukrainian sources, such information cannot be verified.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit representatives of government bodies and cause disdain and mistrust of them. Previously, we refuted the fake that First Lady Olena Zelenska received an Israeli passport, and Kyrylo Budanov is in a coma.

Ukrainian media are disseminating information that from October 1, 2023, emergency power outage schedules will come into effect in Ukraine. It seems that government officials and energy companies have already prepared them. It's fake.

The case was examined by fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. The official website of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine reported that “the energy system will be fully ready for the heating season without power outages and, accordingly, consumer restrictions” and “the use of outages from October 1 in any of the regions of the country is not planned”.

Since last year there were power outages due to Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, the ministry notes that this year they “can only be used in the event of shelling and damage to energy equipment”.

Russian propaganda media published information that Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilver allegedly made a statement in which he called on the Ukrainian government to move military operations, barracks and enterprises away from the common border so that Romanian territory would not be damaged. It's fake.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers from the Myth Detector project. The Romanian fact-checking organization Factual told the fact-checkers that the Romanian defense minister did not make such a statement. Also, the Romanian Ministry of Defense officially denied this quote and published a statement on the media monitoring platform Inforadar.

The Romanian Ministry of Defense suspects that this fake appeared as an echo of Russian attacks on the territory of Ukraine, which resulted in drones falling onto the territory of Romania. Fragments of drones fell on September 4 and 9.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to quarrel between Ukraine and its allies and shift responsibility onto our state for the fall of Russian drones on Romanian territory. They say that if there were no Ukrainian barracks there, there would be no strikes. However, it was Russia that started the war in Ukraine and is destroying infrastructure and civilian objects. Previously, we refuted the fake that Ukraine confirmed that Russia carries out precision strikes exclusively on military targets.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing a photo of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson allegedly “showing a Z letter” during a visit to Ukraine. This happened at Lviv University named after Ivan Franko, where he was awarded an academic degree. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. They determined that the photo had been edited in a photo editor. In the original photo, Boris Johnson has his arms down, while other ceremony participants hold one hand to their heart.

Moreover, in Ukraine, the use of the Nazi salute or “zigging” is prohibited by the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Article 436) as a public use of symbols of the totalitarian Nazi regime.

Thus, Russian propaganda continues to promote the narrative that there is Nazism in Ukraine, which the Russians are allegedly fighting against. Previously, we refuted the fake news that in the Azovets children's camp children read Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.