Pro-Kremlin media are disseminating information that the head of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavský, allegedly said that Ukraine failed the counteroffensive and will now face pressure from its Western allies. They will encourage negotiations with Russia. This is manipulation.

The case was noticed by the checkers of the StopFake project.  Jan Lipavský did not talk about the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive or about new problems for Ukraine. Russian propaganda took out of context a comment by the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry for Bloomberg, in which he reflected on the West’s desire to put an end to Russian expansionism.

“If Ukraine is forced into a solution it doesn’t accept, the West will lose it — and we’ll have a nation of 40 million at our borders feeling betrayed. We don’t want to just defer the war. We want to end Russia’s ability to expand in eastern Europe by force”, ” Lipavský said.

It was this quote that Russian propaganda distorted, deliberately rejecting part of his statement.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Western partners and continue to promote the narrative of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive. They also continue to nourish the message that the West is tired of war, so Ukraine will have to give in to Russia. Previously, we refuted the fake that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the West is tired of war and is ready to make concessions to Russia.

In the Russian segment of the social network VKontakte, a video advertisement is being distributed in which environmentalists allegedly put forward a proposal to hide the Ukrainian military “in special biodegradable capsule bags". This development was allegedly presented on the air of the Ukrainian telethon “United News”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. They found out that in fact such advertising does not exist, and Ukrainian environmentalists did not make such statements. Using an image search, experts found footage from the video - Russian propaganda used the presentation of the Capsula Mundi project by Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel in 2016. Russians used these frames, added the “1+1” channel and the “United News” telethon, and read low-quality text.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to spread the message about high losses among the Ukrainian military and sow despondency among Ukrainian society. Previously, Detector Media refuted the fake that Defense Minister Umierov disclosed data on Ukraine’s losses during the counteroffensive.

Propagandists try to explain current events using conspiracy theories, even when it comes to air attacks by the Russian military on civilian infrastructure. They are trying to justify them by what in the West is called the “crisis actor” theory.

According to it, most of the crisis situations (shootings or terrorist attacks) occurring in the world are supposedly staged. They say that those in power scare the population with such things for political purposes. For example, conspiracy theorists tried to devalue the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 or school shootings in this way. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the founder of the InfoWars portal, called the Sandy Hook school shooting a “staged act” and the relatives of the victims “hired actors” (hence it is called the “crisis actor” theory). He called for death threats against them, which resulted in victims’ relatives receiving numerous calls and messages from users of the site. They teamed up and filed a lawsuit against Jones, as a result of which InfoWars was closed, and Jones was forced to pay huge monetary compensation to the families of the victims, which is why he declared bankruptcy.

Propagandists use this theory to justify Russian terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure. They call almost every high-profile terrorist attack a staging, for example, the attack on the cathedral in Odesa. Moreover, Russian officials also call the events in Bucha and other (de)occupied territories “staged”. To support this, they take elements of videos or photographs out of context or resort to Photoshop. It is interesting that Russia has used this theory before, in particular to explain the events of the Yugoslav War. For example, Russia still claims that the difference in the Albanian village of Racak was allegedly staged, which it appeals to during statements on the topic of its aggression against Ukraine. Even despite the fact that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia admitted that something really happened and convicted the then head of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic, as well as his henchmen, for it.

Using this theory, Russia wants to avoid responsibility for its crimes. They say that everyone only wants to denigrate Russia, that’s why they come up with the idea that it kills people. However, a number of projects that help document these crimes disprove this theory and provide important evidence for holding Russia accountable in the future.

Pro-Kremlin media are disseminating information that in Ukraine they want to reorganize military media and supposedly send journalists to the front due to the failure of mobilization and lack of people. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. The ex-deputy of the Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar actually spoke during the conference “Editorial Board. Summit” on plans to reorganize military media. She noted that people with high military knowledge who worked for military media could be useful directly at the front. Maliar also spoke about attracting already mobilized journalists to the media. However, there was no talk of separate mobilization of journalists - they, just like other citizens of Ukraine, are subject to mobilization.

The very reorganization of military media is necessary, first of all, in order to bring their status into compliance with the Law of Ukraine “On Media”.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and sow panic and despondency among Ukrainians, saying that there is a shortage of people at the front. Previously, we refuted the falsehood that, under the guise of mobilization, the authorities in Ukraine are destroying the Russian-speaking population.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that on September 6, the Russian military fired at the location of the Ukrainian military in Kostiantynivka. Russian propaganda notes that there are supposedly photos and videos of the wounded that confirm this. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the VoxCheck project. On September 6, Russian troops shelled a market in Kostiantynivka, killing 15 people. Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, speaking on the United News telethon, said that only the civilian population was affected, and there were no military units there.

By disseminating information that the Russian military is targeting exclusively military targets, Russian propaganda is trying to whitewash the Russians and show that they allegedly do not commit war crimes against Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake news that the Russians fired at a meeting of Lithuanian and Polish NATO officers in Chernihiv.