Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is in fact “staged”. The authors of the fake message convince readers that there is no action on the part of the Ukrainian army, and they have been “defeated”  for a long time. As evidence, they allegedly refer to a news story filmed by Ukrainian media professionals. It explains that “war occurs in our minds”. It's a lie.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security explains that the story is compiled: it was assembled from different pieces of video, and not a single Ukrainian media outlet has produced such a video. Moreover, it is distributed only in the Russian segment of social networks.

Thus, the authors resort to typical conspiracy theories and seek to deny everything that is happening around them. Russian propaganda operates on this principle, for example, when it says that Ukraine supposedly does not exist, which means there are no wars, they are all theatrical. After all, the Kremlin's minions are trying to obscure reality.

By the way, in our Newspeak section we also analyzed how Russia seeks to deny the existence of Ukraine and blind the eyes of Russians and other peoples who do not perceive the Ukrainian state as an independent, sovereign state. Propagandists do this using the term “country 404”.

Russian media are spreading information that the West is planning to carry out a coup in Ukraine and wants to deprive Zelenskyi of power. The authors explain: on November 1, 2023, the British edition of The Economist “not without reason” published an article by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi and an interview with him - supposedly the West is trying to show its commitment to Zaluzhnyi, and not to Zelenskyi. After all, on October 30, 2023, the American magazine Time dedicated the cover of its new issue and an article to the Ukrainian president. “No one believes in our victory as much as I do. The lonely struggle of Volodymyr Zelensky”,  said the cover. In fact, the authors of the propaganda correspondence explain that the West is hinting at the “mediocrity” of the Ukrainian president.

Specialists from the EU vs Disinfo project investigated the case and explained that this is a typical conspiracy theory that has no confirmation. Such theses are aimed only at undermining the authority of Zelenskyi, who is allegedly losing the support of the West. And nothing indicates that Zaluzhnyi’s interview once shows the West’s “favor” for the commander-in-chief.

Detector Media analysts analyzed materials from The Times and The Economist - one  can read about it here. In short, the article about Zelenskyi contains manipulative signs, because “all betrayal goes through the stamp of anonymity”. And Russian propaganda  really gloated about this, explaining by this the so-called incompetence of the Ukrainian president.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that a shipment of humanitarian medical aid, namely anesthesia drugs, was allegedly delivered to Ukraine; their expiration date has supposedly expired. The authors of the reports claim that due to the use of expired drugs, “in one day in Dnipro, 12 people died after anesthesia”. And in Kharkiv, five deaths seem to have been registered as a result of using the drug.

Analysts from the StopFake project took up the case and explained: the authors of the fake publication did not provide any confirmation regarding the information about the expired batch of humanitarian aid medicines. However, experts suggest that the basis for creating this stuff was the situation in Dnipro, when in one of the clinics, after planned operations, 11 patients ended up in intensive care. According to the regional prosecutor's office, one of the patients, an 11-year-old boy, died. The State Service of Ukraine for Medicines and Drug Control then reported that patients suffered a severe adverse reaction to medications used during surgical interventions. Doctors were unable to save two patients.

However, this case has nothing to do with the import of low-quality medicines into Ukraine through humanitarian aid. The civil service has temporarily banned the sale and use of several batches of medications that are likely to have caused severe adverse reactions during operations. The pre-trial investigation is currently ongoing.

By speculating on this situation, propagandists seek to demonstrate that in Ukraine as a state, supposedly, no one is interested and even partner countries are ready to supply expired medicines. At the same time, the authors hint at the contrived inability of the Ukrainian healthcare system to conduct audits of supplied medicinal products. After all, this is how the Kremlin’s henchmen nurture mistrust of Ukraine among consumers of disinformation.

Read our other documented case: Ukrainian soldiers allegedly suffer from HIV en masse because they are offered free testing.

Russian media are disseminating information that Ukraine is allegedly going to “reduce assistance” to people with disabilities in order not to pay them social assistance. As evidence, Russian propaganda cites a proposal to remove the concept of a “person with disabilities” from the legislation. It's a lie.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project took on this case and explained that the Ministry of Health had actually prepared a bill proposing to replace the disability status with an assessment of loss of functionality. However, the bill does not talk about canceling the status of a person with a disability or reducing any social benefits.

The goal of such an initiative is for Ukraine to abandon the post-Soviet model of defining disability, providing a person only with “benefits and compensation”. And the task of the state should be “to return a person to an economic state”. However, benefits and payments will not be canceled. And the changes themselves are planned to be implemented in 2025. The bill has nothing to do with mobilization. Russian propagandists are simply speculating on this topic.

By the way, in our recent review of disinformation, we also explained why Ukraine is not going to abolish the status of individuals with disabilities: then propagandists convinced that the Ukrainian leadership supposedly wants to mobilize everyone to the front without exception. This also turned out to be a lie.

This thesis was spread by pro-Kremlin media. The reports say that Ukraine does not care about the medical field and it is gradually “declining” - and then epidemics of various diseases will soon begin. They wrote that outbreaks of hepatitis A were already allegedly observed in five Ukrainian cities and recognized that this was an epidemic. They also refer to the statement of the general director of the Kyiv City Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Serhii Chumak, who stated a high probability of a measles outbreak in Ukraine in 2023.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project analyzed this case and explained that in the 2024 budget, funding for medicine, on the contrary, was increased, and the highlighted facts about measles and hepatitis A contain manipulations or lies.

For example, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine actually reported an outbreak of hepatitis A in Vinnytsia. But the situation was defined as an emergency at the regional level; there was no talk of an epidemic at all. And, as experts explained, cases of hepatitis A are recorded in Ukraine every year - this is a seasonal disease that most often spreads in the cold season. The disease is usually spread by unwashed hands or by using or drinking contaminated water.

As for a possible measles outbreak, Serhii Chumak actually talked about it. In general, the disease is cyclical, and the last outbreaks were recorded in 2018-2019. Over the nine months of 2023, 46 people fell ill with measles in Ukraine - this figure is four times more than was recorded for the entire 2022. Analysts note that the risk of an outbreak is not due to a lack of funding or doctors, but to the low level of measles vaccination.