This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that children are recruited in Germany for work, and then they are required to pay their entire “salary” to help Ukraine. The authors of the messages add a photo of the employment contract, which allegedly needs to be signed by the children. This is manipulation. 

The fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation, who turned to the Ukrainian Embassy in Berlin for comment, took up the case. It turned out that in Germany there is a nationwide action - Social Day - when schoolchildren across the country have the opportunity to exchange one of their school days for a day of their dream work. And the money earned is usually donated to charity. The propagandists distorted the context of the “labor contract”, which referred exclusively to the initiative of one day of work. 

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to show that the West illegally employs children and takes money from them. Allegedly, Germany violates the rights of children and does not believe that children can only be allowed to work at a specific age and for a limited time.

The Russian authorities have been using sports as a propaganda tool since Soviet times. Famous athletes and coaches publicly express their support for Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, and also speak at propaganda events of the Putin regime. The Ukrainian sports portal Trybuna, with the help of fans, has created and regularly updates the List of Shame - a database of Russian and Belarusian current and former athletes and coaches, as well as sports functionaries and officials who publicly supported Putin's aggression. Putin's pro-government United Russia party has been using popular ex-athletes as a mouthpiece for propaganda for decades. Some of them became deputies of the State Duma of Russia from the ruling party and found their place in the system of Russian power. Nine former athletes supported Russian aggression against Ukraine. Among them are boxers Mykolai Valuiev and Dmytro Pyroh, biathletes Anton Shypulin and Serhii Chepikov, hockey player Viacheslav Fetisov, chess player Anatolii Karpov, wrestler Artur Taimazov, figure skater Iryna Rodnina and speed skater Svitlana Zhurova. Active members of the sport also took part in Putin's propaganda activities after the start of the full-scale war and supported the aggression against Ukraine. The most famous are figure skaters Arina and Dina Averina, Aliona Kostorna, Kamila Valieva, Yelizaveta Tuktamysheva, skiers Oleksandr Bolshunov, Oleksandr Lehkov and Veronika Stepanova, wrestler Roman Vlasov, football players Artem Dziuba and Ari, mixed martial arts fightersOleksandr Yemelianenko, Oleksandr Shlemenko, Petro Yan. Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyiak went further and in March 2022 entered the World Cup stage awards with the letter “Z” on his suit, the main symbol of Russian aggression against Ukraine for which he was disqualified for a year.

Unfortunately, this list was not without traitors: some former Ukrainians have long supported the Putin regime and an aggressive war against their own country. Here we can distinguish chess player Serhii Kariakin, MMA fighter Oleksii Oliynyk and ex-volleyball player Taras Khtei. After the start of a full-scale war, most international sports institutions (not controlled by the Russians themselves) either completely banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in competitions, or set conditions for them to compete in a neutral status: without flags, anthems, and subject to public condemnation of aggression against Ukraine. Russian propaganda, of course, began to shout about “double standards”, “politicization of sports” and “russophobia”. Even the Russian Foreign Ministry distinguished itself by this.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that there are long queues of Ukrainian citizens at the Latvian border who are allegedly trying to leave for Russia. The authors refer to the materials of the Latvian Radio and the Latvian Television LSM. This is manipulation. 

Fact-checkers of the Stop Fake project took up this case and investigated that the journalists’ material does not say that Ukrainians are “trying to leave” for Russia. The interviewed people are trying to get through Russia to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine for personal and family reasons. For example, the story was about a man who was on his way to Kakhovka to help evacuate his relatives. Another couple said they were going to pick up their children from Russia. That is, the propagandists simply distorted the context of the material and began to claim that everyone was heading to Russia en masse, allegedly with the idea of staying there. 

By spreading such manipulation, propagandists succeed in whitewashing themselves, showing that Ukrainians want to live in Russia and are generally ready to stand in long lines to get to Russia, despite their daily war crimes against Ukraine, in particular, the deportation of children.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say a German humour magazine recently published a cover featuring fallen Ukrainian soldiers spelling out the phrase “counteroffensive”. The authors add that the whole world is mocking Zelenskyi's plans for a counteroffensive. It is not true. 

Specialists of the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated this case and found out that such a cover does not exist. The fact-checkers explained that the latest available issue of the magazine was the sixth while on the fake cover one could see the seventh. There is no information on the official website about the seventh issue of the magazine, since it has not yet been released. 

Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Ukraine will fail the counteroffensive) is also being repeated in the West. So, readers may think that the public is really dissatisfied with Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyryl Budanov, is allegedly in a hospital in Berlin after a “Russian missile” hit the office next to him. Like, at first he was delivered by helicopter to Poland, and then by an American evacuation board to Germany. It's a lie. 

This information was denied by the representative of the GUR Andrii Yusov, he explained that it simply does not correspond to reality. Kyryl Budanov is still on duty. 

By spreading this fake, the propagandists seek to demoralize the Ukrainians and show them that “there is no one to protect them anymore”. Thus, propagandists sow panic among Ukrainians. We recall that we recently refuted similar fakes regarding the “death” of the military leadership. This was one of the cases about the commander of the territorial defense units, Ihor Tantsiura, who, according to Russian propaganda, was allegedly killed in Bakhmut. And we also refuted the fake about the “death” of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ukrainian military has begun to complain about Western equipment. Allegedly, it is not adapted for Ukraine, and in general it is because of it that Ukraine “experiences failures” in the counteroffensive. The authors refer to the material of The Wall Street Journal. This is manipulation. 

The fact-checkers of the Stop Fake project took up the case, and found out that the article does not talk about the Ukrainian military complaining about Western weapons, especially justifying the “unsuccessful counteroffensive”. Journalists from The Wall Street Journal interviewed several Ukrainian servicemen participating in the battles in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk directions. One of the fighters noted that, in his opinion, MaxxPro armored vehicles are not suitable for moving through swampy areas. And according to him, such cars hardly pass swampy areas. It was this phrase that the propagandists used and distorted the entire context of the quote. The military did not criticize or justify “failures” in the counteroffensive. He talked about the features of the operation of a particular technique. 

Thus, the authors once again promote false messages about broken or malfunctioning Western weapons. So, they want to show that the Ukrainian army is constantly losing and even innovative Western technology does not help.

Such information was disseminated in the Polish segment of social networks. Reports say that Polish politicians visited the Vatican during the funeral of former Pope Benedict XVI and members of the delegation took a photo with the Russian flag. Like, they “flaunted” it and thus expressed their commitment to Russia. The authors add to the publications a photograph where the delegation allegedly holds the flag of Russia. It is not true. 

The Polish fact-checkers of the Demagog project investigated this case and found out that the photo was simply edited using Photoshop. In fact, in the original photo, the politicians were holding the Polish flag, not the Russian one. Fact-checkers found the original photo by a reverse Google search. The photo was published by one of the members of the Polish delegation on his Twitter. 

By spreading this fake, the propagandists, first of all, sought to undermine the confidence of the Poles in their high-ranking officials, who, they say, express the “favor” of Russia in an international format. Also, in this way, Ukrainians can despair of the actions of Ukraine's brother country. Allegedly, on the one hand, they help the Ukrainians, on the other hand, they wear the Russian flag during international events.