Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular in the Polish segment of Facebook. Reports say that Ukrainians will be able to vote in the upcoming elections, because they have the corresponding PESEL document. The authors of the messages add that the result of the elections is predetermined, and that “real Poles” should no longer go to the elections. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Polish project Demagog took up the case, they explained that the presence of PESEL does not give people the right to participate in elections: both to choose and to be elected. Powszechny Elektroniczny System Ewidencji Ludności (PESEL), that is, the Universal Electronic Population Registration System, is an eleven-digit numeric character that identifies an individual. However, the possession of PESEL does not guarantee the citizenship of the country, and the person does not acquire it upon receipt of this document. And only citizens of Poland can vote in parliamentary or presidential elections.

A foreigner can obtain Polish citizenship after fulfilling a number of conditions, in particular, a certain period of continuous residence in Poland. And only under this condition, when a person acquires citizenship, he or she can vote. No other way exists.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook. Reports say unidentified individuals attacked the “famous” Bishop of the Orthodox Church in Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykyta, and the attackers were not punished by the police. Like, the Ukrainians want to get rid of all the clergy in Ukraine. Moreover, these posts are advertised on Facebook, and videos are cited as evidence. It is not true.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security explains that such information is not true. In the publication itself, the authors made lexical and spelling errors indicating the use of a translator. Some sentences in the publication are illogically constructed and do not correspond to the norms of the Ukrainian language. In addition, the authors of the messages do not indicate exactly which church the bishop belongs to.

Such fakes are spread through Facebook pages without a specific description and content. Usually these pages have neutral titles. Thus, the authors avoid additional moderation by Meta, which owns Facebook. So, analysts urge to complain about such manifestations of advertising.

In one of our case investigations, we previously described in more detail how Russian bots use Facebook ads to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular in the Georgian segment of Facebook. The reports say that the speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, said that God “protects the actions of the Russian authorities, and this is unacceptable”. Like, officials began to blame God “for all the troubles”. This is manipulation.

Specialists of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case and determined that the speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania did not say such things. At the same time, the propagandists misrepresented the high-ranking official's quote, which actually said that the Kremlin presents its imperialist aspirations as the will of God, which is unacceptable. That is, the speaker means that the Russian propaganda declares a special task, the mission of the Russians. This is one of the elements of propaganda designed to manipulate the minds of Russians, who later believe that they are endowed with a “unique destiny”.

A conspiracy theory is an attempt to explain events or situations with the help of a conspiracy allegedly created by an influential political or financial group, even if there is an official and confirmed version of events. The term has a negative connotation, and the phenomenon of conspiracy theories has become more important, especially in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine.

One of the conspiracy theories that is now emerging within the framework of Russian propaganda is the “new world order” theory. The phrase “world government” or “global government” indicates the use of the “new world order” theory, as they are the more popular name for the theory. It is not new and originated in the United States in the twentieth century. The theory acquired its modern forms in the 90s, when it became the basis for the work of American right-wing radical and conservative Christian forces. The theory of the “new world order” acquired a new scope at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, when it penetrated into popular culture, thanks to which it became widespread.

The theory has a number of branches, but in this article we will focus on the apocalyptic direction. According to it, the world is led by an allegedly totalitarian global government that wants to either destroy the world completely or leave only the “golden billion” on it. That is, a billion people who have passed all the tests. According to propagandists, the war against Ukraine is one of those tests. In the case of this theory, “stages” are important, because according to the position of conspiracy theorists, the “world government” destroys humanity gradually. For example, on anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric, one can see messages that the war in Ukraine is just a new stage in the “world government” plan to destroy humanity. Its echo could also be heard from the lips of the parishioners of the UOC-MP. Representatives of the confession often say that Western elites are destroying Ukraine.

Also, over time, opinions about who is in the “world government” have changed. The following versions are popular among conspiracy theorists:

the world government is the UN and the EU (in particular, black helicopters are considered one of the symbols of this theory in Western culture, since, according to conspiracy theorists, the world government is preparing to seize the territory of the United States (or any other country, given the target audience of the source)) with the help of UN peacekeepers arriving on them);

it is a corporation that includes the richest people on the planet;

this is a satanic force led by the Antichrist and bringing the end of the world closer (according to conspiracy theorists, the role of the Antichrist can be played by the last Pope, the President of the EU, the Secretary General of the UN, one of the heads of a Muslim state, the head of an international corporation, etc.).

In addition, the “world government” can be made up of Illuminati (Illuminati branch), Masonic (Masonic branch) or Jews (Zionist branch).

The theory has received a lot of criticism from Christians in the West because they believe it cultivates a “spirit of fear” and is not backed up by biblical texts.

Propagandists use it in their rhetoric to cause panic among people and doubts about what is happening around. In fact, in this way they want to “hush” the information space and shift the responsibility for the actions of the aggressor to a third force. Like, Russia has nothing to do with it, these are all the tricks of the “world government” that wants to destroy everyone. In the countries of the post-Soviet space, conspiracy theories associated with politics work even better, considering the lack of public access to information about political processes in the past.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, propagandists have begun to explain more and more things using conspiracy theories. As a consequence, even the smartest people can be questioned by conspiracy theories in today's turbulent world. That is why, in this new section,  Detector Media will briefly explain the history and essence of individual conspiracy theories. We will talk on how and for what purpose they use them in Russian propaganda.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. French brand Louis Vuitton, as part of its advertising campaign, has reportedly posted a story on Instagram “learn geography” in Ukrainian language. Like, this is the answer of the fashion house to the indignation of Ukrainians regarding the choice of colors for the advertising campaign. As evidence, the authors of the messages add a screenshot from the Louis Vuitton articles to the publications. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and found that the screenshot was edited using a graphics editor. As fact-checkers say, they find such a “screenshot” only in the Russian segment of social networks. At the same time, Louis Vuitton did not comment on the reactions of the Ukrainians.

In their #LVFW23 advertising campaign, the fashion house presented the flag in the colors of the national flag of France (blue, white and red). They also added black, which is captured in the brand's signature letter “V”. Propagandists immediately began to say that France supports Russia and the so-called DNR, which uses the same colors in its advertising campaign. However, the fashion house did not comment on the decision to create such an advertising campaign.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the Lviv regional state administration “ordered” employees of budgetary institutions to donate blood for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Like, if they don’t donate blood, they “remain without a bonus”. As evidence of the publication, the authors of the messages cite an announcement-order, which, they say, is placed in state institutions for workers. In addition, propagandists add a screenshot of the correspondence on the telegram, where the user comments on the message of the local telegram channel and claims that “Lviv residents are forced to donate blood”. It is not true.

The specialists of the VoxCheck project worked on the case, and found that the order itself did not mention forced blood donation. It notes that blood can be donated voluntarily, not forced. Fact-checkers did not verify the authenticity of the order itself, however, reliable and relevant information is posted there. The authors of the messages simply came up with a different content for the “forced” order. According to Ukrainian legislation, blood donation is exclusively voluntary. That is, a person cannot be forced to donate blood, since the patient gives written consent before the procedure. The questionnaire can be completed online, however, according to fact-checkers, many blood centers do not accept such applications. In most cases, the patient must fill out the consent to donate in the presence of a doctor.

As for the message itself from the user in one of the local telegram channels, the fact checkers did not find this comment. As they explain, one comment is obviously not evidence that “Lviv residents are forced to donate blood”. Probably, it was forged and distributed in the Ukrainian telegram segment, and then deleted.

There is no significant shortage of blood in Ukraine, which means there is no need to force people to donate it either. At the same time, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine indicates that sometimes there is a need for a rare blood type, but there is no critical shortage. In April, the agency also said that thanks to donors, the daily supply of erythrocyte blood components has increased, but there is a shortage of donors with negative rhesus blood.

Propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulation about the alleged lack of blood in Ukraine. Thus, the authors of the messages are trying to convince that everything is bad in Ukraine and that there are many wounded who are not being given worthy assistance, since there is no blood. We managed to refute several fakes on this topic. For example, one of the fakes said that Ukraine forbids all foreign citizens from becoming blood donors. We also verified the authenticity of a message on social networks that a Ukrainian woman left her husband because he was “transfused with the blood of Russians”.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the vain Zelenskyi is once again cashing in on the Ukrainians. This time, according to the authors of the messages, Zelenskyi “appropriated”  400 million dollars, which in fact the United States allocated to help the Ukrainians. As proof, the authors of the messages refer to journalistic material published in the “authoritative” media. It's a lie.

The case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project, who found out that the thesis about the theft or misappropriation of money by Zelenskyi is unfounded, since the White House did not reveal any violations by Ukraine regarding the use of Western weapons or material assistance. As for the so-called “journalistic material” in the “authoritative” media, this is also not true. This material is published on the author's platform, where everyone can register and publish arbitrary messages. That is, the material was not published in the media, it is only part of the personal blog of journalist Seymour Hersh. At the same time, the information about the misappropriation of money in Seymour's material is not supported by any facts. The journalist refers to sources anonymous to him. Consequently, the fact of misappropriation has not been proven, and the journalist expressed his own opinions and observations.

By spreading this fake, propagandists seek to once again discredit Zelenskyi and show that he does not care about Ukraine and Ukrainians. Allegedly, Volodymyr Zelenskyi is looking for profit in the war and earns on it. In this way, Russian propaganda wants to cause people to distrust high-ranking officials who are dismissive of Ukrainians.

Let us remind you that analysts of Detector Media recently refuted a fake about Zelenskyi having 10 “golden trains”, on one of which he travels to Poland.