Russian media write that allegedly the “Kyiv regime” intends to arrange a genocide of Russians. Like, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak, on the air of one of the Ukrainian TV channels, called for “destroying Russians by the thousands” every day. Allegedly, for this tanks, missiles and aircraft should be immediately provided to Ukraine by the West. This is not true.

The Russian media took the words of Mykhailo Podoliak out of context. In fact, he spoke about the prospects for the end of the war and expressed the opinion that in order to end hostilities and de-occupy Ukrainian territories as soon as possible, the Armed Forces of Ukraine need the losses of the Russian army to be about 5,000 invaders. It was this phrase of Podoliak that the Russian media took out of context and used to create “news” about the “genocide of Russians”. That is, Podoliak was talking about the Russian military who came to Ukraine with the war, and not about the Russians in general.

According to StopFake, Ukraine, in accordance with international norms and the UN Charter, has every right to use any means available to it to defend against Russian aggression. Defense against the enemy on sovereign territory is not genocide.

The Russian media deliberately use the tactics of concept substitution and portray Russia as an “affected party”, rather than an aggressor country. Although it was the actions of the Russian army in the temporarily occupied territories that were called the genocide of Ukrainians.

Russian media, citing materials from The Washington Post, write that allegedly “many” US congressmen from the Republican Party spoke out “for Ukraine to give up part of its territories in favor of Russia”. Some publications specify that we are talking about almost half of the Republicans. This is manipulation.

In The Washington Post, Aaron Blake analyzes several recent surveys of US public opinion on support for Ukraine. As StopFake writes, propagandists came up with the message about the “proposals of congressmen”.

In the article, Blake notes that now support for Ukraine in the United States remains predominantly bipartisan. The results of the survey take into account the party allegiance of respondents to Democrats or Republicans. According to a study by Fox News, the majority of Democrats (61%) believe that Ukraine is winning the war. At the same time, 43% of Republican supporters believe that Russia is winning.

In another Gallup Institute poll, respondents were asked what the US should do: “support Ukraine in reclaiming the territories, even if it means continuing the war”, or “end the conflict soon, even if it allows Russia to keep the territory of Ukraine”. The majority of Republicans (53%) were in support of Ukraine, while 41% were ready to approve the seizure of Ukrainian territory by Russia to end the war. The majority of Democratic Party supporters (81%) chose the first answer and only 16% supported possible territorial concessions to end the war.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates opinion polls to give the impression that there is little support for Ukraine abroad. Previously, propagandists manipulated the results of surveys on arms supplies to Ukraine in Germany, the USA, France, etc.

A video allegedly from the news program of an American TV channel is being distributed on social networks. On it, the hosts talk about “a puppy from Ohio who got the attention of the whole country”. Against the background of their conversation, there is a story about the trip of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to the UK. In the comments, social media users write that Zelenskyi is openly ridiculed already on American television. This video is fake.

A video montage of a news story with a video recording of Volodymyr Zelenskyi is being distributed on social networks. According to the fact-checkers of MythDetector, in this video, the hosts of the KCCI TV channel talk about a puppy that signaled to its owner from the car. It went viral on social media in February 2017. The propagandists intentionally edited it with a video recording of the President of Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propaganda uses the tactics of ridicule to discredit the President of Ukraine. Previously, propagandists spread messages about fake graffiti with Zelenskyi in public places, fake magazine covers, etc.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this with reference to the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary,Szijjártó Péter. Like, all European countries, except Hungary, defend the need to fight on. Only Hungary is interested in a ceasefire and peace talks. According to Szijjártó, the war in Ukraine is becoming more and more brutal and human lives need to be saved, and this can only be done with the help of peace.

Hungary, despite its supposedly neutral position, really systematically “plays” along with Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has previously explained that the war started because of Russia's opposition to NATO expansion. Orban also opposed sanctions against Russia. Such theses coincide with the narratives of Russian propaganda. Actually, like Szijjártó’s proposal for peace negotiations.

Western countries have repeatedly said that only Ukraine will decide how and when to start the peace process and whether to start it at all. The partners also promise to provide support to Ukraine “as much as necessary”.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the subject of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Like, Ukraine refuses to negotiate and cease fire. Thus, Russia transfers responsibility for the unleashed war to Ukraine. The position of Ukraine regarding the negotiations has not changed - negotiations are possible only after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine. Earlier propagandists claimed that Zelenskyi could have stopped the war, but the West did not let him do it.

In the Russian media and occupational telegram channels, reports are spreading that allegedly Ukraine is massively bringing foreign mercenaries to Kharkov. The reports refer to “military expert” Andrii Marochko and the so-called “Luhansk intelligence”. They write that allegedly all the mercenaries are dressed in civilian clothes, but they have the same army-type backpacks with them. These people allegedly speak English, German, French and Polish. Also in the messages they write that under the guise of “mercenaries”, military personnel of other states come to Kharkiv. It's fake.

There is no evidence to support such reports. The fact-checkers of the Kharkiv anti-corruption center drew attention to the spread of the fake. Foreigners who have signed the relevant contract are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Otherwise, foreigners fight as volunteers, that is, they do not receive any financial reward from Ukraine. Russia uses the term “mercenaries” to substitute concepts.

Also, Russian propaganda systematically feeds the narrative that military personnel of other states are fighting in Ukraine. Recently, propagandists wrote that the military from the EU countries fought on the territory of Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion; Western countries are allegedly sending soldiers to Ukraine with weapons. Thus, Russian propaganda is also trying to justify the failures of the Russian army, in particular during the liberation of the Kharkiv region. Like, they are fighting not with “weak” Ukrainians, but with “specially trained NATO members” or Americans.

A video allegedly from an interview with the Head of the Defense Committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, is being distributed on social networks. She says that German soldiers should be sent to war in Ukraine. It's fake.

The video circulating on social networks is compiled from phrases taken out of context. As the fact-checkers of the Correctiv project note, in fact, in an interview, the politician did not explain her expectations for the candidate for the post of German defense minister after the dismissal of Christine Lambrecht. In particular, the words of Strack-Zimmermann related to the fact that the minister would be responsible for people who, according to his decision, would go to war. That is, it was said that the Minister of Defense as a whole is responsible for the leadership of the army, and not for the participation of the German military in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Moreover, the Chairman of the German Defense Committee does not decide on the missions of the German army. Also, the fact-checkers did not find any evidence that Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann once spoke positively about the deployment of German soldiers in Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propaganda nourishes the narrative that foreign military forces are fighting in Ukraine. Previously, propagandists spread the message that the EU and NATO were planning to unleash the Third World War, and the military from the EU countries fought on the territory of Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion.

Foreign pro-Russian resources write that Russian and Belarusian athletes are discriminated against because they are not allowed to participate in international competitions even under a neutral flag. Like, the Baltic countries, Poland and Great Britain have created coalitions to fight the Russians and Belarusians. According to propaganda, this is racism. Propagandists also write that governments are interfering in sports instead of dealing with the affairs of state importance. EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of the message.

On February 28, 2022, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee really recommended that international sports federations and organizers of sporting events “not invite and prevent the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions”. Such a decision is connected with a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and in no way can be qualified as racism. Propagandists use substitution of concepts to portray Russians and Belarusians as victims.

Now there is a discussion of the possible participation of Russians and Belarusians in the 2024 Olympics. However, a group of 35 countries, including the UK, Germany, USA, France and Japan, have agreed to demand the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the 2024 Olympics.

The Russians use international measures to promote disinformation, create provocations and scandals, which are then used by Russian propaganda. According to the President of Ukraine, the presence of representatives of the aggressor state at the competitions is a manifestation of violence and lawlessness.

Videos of alleged mass protests in the Netherlands are being circulated online. Users claim that people allegedly protest against the provision of weapons to Ukraine and demand the restoration of farms that went bankrupt as a result of sanctions against Russia. This is manipulation.

There were indeed protests in the Netherlands, but they have nothing to do with the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The demonstrators opposed the government's initiative to introduce a central bank digital currency. VoxCheck fact checkers found that the protests took place in Amsterdam on February 5, 2023. The organizer of the demonstration and the protesters believe that the government is trying to limit the freedom of citizens to spend money anonymously and at their discretion, and technology can be used to control the society of the Netherlands. The demands of the demonstrators were neither about the provision of weapons to Ukraine, nor about the restoration of farms.

Russian propaganda is trying to create the appearance that the level of support for Ukraine in European countries is falling. Propagandists have previously spread fake messages about protests against arms supplies to France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, Belgium, etc.