Russian media and social media users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that it is planned to hold a sale of icons from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra at a separate auction in Paris. Like, proof of this is a photo of a billboard announcing an event with a scheduled date of October 1. It's fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They took a comment from the representative of the Auction House Osenat indicated on the billboard. He stated that this announcement is fake, like the “auction” itself. In addition, on the official website of the House, one can see that there are no auctions or other events scheduled for October 1st.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to show that Western countries allegedly deliberately take out works of art from the historical monuments of Ukraine, so as not to return them ever again. However, in fact, some exhibits are being evacuated to European museums precisely because of the relentless Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure. Detector Media wrote how Russian propaganda instrumentalizes the history of Ukraine for its own purposes.

Russian media disseminate information that allegedly French instructors who train the Ukrainian military do not give a damn about their future fate. Referring to the author of the Le Monde edition, Elise Vincent, they claim that the instructors, after completing the training, arrange “farewell meetings” for Ukrainians who “leave for possible death”. Like, the instructors say: what will happen to the Ukrainians does not concern us. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists of The Insider project drew attention to it. They allege that Vincent's brief article, “French Train Ukrainian Soldiers in Poland”, states that France has declassified information about a Ukrainian military training program at a former Soviet military base in Poland, which is attended by 120 French instructors and 80 additional personnel. The French Colonel Benoit, who participates in the training, notes the high motivation of the Ukrainian military. But the phrase propagated by propagandists is taken out of context. The full version of the article says that “there is no official talk about the fear of the future”, in the context of which Benoit said that further events are “not their topic”.

In this case, propagandists are trying to pass off the phrase of one colonel as proof of the indifferent attitude of foreigners to the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. However, the phrase itself refers only to the ceremony of completing the training.

Russian media, as well as anonymous telegram channels that spread pro-Russian rhetoric, claim that 47% of Odesa residents oppose Ukraine's entry into NATO. Like, such data was published in the results of a poll conducted by the International Republican Institute (USA). It's fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They claim that in fact 53% of Odesans would vote for joining NATO and only 18% are against. At the end of June, the International Republican Institute did indeed publish the results of a poll where respondents were asked whether they would vote for Ukraine's entry into NATO if a referendum on this issue was held “now”. It does not indicate that the remaining 47% of respondents from Odesa oppose Ukraine's accession. If one reads the original document with the study in more detail, on page 136 one can find that only 18% of Odesans openly oppose it. Another 21% of respondents answered that they would not vote at all, and 8% preferred not to answer or found it difficult to answer.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to show that Ukrainians allegedly oppose Ukraine's integration into NATO, especially in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Last week, Detector Media wrote on what propagandists were talking about the recent NATO summit in Vilnius.

Russian media, as well as anonymous telegram channels with pro-Russian rhetoric, referring to an article by The New York Times, disseminated information that since the start of the counteroffensive, Ukraine has lost up to 20% of all armored vehicles that were transferred to it by Western partners (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers). However, this is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They argue that the New York Times publication actually only mentions that up to 20% of the heavy weapons, including Western ones, used in the counteroffensive during the first two weeks of June, could be destroyed or damaged by the enemy. The authors of the article report that in the following weeks, the level of Ukrainian losses of armored vehicles dropped to 10%, as Ukraine changed its offensive tactics.

By manipulating foreign publications, propagandists want to create the erroneous impression of Ukraine's failure on the battlefield and show the ineffectiveness of Western weapons. However, in this situation, even in this article it is indicated that a number of Western weapons are not used in the counteroffensive, and the losses of Western equipment are exaggerated.

Propagandists on anonymous telegram channels, where they spread pro-Russian rhetoric, claim that there is allegedly a “jump in radiation” in western Ukraine, which is why the Ukrainian military began to carefully inspect cars at the border in protective suits and masks. However, this is fake.

Specialists of the VoxCheck project and Agence France-Presse (AFP) drew attention to it. They emphasize that the photo that the propagandists provide as evidence of their claims was indeed published on the website of the Polish Border Guard in 2020. This version of the photo has the signature of its author - Vladyslav Chulak. AFP fact-checkers reached out to Chulak, who confirmed that he took this photo during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic at the Gubinek checkpoint between Poland and Germany.

VoxCheck also claims that, at the request of the Polish publication Konkret24, the Office of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that the military at the border does not carry out checks in protective suits. The press secretary of the Polish Border Service, Anna Mykhalska, also confirmed that there are no Ukrainian soldiers in protective suits and masks on the Ukrainian-Polish border.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to intimidate both foreigners and Ukrainians, as well as shift the responsibility for the crimes of Russians from the aggressor to the victim. In the end, VoxCheck experts claimed that this fake was created in support of the statements of the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Mykola Patrushev, dated May 19, 2023, where he said that as a result of an explosion of depleted uranium ammunition in the Khmelnytskyi region, radiation was approaching Europe. However, the Main Center for Special Control of the State Space Agency of Ukraine claimed that the background radiation in western Ukraine was normal.

The idea of a “fraternal people” originated in the Soviet era. This is another attempt to link the history of Belarus and Ukraine to Russia and deny the existence of Belarusians and Ukrainians as separate nations. Like, we are all one people, we have one history, each of us is a brother and sister. Communist propaganda formed the image of Ukraine as a Russian colony. After the independence of Ukraine, the Kremlin further promoted this myth and argued that Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians are historically inseparable.

In general, it is beneficial for Russian propaganda to use the rhetoric about the existence of “fraternal peoples” even in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. After all, unprovoked aggression against Ukrainians, their genocide, Moscow presents as a “conflict” and a simple “quarrel” between the Slavic peoples. Allegedly, the Ukrainians and Russians just quarreled and they need to make peace as soon as possible. Thus, propagandists distort reality and hide one of the goals of their aggression - to destroy Ukrainians as a nation.

At the same time, this can also influence Western media, opinion leaders, who sort out the rhetoric about the “conflict” of peoples. For example, back in April 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with France 2 TV channel, refused to call Russia's actions in Ukraine “genocide”. Macron tried to explain his opinion as follows: “I will be careful with such terms today, because these two peoples (Russians and Ukrainians - ed.) are brothers”. Already in 2023, he stated that he was striving for the victory of Ukraine and hoped that Russia would be defeated.

The same is happening with Western media. By keywords “Ukrainian crisis” the search engine publishes a number of materials about the “conflict” and the so-called “crisis” in Ukraine. Actually, this rhetoric allows agitprop to belittle their crimes in Ukraine, because it's just a small “quarrel”. There is a war going on in Ukraine, and the Russians are killing Ukrainians, destroying civilian infrastructure, and preventing a peaceful life.

There is no fraternal people, because Ukrainians are a separate nation among others. Ukrainians have their own history, traditions and customs. Ukraine and Russia historically developed under different conditions and were influenced by different neighbors.