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 29 November, on the 1009th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2554
Fake
765
Manipulation
742
Message
536
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Manipulation More than 100,000 residents of Zaporizhzhia have applied for Russian citizenship

The Russian newspaper Izvestia published an article stating that more than 100,000 Zaporizhzhia residents had already applied for Russian citizenship, and thousands had prepared the necessary documents. The publication refers to the statement of the collaborator Vladimir Rogov, appointed by the occupiers as the head of the so-called council of the military-civil administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, on the air of the Russian propaganda TV channel "Solovyov Live."

"There are already more than 100 thousand people - this is 100% who are now in queues. And thousands of people who have already prepared packages of documents," Rogov said. The article also mentions the following: "In the first three days, the city's passport office [Berdyansk] processed 25 applications for Russian citizenship. There are 70 more people on the list… Several residents of Melitopol have also already been given Russian identity cards, Rogov said on June 11. On the same day, Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Kherson region's Military-Civil Administration (MCA), received Russian citizenship. In addition to him, the first passports of the Russian Federation that day were handed over to 25 more residents of the region."

The high-profile title of the article is another fake propaganda machine. First, Zaporizhzhia is not occupied but is part of Ukraine. Therefore, mentioning Zaporizhzhia in the title is already a manipulation to attract attention. Secondly, in addition to the actual regional center, there are two large cities in the region - Berdyansk (population - of 109 thousand people as of 2020) and Melitopol (almost 150 thousand people as of 2021), which are now temporarily occupied. That is, when the occupiers talk about 100 thousand inhabitants of Zaporizhzhia, it is rather about the number of Ukrainians who remained in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region for various reasons.

In addition, the occupiers are actively spreading information that obtaining Russian passports has also begun in Kherson. However, for Kherson (a regional center with a population of almost 280 thousand as of January 2022), they show much more modest figures - there only 1.5 thousand people "expressed a desire to change citizenship."

Fake Russian air defense shot down a Ukrainian AN-26 aircraft carrying weapons in the sky over Odesa

Information about this is disseminated online. The reports claim that the Russian system allegedly shot down a Ukrainian AN-26 plane with weapons and military equipment consignment over Odesa on June 5. The authors of such posts refer to the message of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. However, it is not valid.

Fake Zelensky signed a decree on the surrender of Avdiivka to the occupiers

Information about this is disseminated in pro-Russian telegram channels. The reports say that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, allegedly ordered to hand over Avdiivka to the occupiers and ordered the living soldiers. They remained there to be declared missing. However, this is not true. There is no such presidential decree. "Avdiivka is Ukraine. It was, is, and will be ours!" This information is an insignificant, clumsy fake. They are cynically trying to destroy us. We are heroically resisting. Victory is ours because it has long been known who will come to us with a sword, die by the sword, " wrote the head of the Avdiivka city military-civil administration Vitaliy Barabash.

Fake Cholera outbreak in Kharkiv and Bila Tserkva

The information that the cholera epidemic is starting in these cities of Ukraine is spreading on social networks. These reports say that cholera was found in the city waters of Kharkiv and Bila Tserkva. However, this is not true. MOC "Kharkivvodokanal" reports that the quality of drinking water in the city is monitored daily by the epidemic and sanitary-chemical safety indicators. "There are no deviations from the requirements of the State Sanitary Rules and Norms 2.2.4-171-10; tap water is completely safe. We urge you to trust only official sources of information, "Vodokanal said. BILOTSERKIVVODA PLC also reports that drinking water quality is controlled, and currently, tap water is completely safe. We remind you that earlier information about cholera-contaminated water was disseminated in Odesa and Kyiv.

Manipulation The United States is harming Ukraine and is delaying arms supplies

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, gave an interview to the Russian newspaper RIA Novosti, in which he accused the United States of deliberately prolonging Ukraine's predicament. "The United States is prolonging the troubles of Ukraine. The United States is prolonging this bad period for Ukraine, for the people of Ukraine," Peskov said. The statement was widely circulated in the Russian media. For example, RT wrote that the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov announced that America was prolonging Ukraine's troubles and delaying the process of arms supply, which was terrible for the country. In fact, Peskov's words are manipulation and an emotional reaction to the unprecedented assistance the United States provides to Ukraine. It is almost 54 billion dollars allocated by the US Congress. The total amount of aid includes the cost of weapons that the United States supplies to Ukraine. Also, in his statement, Peskov "forgot" to say that it was because of Russia that "all the troubles" and the "bad period" arose in Ukraine. Silencing the root causes and shifting one's responsibility for war crimes against Ukraine to anyone else (Ukraine, the United States, the collective West) is part of the information policy of the occupiers. Of course, it is more advantageous for Russia to leave Ukraine without help and support because, unfortunately, we will not be able to resist such an enemy on our own. Also, in this way, Peskov is somewhat intimidating, saying that even Ukraine's partners in this war are only harming it. Hinting that as long as the United States sends weapons, the war will continue. However, the war in Ukraine began not because of actions but because of an attack by Russia, which, in particular, with the help of American weapons, Ukraine is resisting.

Manipulation The Germans support Russia

The Russian propaganda media spread this thesis. In their articles, they refer to pro-Russian comments published under the material of the German public television ZDF on Twitter. Propagandists claim that the Germans are choosing Russia, thus reacting to one of Volodymyr Zelensky's statements. The German public television ZDF tweeted an interview with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he said that Ukraine needed confidence that the German government, including Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, supported Ukraine. Russian media called these words of the Ukrainian president an ultimatum. According to StopFake, pro-Russian comments quoted by the Kremlin media can be found under the ZDF publication. Still, it is impossible to say, given them, that all Germans choose Russia. It is manipulation. According to fact-checkers, a poll conducted in April 2022 showed that 89% of Germans fully support or are inclined to support Ukraine, and about 82% of Germans fully support or tend to believe that the Russian authorities are to blame for what is happening.

Fake Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the destruction of "secret laboratory" research data for Metabiota and the Battelle Memorial Institute

Russian propaganda media wrote about it. In particular, the newspaper "Izvestia." The messages with this message are allegedly accompanied by a photo of a document that confirms Zelensky's decision regarding the mysterious US biolaboratories that allegedly operate in Ukraine. "The secret document of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine appeared at the disposal of Izvestia. It states that Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the destruction of all data of employees of Ukrainian enterprises that cooperated with the US military-biological laboratories of Metabiota and the Battelle Memorial Institute. According to the document, the data of service members, civilians, and personnel of three organizations are subject to destruction: the Center for Public Health of Ukraine, the Mechnikov Ukrainian Plague Institute, and the Zhytomyr Laboratory Center for Transport," the propagandists write. However, all this is not true. First, Zelensky could not issue such a decree because the mysterious US biolaboratories do not operate in Ukraine. Secondly, the fact that the document is fake gives the calculation of the error made by the propagandists. They probably translated the text with the help of a Google translator but forgot to correct the mistakes. For example, in the document, instead of "personal file," write "personal," and instead of abbreviations "st." and "m.", meaning "street" and "city," use the Russian "ul." and "g." It is not the first time that Ukrainian propagandists have published their fakes out of ignorance. We will remind the subject of secret laboratories also appeared in media space more than once. Media Detector journalist Gala Sklyarevska wrote about this in detail.

Manipulation The United States is concerned about the disappearance of billions of dollars sent to Kyiv

This message was spread by the Russian media and social networks concerning an article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), published on June 13. Russian propaganda has traditionally exaggerated information and speaks of "ordinary sawing" and "expected theft." However, the quotes announced by the Russian media are taken out of context and distort the opinion expressed in the original source. The fact-checkers from StopFake drew attention to the manipulation. The WSJ published an article about how much money the United States spends daily on military aid to Ukraine under the headline: "Since billions go to Ukraine, officials are concerned about the possibility of fraud and waste." It reports that the United States sends about $ 130 million a day in aid to Ukraine (including the cost of weapons, not just money as such). The US Congress has also allocated nearly $ 54 billion to Ukraine, exceeding annual aid to any other country, including aid sent to Afghanistan at the peak of US military involvement there. The article's authors, referring to the opinion of American politicians, draw attention to the need to establish an effective mechanism for controlling the allocated funds, which did not happen at the beginning of the war due to the need to respond quickly to challenges. That is, Americans want to be sure that the money allocated goes to their goals. And this is natural, given the amount of funding.

Fake Kharkiv communal services ask citizens to leave their apartments open so that territorial defense fighters can enter

Such information is disseminated online, as well as in ads posted on the streets of the city. The reports say that the Kharkiv utility company "Zhylkomservice" allegedly appeals to citizens to leave their apartments open. The ads add that this is allegedly necessary to place territorial defense fighters firing positions in the flats. However, this is a fake. According to the Kharkiv City Council, communal services did not ask citizens not to close their homes. "We urge citizens to be careful and be sure to close windows and doors before leaving the apartment," the city council said. We will remind you that the Russian propagandists repeatedly lied that the Ukrainian military arranged firing points in the territory of civilian objects, for example, on the domain of the Odesa film studio.

Fake The Armed Forces "fires again" on Kharkiv

Russian propaganda media allegedly wrote about this concerning eyewitness accounts - a resident of Kharkiv. According to the fact-checkers of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, propaganda reports say that Kharkiv residents who have been in the city since the beginning of the "special military operation" are aware that the Ukrainian Armed Forces brought a large number of civilian casualties. However, this is not true. In fact, Kharkiv, like other cities in Ukraine, is being shelled by the enemy, Russia, which started the war. Instead, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are defending the country and repelling the Russian military. However, it is advantageous for Russian propagandists to claim that Ukraine is killing its own inhabitants to justify the war. However, it was the Russian occupiers who destroyed Pivnichna Saltivka. There is ample testimony from witnesses who said that the shelling came from Belgorod from settlements along the ring road, where Russian troops were stopped. In addition, experts from the Conflict Intelligence Team found that the Russians had fired on Saltivka, including by air, and that the shelling of the Rohani and Horizont areas had ceased after the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to drive the Russian occupiers out of Mala Rohan. The destroyed equipment of the occupiers, from which they fired on the city, can still be seen in the village. "As for the village of Zhukovsky, it is almost daily fired on by Russian troops from the side of Belgorod. It is because the Armed Forces managed to advance the least in this direction. Therefore, as several Armed Forces manage to push the occupiers to a distance from which they cannot reach the city, the shelling stops," experts from the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center explain.

Manipulation An unprecedented war was declared against Russia

It was stated during a so-called international economic forum held in Saint Petersburg, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. He spoke about his vision of the financial situation in the world. He assured that "everything will be restored on a new basis in the conditions of the absolutely unprecedented war that was declared and started against us." The fact-checkers of the project "Bez Brekhni" drew attention to the quote of Putin's press secretary. Peskov is probably referring to US and EU economic sanctions imposed on Russia over three months. Hundreds of international companies have also stopped cooperating with the country, causing the Russian economy to suffer. However, calling all these actions an unprecedented war, Peskov forgot to add that it happened as a result of the real war that Russia started on the territory of Ukraine. That is, the war is not going on against Russia, and if it were not for the military actions of this country, as a result of which hundreds of peaceful Ukrainians die and cities are destroyed, nothing would have happened.

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.