A video began to be distributed online saying that in some regions of Ukraine, power outages were to begin on January 15, 2024, in particular in the Chernihiv region. This information was disseminated from the supposedly official Ukrenergo Facebook profile.

In fact, this video is fake. This was reported to JSC Chernihivoblenergo. They warned that the resource that distributed the video was dubious. In addition, the video appeared on Facebook users’ feeds marked as Advertising. Propagandists have repeatedly made similar disinformation advertisements targeting the population of Ukraine.

The Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council urges everyone not to be subjected to Russian IPSO. Masquerading as an official resource of Ukrenergo, Russian propaganda is trying to make the information more truthful and make Ukrainians panic. Previously, we refuted information that the energy situation in Ukraine is allegedly catastrophic.

In its report for January 13, 2024, ISW reported that Russia could form an assault force for landing in the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Hostomel is mentioned as an example at the beginning of a full-scale invasion. Russian and even Ukrainian resources picked up the news and began to disseminate information about possible similar operations, in particular near Kharkiv.

In fact, this information is not true. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council. In the ISW report, it referred to one Russian source, which may already indicate the falsity of what was stated. In addition, it states that Russian paratroopers do not even seem to need parachutes. Everything had to happen by landing helicopters in the near rear for the rapid deployment of personnel. However, since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has significantly strengthened its air defense, and the landing in Hostomel in February 2022 was not successful. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have weapons that are capable of quickly destroying any helicopters and aircraft. For example, the operation to destroy the A-50 aircraft over the Sea of Azov is a clear confirmation. Before this, there were other downings of Russian planes and helicopters.

Such rhetoric is intended to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt among the Ukrainian people. This is one of the propaganda tactics. There will probably be more information leaks on this topic, so trust verified resources. Earlier,  Detector Media analyzed the message of Russian propaganda saying that Ukrainian air defense is about to end.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the head of the Chernihiv state military administration, Viacheslav Chaus, at a press conference following the results of 2023, said that more than 50 thousand mobilized from the Chernihiv region have already died in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In fact, this information is not true, reports the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. At the press conference, Chaus reported on the demographic situation in the region and noted that the decrease in indicators by 50 thousand residents is due to displaced persons since the beginning of active hostilities in other regions of Ukraine or abroad. That is, the information about the alleged disclosure by the head of the Chernihiv state military administration of the number of people mobilized in the region is a fiction of Russian propaganda, since Chaus did not make any statements on this topic.

In addition, exact data on the distribution of those mobilized by region is not published in open sources, as well as information on the number of killed and wounded defenders of Ukraine. The last is a state secret that will be disclosed only after the end of the great war.

Russian propaganda continues to speculate on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine, which has become sensitive for Ukrainians, since this topic concerns almost every family. The purpose of spreading this disinformation is to intimidate the Ukrainian people, saying that compared to the Chernivtsi region, the numbers throughout Ukraine should be tens of times higher. More exposures of fakes and manipulations by Russians on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine can be found here.

Information about an allegedly new tattoo on the hand of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with the inscription “There is no God” was distributed by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the social network X (formerly Twitter). However, this is an absurd fake.

In the general photographs of Rishi Sunak with Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the military Armed Forces of Ukraine, which were published by the Russian Foreign Ministry, it is clear that in fact the tattoo belongs to the Ukrainian serviceman standing next to Zelenskyi. This is especially noticeable in the frame where the President of Ukraine stands opposite the military man and photographs him together with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, writes the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. In addition, one can make sure that Zelenskyi has no tattoos on his hands by watching any of his latest videos.

Russian propaganda continues to systematically discredit Zelenskyi in the hope that the Ukrainian people will rise up against the President of Ukraine. Moreover, these photos were tied to the fact that, supposedly, “hence the persecution of Orthodox Christians”  (obviously, believers of the UOC-MP) in Ukraine. However, let us recall that at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kyryl of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed Russian troops for a bloody war in Ukraine. Subsequently, the SBU began to conduct searches at the facilities of the UOC-MP throughout Ukraine and identify there Russian passports, St. George ribbons, anti-Ukrainian materials, party cards of the Communist Party of the USSR, etc. And all these things are evidence of a threat to the national security of Ukraine.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that during the Russian-Ukrainian war, the head of the Georgian Legion, Mamuka Mamulashvili, was killed as a result of rocket attacks. In claiming this, the propagandists refer to a message signed RIP on his page.

In fact, this news is false, according to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Mamulashvili himself has already managed to refute this information. In a comment to the Georgian service of Radio Svoboda (Liberty), he explained: “They are amusing themselves”. The message from the head of the Georgian Legion with the caption RIP depicts another military man, Mukhran Lomtadze. This is evidenced, at least, by his name on the patch.

Russian propagandists are trying to pass off wishful thinking by spreading such disinformation. They say that the Russian army successfully fulfills all the tasks assigned to it at the front. In fact, in this way propaganda turns a blind eye to ordinary Russians. More materials on this topic can be found under the tag #ForeignLegion.