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 21 November, on the 1001th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2543
Fake
756
Manipulation
739
Message
535
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake Russians are lying that two out of ten Ukrainians die during meetings with representatives of the Territorial recruitment and social support center

Russian propaganda sources are distributing a video allegedly from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which states that two out of ten Ukrainians die due to the illegal actions of the Territorial recruitment and social support center workers.

However, this is another fake from the Russians, journalists from the VoxCheck project write. The video distributed by the propagandists is fabricated – it is not on the official ISW website. In addition, statistics about “the death of Ukrainians due to the actions of Territorial recruitment and social support center workers” were not distributed by either reliable Ukrainian or foreign media.

The Russians also made a mistake and translated “territorial recruitment and social support centers” as TRSSCs in the video while in English it is TCR and SS (Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support). And at the end of each of their videos, ISW calls for donations to their organization (the call “Donate today”), while in the fake video there is only a list of social networks instead.

It should be noted that there were indeed cases when Ukrainian men died after visiting the TCR and SS. At the same time, these were not mass, but isolated cases. Also, the guilt of the TCR and SS workers was not proven in all cases.

Earlier we wrote that propagandists created a fake animated video about TCR and SS workers.

Fake The lie that children from Ukraine are beaten in Polish schools for speaking Ukrainian

Russian Telegram channels are spreading information that Ukrainian children are allegedly beaten in Polish schools for speaking their native language. As proof of this, the propagandists add screenshots of corresponding reviews from Ukrainian parents whose children study in Polish schools.

In fact, this is a fake. The screenshots are fake, the VoxCheck project reports. Yes, the original reviews were replaced, because they talked about things unrelated to the language issue. For example, there were reviews about school renovations, the quality of teaching, and others. VoxCheck journalists did manage to find one complaint about cruel treatment of refugees from Ukraine, but it was published a year ago.

It should be noted that cases of aggression towards students from Ukraine in Poland do indeed occur.

Russian propaganda continues to work to set Ukrainians and Poles at odds with each other.

Fake Fake news that two “Colombian mercenaries” deserted from the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Pro-Russian sources are distributing a photo of an announcement in Ukrainian, which states that the National Police headquarters in Kharkiv Oblast is looking for Carlos Maria Mallarino and Héctor Santiago Trujillo. Russian propagandists are commenting on the photo of the announcement, claiming that two “Colombian mercenaries” have deserted from the Ukrainian army.

In fact, this information is not true. The Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kharkiv region did not put these two people on the wanted list - there is no such information on their official website or on their social media pages. The ad also contains punctuation errors. And the photo of the ad is distributed mainly in the pro-Russian segment of the network. Considering the listed facts, it can be argued that the ads were presumably forged by propagandists.

This fake feeds the Russian narrative about the presence of “foreign mercenaries” in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, by spreading such disinformation, the Russians speculate on the topic of desertion in the Ukrainian army.

Earlier, we analyzed the Russian propaganda that a group of foreign mercenaries of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was allegedly “liquidated” in the Briansk region.

Fake Fake news about Ukrainians buying up housing in the Kharkiv region in order to later “legally end up in Russia”

Russian propaganda sources are distributing a video in which a woman says that recently “a certain percentage of Ukrainian citizens” have been buying real estate in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region in order to “legally end up on Russian territory” in the coming years.

However, this information is not true, Ukrinform journalists write. In the video, the woman expresses only her own opinion, hinting that Ukrainians are supposedly hoping for Russia to occupy this region. She does not provide any evidence for her words, does not refer to verified and objective sources that could confirm this information.

The woman in the video is Maryna Onishchenko, a Ukrainian from Kharkiv who moved to Russia after the full-scale invasion. She is a collaborator and Russian propagandist, and runs a blog on the Russian video portal Rutube. In her videos, Onishchenko shows life in Russia and talks about how “Ukrainians live well in Russia, unlike life in Europe”. In particular, the propagandist’s “creative legacy” includes a video about how “Ukrainians fled Britain for Russia”. The woman also interviews foreigners who moved to Russia and spread various fakes about Ukraine on their social networks.

This is her latest disinformation campaign aimed at causing discord in Ukrainian society. Earlier, we analyzed the fake news that residents of the Kharkiv region allegedly supported the “referendum on joining Russia” for “approval of local authorities”.

Fake Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland allegedly says Poles are “unworthy of their ancestors due to weak support from Kyiv”

Russian propaganda Telegram channels are distributing a screenshot of an alleged message on the page of the newly appointed Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar on the X social network. The publication states that the Poles are unworthy of the memory of their ancestors, who besieged Moscow four centuries ago. “Poland does not provide Kyiv with MiG-29, refuses to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine, considers Bandera a Nazi and a criminal”, Bodnar allegedly writes. In turn, the propagandists comment on this message as follows: “the new ambassador has begun work on a diplomatic scandal”.

In fact, this is a fake, the newly appointed Ukrainian ambassador to Poland did not publish this message. This is reported by the VoxCheck project. The screenshot distributed by propagandists is the same in all the messages where it appeared: the time of publication (“4 hours ago”), the number of views, preferences and distributions are the same. It is unlikely that these indicators would be identical in screenshots of different users. That is, different propaganda sources are distributing the same fake screenshot.

Bodnar has not yet started his duties as ambassador to Poland. President Zelenskyi signed a decree on his appointment on October 25, 2024, but some time will pass before he actually takes office. An ambassador begins his work from the moment his credentials are presented to the head of a foreign state, and copies of his credentials are also presented to representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the case of Poland, an official ceremony with the participation of President Andrzej Duda must take place, and only after that will Vasyl Bodnar take office. For example, almost half a year passed between the appointment of former Ukrainian ambassador to Poland Vasyl Zvarych and the inauguration ceremony.

For now, Bodnar is still working in his previous position as the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey. This is evidenced by the diplomat's social networks and the Ukrainian embassy in Turkey. In particular, after signing the decree on the new appointment, he attended a book presentation in the rank of the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey.

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.