Propaganda resources are trying to disorient the Ukrainian Defense Forces with messages about the alleged withdrawal of the Russian army from some temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region. Thus, on the morning of November 12, pro-Russian media published news about the regrouping of Russian troops near Dnipro, and on November 13 they deleted their publications and reported that the preliminary information was canceled.

The Center for National Resistance investigated this case and stated that the regrouping of Russian troops in the Kherson region has not been recorded. This was reported to the Center by local residents of the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of the Kherson region, which are discussed in the “news”. It looks like this case is an information operation against Ukraine. The Center for National Resistance also added that the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kherson region is a matter of time.

Pro-Russian resources began distributing a video in which supposedly Ukrainian military personnel, introducing themselves as fighters of the 3rd battalion of the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, complain to the President of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief about poor command and heavy losses in Avdiivka.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project processed this case. They found out that the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces responded to this video and refuted it. On the brigade’s official Facebook page they write that the video is not of their Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, but of occupiers dressed in Ukrainian uniforms. In addition, suspicion was also aroused by the fact that the “military man” who complained on behalf of the battalion did not name his company, unit, position, surname or call sign in this “appeal”, although the video was recorded with open faces.

Propagandists are trying to demoralize Ukrainian society by spreading fake news like this video. They do this cynically, insidiously and resort to peculiar methods. Previously, we refuted the information that allegedly Hamas representatives recorded a video in which they thanked Zelenskyi for providing the weapons.

Pro-Russian resources began to disseminate information that the Lithuanian authorities are planning to introduce a “rain tax”, the reason for which was “exorbitant expenses” on the country’s defense and the supply of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine. They say that the Lithuanian government no longer knows where to look for additional resources to cover the country’s expenses, so it resorts to innovative methods. This is manipulation.

This case was processed by fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. They found out that in some Lithuanian counties there is indeed a rain tax, although it is not related to the war in Ukraine. For example, in Alytus, city residents have been paying it since 1996. It is worth noting that the tax is levied only on residents of private houses and provided that precipitation fell on their territory and entered the general runoff. It turns out that the tax is not really for rain, but for the treatment of rainwater by wastewater treatment plants.

Russian disinformation in this case aims to undermine Lithuanians’ trust in their government, encourage them to boycott financial assistance to Ukraine, and generally weaken international support for our country. One of the key messages of propagandists here is that the internal problems of the state have not been resolved in Lithuania and, for example, school teachers periodically go on strike due to low salaries, and the authorities are indifferent to this - they are thinking about Ukraine.

Propagandists claim that independent journalists from Ukraine allegedly counted 284 thousand Ukrainian military obituaries that were published on social networks by the families and friends of the victims. In November 2022, the number of obituaries was “record”, with 1,100 allegedly published daily. It's fake.

The information was processed at the Center for Strategic Communications. They researched that not a single Ukrainian publication has materials related to the number of obituaries about Ukrainian soldiers. Back in August 2023, the network spread information that the so-called Russian military expert Ruslan Tatarinov had carried out his “calculation”. Then, for the first time, pro-Russian resources began to spread misinformation about 284 thousand obituaries.

Data on the dead Ukrainian military is a state secret and will not be made public until the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The figures mentioned in the material were invented by Russian propaganda with the aim of demoralizing Ukrainians: to sow fear, uncertainty and doubts about the issue of war and Ukraine’s victory in it.

The network began to spread information that the captain of the Ukrainian ship Izmail  Anatolii Bohatyriov refused to comply with the order of the high command to immediately take a ship to Ukraine from Burgas (Bulgaria). The reason for the “insubordination of the Ukrainian captain” is his desire to avoid mobilization. Anatolii Bohatyriov seemed to have told his superiors that he was ready to go anywhere except Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. They found out that the Ukrainian ship Izmail had a navigation ban from the Maritime Administration of Bulgarian Burgas and therefore could not head for Ukraine. The Burgas Maritime Administration explained this for two reasons: the expiration of the ship’s documents and the incomplete crew. After Ukraine provided all the necessary documents, the ship had to receive permission to sail. Other crew members were to be hired by the charterer.

Subsequently, the General Director of the Private Joint Stock Company “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” (UDP) Dmytro Moskalenko wrote on his Facebook page that Ukraine had nevertheless returned the cargo ship Izmail under its control. In addition, the Ukrainian side plans to demand compensation from the lessee for returning the ship in an improper condition after downtime. The UDP also responded to one of its subscribers on its Facebook page that captain Anatolii Bohatyriov is already in Izmail (Odesa region).

This case of disinformation nourishes one of the Russian narratives about “mobilization” in Ukraine, according to which the Ukrainian authorities do not value human lives and will soon send everyone to fight. Previously, we refuted the information that in Ukraine there is a “war until the last Ukrainian”, even the unborn.