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 24 October, on the 973th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2474
Fake
746
Manipulation
725
Message
530
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake A banner allegedly appeared in New York depicting that the war in Israel is more important than in Ukraine

Pro-Russian resources began to disseminate information that supposedly on one of the buildings in New York there is a banner hinting at the darkening of the topic of the war in Ukraine by the situation in the Middle East - the war in Israel. They say that on the banner the slogan “Stand with Ukraine” is gradually being replaced by another: “Stand with Israel”.

This case was analyzed by experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They found that the information was not true. Outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoors, which has the right to place materials in the mentioned location, said in a comment to Reuters that the banner is fake.

This is not the first time that Russians have fabricated banners at different places around the world with the aim of weakening support for Ukraine from its partner countries. Previously, we refuted the information that an advertising banner was placed in New York with the inscription: “No Zelenskyi - no war”.

Fake By order of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a video was allegedly recorded in which homosexuals were encouraged to join the army

Russian propagandists claim that in Ukraine they have begun distributing advertisements for homosexuals calling for them to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The first half of the 10-second video shows heterosexual and homosexual couples kissing, while the second half features footage of military personnel. The footage is accompanied by a male voice saying: “It doesn’t matter at all whether you love women or men. It is important that you love Ukraine. Join the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. However, this is fake.

This case was analyzed by the fact-checkers for the StopFake project. They found out that the video is fake for a number of reasons. Firstly, the kissing footage was taken from a report published on the iD YouTube channel back in 2020. The second part of the video already uses footage from the social advertising of the Ukrainian Ground Forces “The Ballad of the Infantry”, published back in 2016. Secondly, the use of the word “love” in relation to Ukraine in the video indicates that its authors probably have poor command of the Ukrainian language. The word “love” describes specifically romantic love, while Ukraine or, for example, animals or colors can be “loved”.

With this fake video, Russian propaganda nourishes the narrative that supposedly Ukrainian troops will suffer huge losses on the battlefield and, as a result, they are running out of people. Therefore, “even” homosexuals are now being mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, attempts to discredit the Ukrainian army are in vain, since the Armed Forces contain representatives of different gender and sexual identities who defend Ukraine along with other military personnel. Previously, we analyzed disinformation that supposedly Ukrainians are dying for the right to be homosexual.

Message A power struggle is allegedly unfolding in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Ministry representative Mariia Zakharova is promoting the narrative that turbulence in Ukraine is growing, and that election campaigns are even starting to gain power in the country. Officials and those in power allegedly do not take into account ordinary Ukrainians, many of whom are on the brink of survival, and think only about their own benefit.

This message was recorded by the Center for Countering Disinformation. Such statements from a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry are nothing more than an attempt to root the opinion in Ukrainian society about internal conflicts among the top leadership of Ukraine. On the other hand, propaganda resources continue to discredit the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and refer to the statement about the inappropriateness of elections in Ukraine under martial law. Finally, the enemy aims to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt among the Ukrainian society regarding the possible course of action in the country, using one of the propaganda tactics.

Fake Russian military allegedly captured a pregnant Ukrainian soldier

Propaganda telegram channels are disseminating information that Russian soldiers captured the pregnant Ukrainian military. Moreover, pro-Kremlin resources publish a video as evidence in which the Russian military demonstratively shows that this allegedly happened. It's fake.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation began to analyze this case. They found that the video distributed by propagandists contained a number of disinformation features. For example, the woman is wearing ordinary sneakers, which are not standard shoes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, the “prisoner” has a blue ribbon on her leg, while the Ukrainian military does not put identification marks on her legs. In addition, on the military shoulder one can see the chevron of the 65th Missile and Artillery Arsenal, which probably fell to the Russians during the occupation of part of the Kharkiv region.

By spreading information about a pregnant woman in the Ukrainian army, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the mobilization process. They say that people don’t want to fight, so the authorities have to indulge in extremes and send even pregnant women to fight. With this case of disinformation, propagandists are also nourishing the narrative of “grabbing” in Ukraine or “war until the last Ukrainian”. Previously, we refuted information that Ukraine had created body armor for pregnant women because they were going to be sent to the front.

Fake In Kyiv, to support the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, they are allegedly recruiting extras for a rally

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric are disseminating information that protesters are allegedly being recruited in Kyiv for a rally in order to support the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. As proof, the manipulators share a fake screenshot, which was allegedly taken on a Ukrainian website for searching for various services. It's fake.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to this case. They point out that there are no such announcements on Ukrainian websites, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or anyone from the military leadership does not gather extras for events. Such statements are a series of falsehoods aimed at discrediting Valerii Zaluzhnyi, an attempt to create the erroneous impression that there is a split in the Ukrainian military-political leadership, and President Zelenskyi is trying in every possible way to get rid of the commander-in-chief because of the latter’s disloyalty.

A week ago, a deepfake was spreading on social networks, allegedly Valerii Zaluzhnyi called on the population of Ukraine to take to the squares of their cities, and the military not to obey “criminal orders of the authorities”. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine really did not make such an appeal and did not call for a military coup. At the same time, fake news appeared that the current Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umierov, recently proposed the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi. In response to this, Umierov responded that this was a fake. Shortly before this, swindlers created a fake telegram channel for Valerii Zaluzhnyi and sent out discreditable messages.

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.