Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that a “radioactive cloud” is heading towards Western Europe, resulting from the destruction of depleted uranium munitions. They say that the West handed over these dangerous ammunition to Ukraine. The authors refer to the statement of the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Mykola Patrushev, who added that in Poland “an increase in radiation has already been recorded”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of The Insider project investigated this case and found that, in fact, the level of radiation in Ukraine does not exceed the norm. This is evidenced by the map data of the Ukrainian chatbot SaveEcoBot, which monitors information on pollution in real time. That is, there is no “radioactive cloud”. Also, the State Atomic Agency of Poland on May 17 denied a report about an increase in the level of radiation in Poland, in particular, in the Lublin voivodeship.

Uranium in its pure form is a radioactive element, but not depleted. To put it simply, the projectile “does not emit light”. That is, the influence of radioactive radiation from depleted uranium is insignificant.

By spreading this message, propagandists are once again trying to promote the message that Western weapons being handed over to Ukraine only exacerbate the situation, and Ukraine is just a testing ground for Western weapons.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular on Twitter. Reports say that during Zelenskyi's recent visit to Rome, he wore a jumper with an OUN emblem patch. The authors claim that Zelenskyi supports “Nazism”.

Fact-checkers of the Reuters news agency took up this case and found that the coat of arms of Ukraine was embroidered on Volodymyr Zelenskyi's sweater. That is, it is the Ukrainian national symbol. Fact-checkers also explain, it is quite understandably that the OUN may have used symbols historically associated with Ukraine. Since, first of all, this is the coat of arms of Ukraine, and not the symbols of some organizations / associations. Moreover, the trident was recognized as a Ukrainian symbol long before the existence of the OUN.

By spreading this fake, the propagandists once again speculate on the topic of Ukrainian nationalism and distort it into “Nazism”. It seems that being a Ukrainian is already a reason to receive accusations of Nazism from the Russians. Like, even Europe began to indulge the tricks of Zelenskyi who, without any fear put on “Nazi symbols”.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say authorities are reporting how Ukrainians have lessened “anti-Russian” sentiment. Like, the Ukrainians are glad of the shelling and are gradually trying to go over to the Russian side. The authors add that, of course, the “situation” has not changed dramatically, because Zelenskyi constantly keeps Ukrainians in his “claws” and feeds hatred towards Russians by introducing a policy of “russophobia”.

Such a thesis is unfounded. First, the authorities did not issue such a statement or even publish any study that could indicate a change in sentiment. At the same time, propagandists talk about the opposite in order to subconsciously push Ukrainians towards “reconciliation”. Allegedly, if the majority already treats the Russians well, it is worth “forgetting everything”. At the same time, they also note the policy of so-called russophobia, which Zelenskyi allegedly implements to make Ukrainians treat Russians badly. However, even without the political campaign of “russophobia”, it is clear that the Russians are aggressors who daily commit war crimes against peaceful Ukrainians. Ukrainian cities, towns and villages are being destroyed, and people are being killed and raped. The so-called Russophobia is a direct impact on the inhuman actions of Russia against Ukraine and Ukrainians.

In addition, according to the results of a social survey by the Rating group conducted in August 2022, 81% of Ukrainians have a negative attitude towards Russians (in April 2022 there were 69% of such people, in April 2021 - 41%), 14% are neutral, only 3% positive. That is, we are not talking about a decrease in “anti-Russian” sentiments, the level of negative attitude towards Russians has increased in the conditions of a full-scale war.

Third party is a propaganda tactic in which propaganda seeks and publicizes a third, independent opinion in order to validate its messages. The target audience finds it easier and more likely to trust an independent opinion that is not related to the stakeholders. This technique is used not only in propaganda, but also in advertising and marketing. Journalists, media, scientists, and experts are used as independent sources.

Pro-Russian telegram channels regularly use as a third opinion quotes from Western media, speeches by politicians and experts, often taking them out of context or distorting them in order to confirm their propaganda messages, to give them greater independence and authority. We wrote about this in more detail in a study on the MediaPost telegram channel, created by Russian propaganda specifically to distort and use Western media content for their own purposes.

In practice, this tactic, for example, works like this: one of the pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels in its message refers to an article by the Polish journalist Endzhey Bielecki for the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, which allegedly contains information that despite Poland’s insistence, the United States will not support Ukraine’s entry into NATO that Ukraine will be given only modest security guarantees and will have to put up with territorial losses. This is how propagandists use the authority of the Polish newspaper as an “independent source” to confirm their messages. Disinformers reinforce their thesis that Western aid to Ukraine will soon be seriously curtailed and our state will be left face to face in the war with Russia.

The Russian propagandist in the message of her personalized telegram channel used the data of the British betting company Smarkets. Based on betting odds, it claims that Ukraine will not win the war, will not become a member of NATO or even the EU. The argument is that bookmakers “know how to count their money”. The propagandist also focuses on the results of the voting of bookmakers’ clients, who also do not believe in Ukraine. That is, the disinformer used the authority of the bookmaker to allegedly confirm her propaganda messages in order to create the appearance that Ukraine would lose in the war with Russia and would never become a member of the EU and NATO.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular in the Polish segment of Facebook. Reports say that Poland is immediately closing its borders and not letting anyone into the country. The authors of the messages emphasize that this ban is introduced primarily because of the “dangerous” Ukrainian refugees. Like, they can carry deadly diseases, such as dysentery. As evidence, the authors attach a video of a Polish blogger. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Polish project Demagog analyzed the case and found that such information is not true. The borders of Poland are not closed and people can get into the country. Also, fact-checkers did not find this information on the website of the border service. They are sure that this is just information stuffing.

This thesis was spread in social networks, including in the Russian segment of social networks. The reports say that the Russian language is 400 years older than Ukrainian, which generally arose in the 16th-17th centuries under the influence of the Polish language.

This case was considered by the fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project, who explained that such a thesis is unfounded. The Ukrainian language comes from the Proto-Slavic language, which originated on the territory of Kyiv Rus. Although the development of the Ukrainian language was hampered until the 18th century, its foundations were laid a very long time ago - the East Slavic language group was formed in the 13th century after the collapse of Kyiv Rus. That is, after the collapse of Kyiv Rus, there was a division into Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian languages. They formed about the same time.

The Polish language belongs to the West Slavic linguistic group, and Ukrainian cannot be derived from it. Of course, for some period the Ukrainian language did not have much space for development, since it was always politically dependent on others (Russia, Rzeczpospolita). Both Polish and Russian have had a significant impact on Ukrainian.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has hinted at the “artificiality” of the Ukrainian language, which allegedly comes from Russian or Polish, or is generally a “dialect”. Thus, Moscow seeks to mentally unite Ukrainians with Russians, they say, we have a common language, traditions and customs, so everyone is almost “blood brothers and sisters”.

Analysts of the project Beyond the News investigated the information field of the Chinese media and found that local journalists repeat Russian narratives in their materials. For example, Chinese media often refer to Nazism in Ukraine.

For example, in the Global Times, reporter Frank Bro connected Peyton Gendron, who killed ten people in the American city of Buffalo, New York, with the Azov regiment. That is, according to the author, Azov is “a controversial ultra-nationalist armed group in Ukraine”.

Of course, this is not true. However, fact-checkers have explored the foundations of these myths about the Azov Regiment. They explained that usually the Chinese media use the topic of the existence of Nazi Ukrainians as a justification for the Russian invasion. Fact-checkers emphasize that since 2015, Russian propaganda began to identify nationalism with Nazism, and consider Ukrainian nationalists to be one of their main enemies. It seems that being a Ukrainian is already a reason to receive accusations of Nazism from the Russians. But it is not true. And the term “nationalism” itself is not something bad, but is characterized by loyalty and devotion to one's nation.

The thesis of Chinese journalists that the Azov regiment is an armed association is not true either. Azov has never been an unofficial formation. Even at the beginning of its creation in 2014, the volunteer unit was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. Subsequently, it became a separate special forces detachment of the military unit 3057 of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees are dissatisfied with life in Europe and are generally surprised that they still need to earn money. The authors add that the refugees are gradually destroying the “sovereignty of European countries” because they do not want to work. As proof, they added a video from a TikTok, in which an alleged Ukrainian “refugee” complains about life in Europe. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and found that the author of this video actually shot a satirical video on her TikTok account, which has nothing to do with real life, since the blogger regularly shoots videos and sketches. At the same time, the propagandists used this video as ostensible evidence that Ukrainian refugees were “dissatisfied” with life in Europe and did not indicate that this video was of a humorous nature. That is, they defiled the meaning and wishful thinking. Moreover, as the fact-checkers explained, the blogger is Ukrainian, and she permanently resides in Ukraine, even after February 24. Analysts turned to Tiktoker for comment, and she confirmed the exclusively humorous nature of the video.

Despite the fact that the video turned out to be humorous, propagandists regularly spread fakes and manipulations regarding Ukrainian refugees. They portray the image of the Ukrainian refugee as being lazy and dissatisfied with everything. Allegedly, Europe should support the Ukrainians, because they strive for this. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU, in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation previously.