The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine refuted the fake spread by pro-Kremlin telegram channels, alleging that the Ukrainian military fired on civilians in occupied Donetsk from the Tochka-U missile system. In the videos distributed by the occupiers with the alleged "moment of ammunition and consequences," you can see only a tiny explosion, not typical of the complex "Point-U". The "consequences of the explosion" also do not correspond to the "Point U" projectile; in particular, there is no clear place where the projectile hit, although a typical funnel should have remained. This fake was supposed to "demonize the Armed Forces in the eyes of Western partners and the population of Russia itself..

Read more

Messengers are spreading the word that the enemy has developed a new way to warn of attacks on peaceful cities and residents. The report says that enemy reconnaissance groups in the city turn on lasers. According to the report, the green colour allegedly means a place for attacks and provocations; orange or yellow indicates the proximity of the enemy. However, all this is fake.

According to expert Dmitry Zolotukhin, this is technically impossible because a traffic light with a powerful emitter is not visible for 600 meters.

Unbelievable, but the new fake of the Russian Ministry of Defense looks like this: "Ukrainians under pressure from the Ukrainian authorities are forced to flee to Romania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary." Also, the Russian Defense Ministry said that at checkpoints, "not equipped rest areas, not organized food and medical care, refugees are forced to stay in the cold and cold, many of them with young children," and those travelling by car are stuck in traffic jams for tens of kilometres. Cars and pedestrians need to stand in line "2-3 days".

First, today the State Border Guard Service announced no queues, neither car nor pedestrian, at almost all border crossings. Secondly, volunteers helped refugees at the borders on both sides.

Third, people are fleeing abroad from shelling in residential areas, from air bombs and Grads, which kill Ukrainians by the Russian occupiers. And this is obvious - because neither queues at the borders, nor long waits in traffic jams, nor evacuation trains, in which people stand for twenty hours, did not exist in Ukraine until February 24.

This information is spread on social networks, but it's fake, as VoxCheck checkers found out.

"The Russian navy inflicted the missile strike on the ship. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, on March 2 at 17:25, Russian naval forces launched a missile strike on the ship Banglar Samriddhu (flag of Bangladesh), which was in the port of Olbia in the Mykolayiv region. A Bangladeshi citizen was killed when a rocket hit. The vessel entered the port on February 23 and was waiting for loading at the №363 berth without the possibility of exiting due to illegal navigation warnings about restrictions on navigation from the Russian navy," the statement reads.

Russian politicians and the media are spreading this statement, trying to further turn citizens in Russia and abroad, especially in Germany and France, against the "collective West".

НIn fact, this statement is manipulative, as most of the sanctions imposed on Russia are aimed at the country's political leadership, elites, defense and financial sectors, etc. And the purpose of these economic measures is not to undermine the so-called potential of Russia and Belarus, it is a response to aggression and full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Vitaliy Kim, the head of Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, reported that an old fake recording with allegedly his voice about tank attack on Mykolaiv at 2 PM has been shared on social media. Kim added that there were no tank groups near the city.

Such information is spread by social media users. It is reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine kidnapped a United Nations representative in Kharkiv, and also arrived at the UN base in Kramatorsk and confiscated employees’ vehicles.

It is not true. Fake has already been refuted by fact checkers from VoxCheck. Ukrainian armed forces fighters did not abduct the UN representative in Kharkiv. Read more

This information is disseminated on the Internet regarding the video where Ukrainian disposal experts defuse a high-explosive air-dropped bomb OFZAB-500. The messages say that these types of bombs have thin lining, and when falling the weapon would have exploded. According to StopFake, propagandists claim that there are no traces of a falling bomb on earth.

“Some users on Twitter are also skeptical about the video and think that it was staged since the experts defuse the bomb without any type of protection. However, this video was released on the official page of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The video features OFZAB-500 high explosive fragmentation incendiary bomb that is prohibited by the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons for use in areas of civilian concentration. Defusion was executed in Chernihiv, on March 9, after another bombardment of the city by russian aviation.” - fact-checkers write.

This information is spread by russian propagandists and Ukrainian pro-russian politicians. In particular, by Illia Kyva. These messages say that on the video Zelensky is escorted by Inna Derusova who died while performing a combat mission on February 26, in Okhtyrka, Sumska oblast.

In fact, the video didn’t show Inna Derusova but Tetiana Ostashchenko who was appointed as Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the summer of 2021. Read more

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels spread a fake that people in Kherson were "rejoicing over the arrival of Russia". During the March 13 celebration of the city's liberation from Nazi aggressors, locals allegedly "welcomed the arrival of Russian troops" in the city. In fact, on March 13 in Kherson, several thousand people took part in peaceful action with posters and Ukrainian flags. They also chanted "Go home", "Go home while alive", "Ukraine above all", "Glory of the nation — death to enemies", "Russian soldier, go f*ck yourself", "Kherson is Ukraine", "Russia is a shitbin, Ukraine gonna win." Later, at a rally, the occupiers opened fire. In addition, the SBU previously reported that occupiers were brought Russians from occupied Crimea to the city to create a "picture for the Russian media."

The website of the Zhytomyr Regional Council was hacked on March 13 — it published a fake announcement about the emergency evacuation of citizens. The fake message also called for "not to resist the occupiers." For some time, the site stopped working, and the Zhytomyr Regional Council reported a cyber attack.

The Security Service of Ukraine has denied the fake information that all phone calls and messages, and calls on Whatsapp, Twitter, and Facebook will be recorded in Ukraine.

Details here and here.

Russia's Defense Ministry claims that "at least 180 foreign mercenaries were killed and a large consignment of foreign weapons" destroyed due to Russian missiles hitting military installations in the Lviv region on the morning of March 13. The report refers to the shelling of the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in the village of Starychi, Yavoriv district, Lviv region.

In a comment to CNN, Markiyan Lubkivskyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Defense Ministry, denied the presence of foreigners in the centre at all and called the fake "untrue and purely Russian propaganda." According to the Lviv Regional Military Administration, and 134 were injured in the shelling of the Yavoriv test site, where the centre is located.