Spilnota Detector Media
Detector Media collects and documents real-time chronicles of the Kremlin disinformation about the Russian invasion. Ukraine for decades has been suffering from Kremlin disinformation. Here we document all narratives, messages, and tactics, which Russia is using from February 17th, 2022. Reminder: the increasing of shelling and fighting by militants happened on the 17th of February 2022 on the territory of Ukraine. Russian propaganda blames Ukraine for these actions.

On 22 November, on the 1002th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2543
Fake
756
Manipulation
739
Message
535
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Message Zelenskyi’s trip to Bakhmut is a performance

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not go to Bakhmut. They say that with the use of Western editing technologies, he can be “organized” anywhere, even a “trip to the Kremlin”. They also say that the residents of Bakhmut allegedly did not recognize the building on the video. Moreover, as if this is not Bakhmut, but the outskirts of Kharkiv.

Russian propaganda spread similar messages during Zelenskyi’s trips to the liberated territories, namely to Izium and Kherson. In particular, propagandists wrote that Zelenskyi deliberately visited Russia when he traveled to Kherson. The fake that Zelenskyi uses chromakey has already been debunked, but propaganda again resorts to such manipulations.

Message The call for Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine is an attempt to divert attention from corruption in the EU

Such information is disseminated in the Russian propaganda media. Reports say that NATO and the EU are preparing another charade for domestic consumption, the protagonist of which is Russia. Like, considering the general corruption of the European Commission and the European Parliament, they urgently need a smokescreen to divert the attention of their citizens from this problem. It is in this way that propagandists call the EU demand put forward by Russia to withdraw from Ukraine as a distraction. Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case in the network. According to experts, this disinformation story concerns a future joint EU-NATO statement promising support for Ukraine and urging Russia to stop the invasion and withdraw from Ukraine. However, this statement has nothing to do with the corruption scandal that erupted in December 2022 after several members of the European Parliament were accused of taking bribes from at least one country.

Message Great Britain, together with its vassals, creates an anti-Russian coalition

Messages of this content appeared in Russian propaganda media and in telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. The authors of the messages claim that Great Britain, together with its vassals - the Baltic countries and Poland, are preparing an anti-Russian coalition. Like, the Baltic countries are only colonies and vassals of Great Britain, and London is trying to build an anti-Russian coalition in order to reduce the influence of Russia. Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case in the network. According to analysts, Russian propaganda seeks to present the Baltic countries and Poland as dependent or even puppets of Western states (in this case, Great Britain). In this way, propagandists convince the world that because of ties with the UK, other countries are losing their sovereignty. The propagandists expanded the same narrative in relation to Ukraine. They say that Ukraine is controlled by third forces: both the countries of the West and NATO, and it is they who allegedly set Ukraine and Ukrainians against Russia.

Message A group of Islamists from Syria will fight on the side of Ukraine

Such information appeared in the Russian-language media space. In particular, messages are distributed in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting a pro-Russian position. They say that a new group of radical Islamists went from northeast Syria to Ukraine to fight as mercenaries on the side of Kyiv. However, there is no evidence in the propagandists' reports to support such a claim. Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case.

Fake Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi admitted being afraid of the Russian General Surovikin

This message is spread by the Russian propaganda media. Like, Valerii Zaluzhnyi admitted in an interview that the Russian military leader inspires fear in him. As StopFake writes, the message about the recognition of the fear of the Russian Surovikin by Zaluzhnyi is based on an interview of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the British edition of The Economist. The interview of the Commander-in-Chief is real, but he did not say that he was afraid of Surovikin. It's fake. In fact, Valerii Zaluzhnyi spoke in an interview about the course of the war, the Ukrainian counteroffensive, and also gave an assessment of Russian actions on the battlefield.

Fake Volodymyr Zelenskyi has Russian citizenship

Such a message appeared in Russian propaganda media and anonymous telegram channels. Reports say Ukraine's current president, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, has Russian citizenship. They say that he received it in Orikhovo-Zuievo, Moscow Region, 21 years ago, namely in 2001. As evidence, the propagandists allegedly add a screenshot of a document provided by ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Illia Kiva, who fled in the spring of 2022. Kiva said that "the Investigative committee of Russia should prosecute and put on the wanted list a Russian citizen Volodymyr Zelenskyi". However, this is fake. The photo of the president's supposedly Russian passport is not real.

Orest Slyvenko, Artur Koldomasov, Vitalii Mykhailiv, Oleksandra Kotenko, Oleksandr Siedin, Kostiantyn Zadyraka, and Oleksiy Pivtorak are collaborating on this chronicle. Lesia Bidochko serves as the project coordinator, while Ksenia Ilyuk is the author of the project.