Users of social networks, in particular the American segment of Instagram, spread a video showing a house driving across a field, and added the inscription: “Ukrainian tank uses the house as camouflage”. The author of the publication believes that the video allegedly shows military equipment disguised as a Ukrainian house. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the PolitiFact project. They determined that there was no Ukrainian tank disguised as a house in the video. In fact, this is a car, namely the Zaporozhets, which, back in 2020, a family from near Dnipro turned into a “mobile home”. Craftsmen decorated it with Petrykivka painting, and placed icons and embroidered towels inside. A reverse search also showed that the video, dated 2020, was filmed by TV Channel 34. The Instagram post was labeled as the “False Information” one. 

The Ukrainian military does not disguise military equipment as houses. Earlier, Detector Media explained the manipulation that Mexican cartels allegedly receive weapons provided to Ukraine as military aid.

Kremlin propaganda media, anonymous telegram channels and users of the Russian segment of Twitter spread information that the UK is allegedly recruiting “mercenaries” for the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east of Ukraine. Proof of this is the announcement of the EU Citizenship Program on the Adzuna job site. Russian propaganda refers to the publication of the British edition of The Times. It's fake.

The fact-checker of the Stop Fake project drew attention to the case. The UK did not recruit “mercenaries” to Ukraine because of the Adzuna website. What's more, Adzuna chief executive Doug Munro told The Times that the ad was created for the purpose of propaganda and that his site was “a victim of Russian disinformation about the war”. After the message began to circulate among the military, The Sunday Times contacted Adzuna. And the company immediately froze the advertisement and contacted the police. Doug Munro believes that this provocation was created by “Russia or pro-Russian fans”.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes and manipulations by so-called foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. Thus, Russian propagandists seek to create the appearance that Russia is actually at war not with Ukraine, but with the so-called collective West. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that the West allegedly does not allow the Ukrainian military to use its equipment, because “foreign mercenaries” are doing this.

Such information was disseminated in telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The cover of a German satirical magazine allegedly depicts Zelenskyi with the inscription “Successful counteroffensive in their pants”, and the propagandists themselves distribute the publication: “Betrayal or what, ladies and gentlemen”. It's fake.

Specialists of the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated this case and found that such a cover of the Titanic edition with Volodymyr Zelenskyi does not exist. Fact-checkers checked the magazine by serial number and found the real cover of the issue. Russian propagandists systematically create detailed covers for foreign publications.

By spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and split the society, and also seeks to convince it that the West repeats the rhetoric of the Russians and laughs at the Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media denied a fake about the cover of the German edition of Eulenspiegel with the inscription “Ukraine is raising money for suicide”.

This message is spread by Russian media and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The report says that “after several unsuccessful attempts to attack the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the shares of the German defense concern Rheinmetall went down sharply”. According to Russian propaganda, this happened after the mass destruction of Leopard 2 tanks produced by the concern by Russian troops. Ukraine seems to have become a testing ground for the “miracle technology”, which proved to be not the best. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. The German concern Rheinmetall AG is one of the largest manufacturers of military equipment in Germany and Europe. Together with the Krauss-Maffei concern, it also produces Leopard tanks, which are now supplying Ukraine. The group is now ramping up production and is not having a significant drop in shares or economic problems, as evidenced by the data from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. And the head of the German defense concern Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, said earlier that the Ukrainian military spoke very positively about the weapons provided.

By spreading this message, propagandists are once again trying to promote the message that Russian technology is effective and invincible, and that Ukraine is a testing ground for Western weapons. Russian propaganda is also trying to embroil Ukraine with its partners. Earlier, Detector Media explained the message that Western technology is stupid, it is unsuitable for use in Ukraine.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are spreading a statement by Russian collaborator Volodymyr Rohov that since 2016 the number of TB patients in the Zaporizhzhia region has been on the rise. According to him, 70% of patients have a treatment-resistant form, and this was the result of American biological experiments, the closure of bacteriological laboratories, and the abolition of the diagnosis of tuberculosis among children. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. According to the Center for Public Health, in the Zaporizhzhia region in 2015-2021, the level of registration of new cases of the disease has decreased. Infection also decreased in 2022 compared to 2021 to 33.5 cases per 100,000 population. Deputy Minister of Health Ihor Kuzin explains that the high incidence in Ukraine is due to insufficient vaccination and untimely access to doctors. Indeed, in 2022, 119 patients in the Zaporizhzhia region were diagnosed with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis for the first time. However, this is not the result of Western actions, but non-adherence to the treatment plan and a consequence of the previously ineffective system of care for tuberculosis. However, since 2007, an anti-tuberculosis bacteriological laboratory has been operating in Zaporizhzhia, and in 2020, a phthisis pulmonological center was established in Zaporizhzhia on the basis of the regional anti-tuberculosis dispensary. Diagnosis of tuberculosis is still carried out, mantoux is mandatory for children.

Russian propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulations of the biological laboratory on the territory of Ukraine. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Western partners and intimidate Ukrainians. This is part of the narrative that “the West controls Ukraine”. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that Ukraine collected bird flu strains in the Askania-Nova nature reserve.

Russia is constantly trying to show itself as a strong multicultural state that cares about its diversity. In particular, this can be seen in the promotional materials of the country or in statements at the multilateral level. However, in fact, Russian policy is directly aimed at the destruction of multinationality. As a rule, a multinational state is formed in the course of colonial conquest (and not only), which Russia has been and is doing. The rhetoric of Russia at the moment is colonialist and Nazi. Due to it, Russia is trying to achieve superiority over all enslaved peoples, hiding behind the fact that it supposedly cares about national communities.

At the same time, outwardly, it cherishes the narrative about the great Russian people, not remembering the others, or attributes the status of “Russians” to all peoples. For example, the languages of different nationalities within Russia are gradually disappearing due to legislative initiatives that exclude their use in the social and cultural field. For example, in 2021, an arrested activist for the rights of the Komi people spoke during a court hearing in the language of these people, but the judge condemned the use of the Komi language even despite its declared status as a republican language. Or, after numerous wars with the true identity of the Chechens, the Russian authorities allowed to keep only that part of it that coincides with Moscow's priorities and goals in exchange for large subsidies from the state budget. Moreover, the Russian politicians deliberately create a situation of privileged Russians over other ethnic groups within the country in the context of aggression against Ukraine. In particular, most of the Russian soldiers who died in the war are ethnically Buriats. Even the Pope of Rome at one time called the Buriats and Chechens the most cruel among the Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine.

Using the concept of a “multinational state”, Russian propagandists and high-ranking officials turn a blind eye to the real state of affairs for many ethnic groups within the country, which is the result of a deliberate policy of destroying multiculturalism within Russia. All this is done to strengthen control and keep the center of power in one place. In addition, it works at the external level within the framework of public diplomacy. In particular, such messages are disseminated through Russian Houses (cultural centers of the Russian Foreign Ministry in other countries). Detector Media has already written about the fakes of this institution.