This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the so-called evacuation of Ukrainian children from the war zone and their further transfer to Russia allegedly cannot be considered a war crime.

This case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project, who found out that such a thesis was not true. In fact, this is not an evacuation, but a deportation of the Ukrainian people. That is, Russia substitutes the concepts and calls the forced deportation “salvation”. People do not come back, they can go missing instead, in particular, children. At the same time, on March 15, 2023, UN international experts published a report that presents the results of the investigation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The report contains war crimes committed by the Russian occupiers. A separate block of the UN report is devoted to the results of the investigation into the forced displacement and deportation of Ukrainian children by Russian occupiers. That is, this is indeed a war crime, which is why the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Outside of Russia, Putin should be arrested and brought to trial.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, children are taken out not only from Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but also from other occupied territories of Ukraine. In particular, children were taken out of Kherson. As of December 29, it is known that about 13,876 Ukrainian children were expelled by Russia. Ukraine regards such actions as the abduction of its citizens. Analysts of Detector Media conducted their own investigation on how Russia justifies deportation and other war crimes in Ukraine. You can read it here.

According to the State Service for Special Communications, Russian hackers distribute malicious files through free access to torrent trackers. In particular, if such files are installed on a computer, hackers gain access to the contents of the computer and remain invisible for a long time.

The department reports that hackers use Trojans to copy passwords from different services and find out any information. They trojanize ISOs and installation files and host them for free.

According to the State Service for Special Communications, in many post-Soviet countries, system administrators use unlicensed software distributed via torrent trackers in institutions and companies of various forms of ownership. Thus, they provide Russian intelligence services with access to the contents of working machines.

The State Service for Special Communications says that ordinary Ukrainians who install unlicensed software from unofficial sources and torrents can also become victims of hackers.

“Ordinary people” is a tactic by which propaganda convinces the audience that the position of the propagandists coincides with the position of the majority and reflects common sense. Thus, propagandists seek to gain the trust of the audience by trying to communicate with them in the same language. That is, in the most simple words, understandable to a wide audience. Also, as part of this tactic, propagandists try to explain the concepts or processes they need using supposedly understandable examples, that is, close or known to the target audience.

Russian propaganda is using the “ordinary people” tactics, spreading the message that hunger will come all over the world through Ukraine. This is how propagandists take a topic that concerns the majority and assure that because of the war in Ukraine and even more because of the resistance that it is showing to Russia, first Ukrainians themselves, and later people in other countries, will die of hunger. For example, the Russian edition of RIA Novosti (RIA news) published an article entitled “Europe is running out of food”, which says that soon a food crisis will come in Europe. In fact, there will be food in Europe, but it may rise in price (which has already happened during the year of the big war against Ukraine) due to general inflation and fuel prices. In addition, due to the destroyed logistics, the range of goods may decrease.

That is, within the framework of tactics, Russia chooses a topic and, using most understandable examples, explains: because of the war in Ukraine, people will remain hungry, this is bad. This thesis is intended to reflect supposedly common sense. With the help of such messages and tactics, propagandists seek to establish the opinion that if a famine occurs, it will be Ukraine and the defending Ukrainians who are to blame.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” states that young people between 15 and 18 years old are prohibited from traveling abroad.

The Center for Strategic Communications investigated this case and found out that the document was fake. As analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The authors refer to Cabinet Decree No. 57, although according to this decree, such restrictions during martial law apply only to men from 18 to 60 years old;

The authors of the “document” made grammatical and spelling errors, in particular, they used russianisms.

We recall that Detector Media previously denied a fake, which said that Ukrainian underage boys were supposedly not allowed to go abroad, because “they will soon be mobilized”.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels spreading pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the May 9 holiday has been canceled in Ukraine, and a new holiday has already been introduced - the “Victory day over Russia”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, who investigated that the basis for creating this fake was the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of a draft law on amending Article 73 of the Labor Code of Ukraine to establish “non-working holidays”. As analysts explain, the main proposal of the bill is not to cancel holidays, but to establish other public holidays. So far, the bill has not yet been adopted and submitted to the vote, which means that no holidays have yet been officially introduced.

As to Victory day over nazism in World War II, which is celebrated on May 9, the authors of the bill note that this day “will be defined as a holiday, but a working day”. That is, the Parliament did not plan to cancel this holiday, moreover, they did not discuss the possibility of celebrating “Victory over Russia” day on May 9 instead. However, the authors of the bill did propose a day - September 21. The explanatory note to the bill says that, firstly, this is the Day of Peace, not Victory over Russia. Secondly, this is a day to celebrate peaceful life after Ukraine's victory over Russian military aggression.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels spreading pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that in Ukraine they seem to have started selling a “bread product” made from “the stale remains of unsold bread”. As proof, the authors of the messages add a video, which allegedly shows that in one of the grocery online stores you can buy the mentioned “bread product” of the “Kyivkhlib” (Kyiv bread) company. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated the case and found out that the information about the sale of a “bread product” from the “stale remains of unsold bread” is not true. First, fact-checkers decided to check the authenticity of the video. They got acquainted with the range of products from “Kyivkhlib” and came to the conclusion that the “bread product” does not exist in the range. To make sure, the checkers also called the Kyivkhlib hotline, where they denied the presence of a “bread product” in the company's assortment. In addition, analysts also failed to find a similar product of any other manufacturers for sale. Fact-checkers are convinced that the video was fabricated.

As for the thesis about the “deficit of bread” throughout Ukraine, it is also untrue. Analysts explain that the head of the All-Ukrainian agrarian council, Denys Marchuk, said earlier that there is no shortage of bread in Ukraine at present, but its price may rise during 2023. In March 2023, the State statistics service reported that due to the crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices for bread products increased by 26% over the past year. However, we are not talking about any “deficit of bread”.

Propagandists spread this fake to intimidate Ukrainians and cause them to distrust their own state. It seems that Ukraine cannot provide its people with food, electricity or gas. Enemies are trying to create the appearance that Ukrainians live unbearably, and the state does not care about them, supposedly forgets and does not take into account the “food shortage”, offering Ukrainians low-quality products.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. During a speech by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Gaines, she allegedly called the war for Ukraine “already lost” and that it had “no chance” of defeating Russia. Like, the director recounted the results of the US intelligence report. The authors of the messages add that the US is preparing Ukraine for “the worst-case scenario”. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and investigated that the propagandists distorted the context of the statement of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, because there were no results on the “loss of Ukraine” in the report. As analysts explain, the document, on the contrary, notes that Russia is suffering heavy losses on the battlefield, and its stockpiles of weapons are being depleted - these factors make the Russian army vulnerable. That is, in the report itself, they emphasized the fact of the military weakening of Russia, the fact-checkers noted.

As to the statement by Avril Gaines, she did not speak about the loss of Ukraine either. She noted that indeed the Russian aggression against Ukraine is “exhausting and protracted”, but immediately cited facts indicating the weakening of Russia at the front.

By spreading such a message, propagandists want to convince that Western partners are desperate in Ukraine and at the same time do not support it, because it will soon lose. Thus, the authors are trying to sow panic among Ukrainians in order to destabilize moods and discredit Western partners in the eyes of Ukrainians.

We recall that Detector Media previously denied fakes designed to discredit the Ukrainian authorities or Western partners in the eyes of Ukrainians. For example, analysts refuted the statement of Bill Gates, who said that the current leadership of Ukraine is one of the worst in the world. They also explained the manipulation in which propagandists claimed that Ukraine would soon become uninhabitable due to losing the war.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” states that Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, forbade the evacuation of the military “if they have minor injuries”.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and found out that the document is fake. As the fact-checker explains, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The “document” does not specify its type. If the text contains the phrase “I order”, this means that the main text should be preceded by the word “ORDER”, indicating the type of document - an order;

The fake document is addressed to the operational command “East”, and above it the Ministry of Defense is mentioned. However, OC “East” is a structural subdivision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, not the Ministry of Defense;

At the end of the document it says “A. Syrskyi”, although it is correct - “O. Syrskyi”, O means Oleksandr. Analysts are sure that this letter equivalent indicates a translation from the Russian language, because the Russian name Oleksandr is “Aleksander”.

According to the Center for Strategic Communications, fake information is being disseminated online, allegedly on behalf of the Red Cross. Allegedly, people can receive payments from the organization to a bank card. The information is spread from the fake website of the Red Cross.

“The fake website of the International Red Cross was created by scammers to steal money from Ukrainians and their personal data. The Red Cross of Ukraine has nothing to do with this site, does not pay such payment, and, moreover, never charges for legal services”, the organization said.

They add: all relevant programs, including those regarding financial support, are published exclusively on the official website.