For many years now, propagandists have been actively spreading the words prescribed for Serbian politician Slobodan Milosevic, accused of numerous war crimes and genocide. Like, he said that the West is a “mad dog on a chain” that has bitten the throat of Yugoslavia, and the Russians should also prevent the same from happening to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. “Russians! I appeal to all Russians, residents of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as those in the Balkans who consider themselves Russians. Look at us and remember - they will do the same to you when you disunite and give in to weakness. The West is a mad dog in chains that will bite you in the throat. Brothers, remember the fate of Yugoslavia! Don’t let this happen to you!”, - this is a warning, according to some network users, that Milosevic allegedly made for Russia before his death. StopFake specialists drew attention to this case.

They recall that in the summer of 1999, after NATO bombed Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw Serbian troops from Kosovo and hold presidential elections. In 2000, presidential elections in Yugoslavia turned into a revolution, and President Slobodan Milosevic was demolished by supporters of his opponent Vojslav Kostunica. Some time later, Milosevic was arrested and sent to the Hague International Tribunal - he was tried for crimes against humanity during the war in Yugoslavia. The trial lasted five years and was never completed - Slobodan Milosevic died in prison from a myocardial infarction on March 11, 2006.

With the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, this “quote” could be seen more and more often on the Internet. There were many versions of when Milosevic made such a statement - in his last interview, in a letter to the Russian President, or on his deathbed. However, Milosevic’s “quote” about a “mad dog on a chain” is distributed exclusively in the Russian-language segment of the network - StopFake journalists were unable to find a single mention of such an expression by Milosevic in English, German or French. Moreover, in the Serbian language this “quote” can be found only twice - in the Rtvbn news from July 2014 that a poster with this statement appeared in one of the Moscow cinemas, and in the publication of the pro-Russian Facebook page Glas Pomoravi Info. The quotation does not appear in Macedonian and Slovenian (in which Milosevic could probably have left his last interview).

Shortly before his death, Milosevic wrote a letter to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In it, the politician spoke about his suspicions that doctors were allegedly trying to deliberately undermine his health. However, this letter does not contain the mentioned statements about the West.

Further search on the Internet shows that the quote began to spread en masse in the Russian-language segment of the network only in the fall of 2012 in publications entitled “Greetings from the former Yugoslavia”. The author of this publication is Les Ivanov.

It should be noted that since the beginning of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian media are increasingly using this statement to support their anti-Western rhetoric. At the same time, even in the Russian media itself one can find many publications stating that this quote has nothing to do with Slobodan Milosevic. For example, in November 2017, the publication MK.ru wrote that Russian State Duma deputy Natalia Poklonska used a fake quote from Milosevic about the West as a “mad dog”. They write that “despite its (quotes - editor’s note) popularity in Russian nationalist circles, it is unknown in the original, just as its source is unknown”. But already in March 2023, MK.ru published a material entitled “In the State Duma and the Federation Council they mentioned Milosevic’s prophetic appeal to the Russians after the bombing of Yugoslavia”, in which the same fake quote was presented under the guise of a real one - these words, as they say in the material , Milosevic allegedly said during his last speech.

On social networks and Russian public pages, propagandists are actively spreading messages that “a group of Ukrainian refugees, dissatisfied with the policies of the Polish authorities regarding the supply of Ukrainian goods and insufficient military assistance, staged an act of revenge and set fire to the pharmaceutical composition of Farmacol in Katowice on the evening of April 8”. Propagandists are also distributing two short videos from the scene, one of which shows a burning building with the inscription Farmacol. Social networks traditionally use hate speech and accusations against Ukrainian refugees. However, this is another fake of Russian propaganda.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that on the evening of April 8, 2024, in the Polish city of Katowice, a warehouse belonging to the pharmaceutical company Farmacol actually burned, but Ukrainian refugees had nothing to do with this incident. No Polish media or any other reliable source has information about the arson of the train specifically by Ukrainians.

Moreover, the Polish site Fakehunter also denied this fake and quoted the deputy head of the prosecutor's office of the Southern District of Katowice, Slawomir Barnas: “Previous conclusions made at the visual review stage exclude the possibility of arson in this place, not to mention the fact that the culprits were foreigners”. The prosecutor's office does not yet want to comment on the true cause of the fire, since it does not yet have an expert opinion, but it calls the version that Ukrainian citizens were involved in the incident unfounded.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to demonize Ukrainian refugees in Poland and cause a negative attitude towards them. Thus, they also want Poland to stop helping Ukraine and its people. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian lies about Ukrainian refugees.

Propagandists are circulating a short video on social media showing several men laying out what they claim are corpses in black bags in a square in central Warsaw. Many Polish flags and commemorative wreaths are visible in the background. In the description of the video they write: “Polish mercenaries are returning from the war in Ukraine!”, “Why are they being thrown away like sacks of potatoes?”, “Is this somehow disrespectful to the corpses?”, “Yes, that’s right, let’s eat and go home”, “I hope they realized that it’s better not to fight with the Russians!”, - readers of pro-Russian public pages comment on the video.

StopFake journalists managed to discover the original video. On March 23, it was published on the YouTube channel “ToNieNaszaWojna!” (It’s Not Our War!) under the title “Najgorszy dzień pokoju jest lepszy niż najpiękniejszy dzień wojny. Demo Warszawa, Polska 03.23.2024” (“The worst day of peace is better than the best day of war. Demonstration Warsaw, Poland, 03.23.2024”).

In fact, what is happening in the video is a performance that took place as part of the rally on March 23, 2024 in Warsaw. The description of the video says that this is an “anti-globalist, anti-American demonstration in Warsaw against the war in Ukraine”.

Propagandists want to intimidate foreigners with this video. They say they will be forcibly hired to die for Ukraine. However, participation in the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is voluntary.

Propagandists are actively spreading conspiracy theories about American philanthropist George Soros. According to Russian media, Soros allegedly gave a long interview about Ukraine. Russian propaganda quotes Soros as saying that he expressed the opinion that the fate of Ukrainians “is of interest only to Russia” - “The Russian Federation cannot leave Ukrainians to starve and freeze to death in ruins”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the screenshot distributed by propagandists for this news comes from the website zavtra.ru. To create this fake, they used an interview with an American financier published in the German political magazine Cicero back in 2014, against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Even 10 years ago, Soros warned the EU leadership about being too soft on Russia and called on the world to mobilize all available means to counter Russian aggression, as it could spread: “Russia’s attack is aimed not only at Ukraine, but also indirectly at the whole of Europe”, – Soros emphasized in 2014.

According to Soros' statements to the German weekly, Russian propagandist Oleksandr Zapolkis wrote a full column about him for Regnum.ru in 2014, calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine a “European war” and repeating the persistent Russian narrative about the “brotherly Ukrainian people” that openly killed by the Russian army. It was Zapolkis who wrote the quote that propagandists attributed to George Soros. “Russia considers Ukrainians its own... Russia cannot leave Ukrainians to starve and freeze to death in the ruins. Europe “wins” even if all that remains of all of Ukraine is one large ruin, littered with stinking troupes. Because Russia will undertake to restore it and save people”,  propagandist Zapolkis wrote then about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda systematically attributes non-existent statements to Soros and accuses him of inciting hatred towards the Kremlin. At the same time, the Russian media sees the promotion of democracy and the protection of human rights, which is what Soros organizations do, exclusively as a threat to the traditional values of Russia.