Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the French magazine Charlie Herbo dedicated a cover to the Hamas movement with the caption: “Forgive us, Israel! We believed that our weapons would remain in Ukraine”. That is, the authors hinted that Ukrainian weapons allegedly ended up in the hands of Hamas. It is not true.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council investigated the case and found out that a magazine with such a cover simply did not exist; it was created using Photoshop. There are also no mentions of this particular cover on the pages on social networks and on the official website of the publication. Moreover, the false cover is dated October 12, 2023, although the last available issue was published on October 11, number 1629.

The Institute for the Study of War said in a statement on October 7 that the Kremlin is actively using the Hamas attack on Israel for information operations aimed at weakening US and Western support for Ukraine. This includes promoting the thesis of a “black market for the sale of weapons”.

And Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, stated that it was the Russians who transferred infantry weapons to the Hamas group, which they managed to conquer in Ukraine.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists once again want to show Ukrainians as ungrateful provocateurs who want to destabilize the situation in the world and incite armed conflicts. They say that Ukrainians resell weapons on the black market and they fall into the hands of criminals. Thus, the authors undermine the authority of the Ukrainian authorities and try to disrupt future supplies of armed assistance from NATO countries. After all, such fakes previously target Western audiences and leaders in order to inspire despondency towards Ukraine’s actions.

This was recorded by specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Security. They report that unknown people are calling entrepreneurs in the Cherkasy region, allegedly from the head of the Regional Military Administration, Ihor Taburets, who is “raising money” to help the military. Actually, the head of the regional military administration received this information about scammers from a local businessman.

During the telephone conversation, they offer to transfer funds to help the military to the appropriate bank account. But the head of the Regional Military Administration did not make calls and did not ask to transfer funds. Also in his address, he added real contacts of the leadership of the Cherkasy Regional Military Administration, so that residents of the region could check who is actually calling them on the phone.

This thesis was spread on social networks and in pro-Kremlin media. The reports say that no one notices the humanism of the Russian army, because it supposedly wages war according to all customs while Hamas kills civilians. The authors add that the West should consolidate forces against other forces, and not Russia, which is supposedly “nobly”  defending itself.

But Russia is once again promoting the thesis about “countless NATO headquarters” in Ukraine and hinting that Western officials have an allegedly unhealthy interest in Ukrainian territories. Allegedly, Ukraine is already governed from the outside, and Ukrainian deputies, military personnel and other actors in the political process are generally incapable of making any decisions without prior approval.

Moreover, the Kremlin seeks to hide its own criminal actions against Ukrainians, hiding behind “military targets” that are supposedly a legitimate target. However, it is not military facilities that suffer from Russian missiles and drones, but Ukrainian peaceful cities and civilian infrastructure. In addition, any attack on another country, even on military targets, is a crime. The Kremlin’s baseless rumors about “shelling of military targets” exist to fuel the narrative of the West’s struggle against Russia.

For example, Russia recently shelled the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region. The missile attack on the village was the largest in terms of casualties in 2023 in Ukraine and the largest during the entire period of a full-scale invasion in the region. And this is just one of dozens of cases in which Russia kills and terrorizes civilians. And with comparisons about Hamas, propagandists are trying to whiten themselves against the background of another armed conflict.

This information was disseminated by pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that in Germany they created graffiti with Zelenskyi, where Elon Musk beats him and forces the Ukrainian president to “no longer whine for money”. Photos are added to publications. It is not true.

The fact-checkers from the Myth Detector project investigated the case and determined that such graffiti does not exist. They identified the likely location of this graffiti and first analyzed the location using Google Maps. There was no graffiti in the photographs, although the last photographs were taken two years ago. But based on the results of an on-site inspection on October 11, 2023, analysts came to the conclusion that there was no graffiti at this place. They add video confirmation to the refutation.

We have repeatedly documented hoaxes involving fake graffiti or covers on foreign magazines, newspaper columns or advertisements. Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. So it may seem to readers that the public is really dissatisfied with Ukraine. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, hinting that people are laughing at the situation in Ukraine, and that the Ukrainian agenda for Europe is a reason to laugh.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Volodymyr Zelenskyi, while on a visit to Romania, allegedly boasted about the large amount of money that Ukraine “received from Western leaders”. The authors refer to the president’s interview with Romanian journalists. It's a lie.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found out that Zelenskyi did not say this in an interview. At the very least, there are no phrases that would hint at “bragging about Western money”. The fact-checkers add that during the president’s conversation with journalists, they discussed the war in Israel and how this could affect the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president responded, in particular, that one cannot compare one war with another, and whoever starts these wars is “crazy”. In addition, he gave answers about the Russian-Ukrainian war itself. He said that Ukraine has enough fears about money and weapons, but, in his opinion, the war is now in its last and most difficult phase.

The fact-checkers suggest that Russian media misinterpreted a quote from the Ukrainian president, where he noted that there are fears about money and weapons. At the same time, Russian propaganda passed it off as “bragging”.