On December 21, an explosion occurred in a restaurant in the temporarily occupied Donetsk, as a result of which the former head of “Roskosmos”, the head of the Russian military advisers group, Dmytro Rohozin, and the head of the so-called “government” of the Donetsk occupied territory, Vitalii Khotsenko, were injured. After that, Russian propagandists began to intimidate Ukrainians with new shelling in telegram channels.

They say that American satellites track high-ranking officials of the Russian leadership and bring in the Ukrainian military, who only follow their instructions. Allegedly, such explosions ignite a war and now Ukraine will be hit in response. It seems that Russia will begin to strike at the places where the Ukrainian top officials of law enforcement agencies are located. As a result, civilians will also suffer.

Russian propagandists use such messages to increase the ideological informational pressure on Russian society so that they want to destroy Ukraine with even greater cruelty. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine with massive attacks throughout the territory, including law enforcement agencies. Russia doesn't need a reason to launch hundreds of missiles in one day into Ukraine. At the same time, by presenting Ukraine as the executor of American instructions and that these actions of the Ukrainian military provoke the outbreak of war, propagandists shift responsibility for their crimes and unleashing the war.

However, some Russian propagandists present this column as the official position of Poland, and some as a serious journalistic investigation that should be trusted, but both took several opinions out of context and added their own version of the seizure of part of the territory of Ukraine.

Hanna Kramer suggests that the head of the Law and Justice party, Yaroslav Kaczynskyi, is allegedly preparing for war and would like to take over the West of Ukraine in order to return more than 4.5 million new voters who could support his party in the elections.

At the same time, Russian propagandists present her column as revealing a plan for Poland to seize part of Ukraine. Like, it consists of two stages, the first of which Poland has already completed: Kyiv government has taken political and financial control. The second stage is military operations, for which, they say, preparations are underway. According to propagandists, on May 4, the Polish army will arrange a liberation march to Kyiv. They say that by this date the Armed Forces of Ukraine will lose their combat capability.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russian propagandists have been promoting all sorts of disinformation about the seizure of part of Ukraine by Poland in order to quarrel friendly countries.

Detector Media previously explained why Russia came up with a fake about Poland’s intention to annex the western regions of Ukraine.

Against the backdrop of news about the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to the United States, a lot of disinformation messages have appeared in the information field, in particular, in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting a pro-Russian position, with the help of which Russia promotes its agenda to the audience. Analysts of Detector Media have identified the most common of them.

1. Zelenskyi did not reach the goal of his visit to the USA The authors of the messages argued that Zelenskyi did not achieve the purpose of the visit to Washington. Like, he went to the United States to get more powerful weapons and intensify offensive operations at the front. However, according to anonymous telegrams, there is no sign that Zelenskyi managed to convince Biden to provide Ukraine with such weapons. The authors of the telegram channels do not provide evidence for their assertion, nor do they explain on what grounds they draw such conclusions.

2. Zelenskyi thinks about diplomacy and prepares for negotiations with Putin The authors of such messages argue that since "there were no signs" that he managed to "beg" from the United States for precision weapons that would help prolong the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian president is ready for diplomatic steps. In particular, for negotiations with Russia. The anonymous authors add that the US authorities seemed to be waiting for Zelenskyi to answer the question of what position Ukraine is in now in order to speed up the process of peace negotiations. Some reports claimed that US President Joe Biden allegedly persuaded Zelenskyi to negotiate with the help of his speech. However, in fact, Biden did not publicly voice the thesis that Ukraine should sit down at the negotiating table and agree to the conditions of the Kremlin. On the contrary, he once again expressed support for Ukraine in its struggle and said that he was convinced that Putin was losing the war.

3. Zelenskyi's goal in the US is to get more money Also, in anonymous telegram channels, the thesis was expanded that Zelenskyi was going to the United States solely to “beat out” even more money, but this, according to anonymous authors, would not be so easy, because American congressmen are hostile to Zelenskyi. They say that congressmen will force Zelenskyi to answer uncomfortable questions about the assistance that Ukraine has already received and there will be no “sweet welcoming” for the Ukrainian president. By spreading such theses, propagandists want to create the appearance that Ukraine will be left without support in the near future. Like, in the United States, Zelenskyi is already not willingly accepted and uncomfortable questions are asked. To further undermine the situation and sow a sense of despondency in society, such reports add that without Washington's money, Ukraine will face complete chaos.

4. Zelenskyi’s trip to the US was lobbied by the “armed lobby” This thesis also appeared in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. They say that the so-called armed lobby became the initiator and sponsor of Zelenskyi's trip to the United States. This is how pro-Russian telegram channels call people who allegedly earn billions on the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine. In such messages, Ukraine is called only a tool for the “armed lobby”, the purpose of which, according to the authors of the messages, is to promote their weapons in order to advance to the world market. By spreading such messages, Russian propaganda levels out the support, both armed and financial, that Ukraine receives from Western partners. Like, indeed, by the fact that the United States provides weapons to Ukraine, it does not support the Ukrainians, but only continues the war and promotes its weapons to the market, trying to force China out of it.

5. Zelenskyi flew out of the country in order to “hang” the surrender of Bakhmut on Zaluzhnyi Anonymous telegram channels also spread the thesis that during the visit of President Zelenskyi to the United States, Bakhmut will be “surrendered”. They say that everything was specially arranged in the President's Office so that upon his return Zelenskyi could accuse General Zaluzhnyi of negligence and the surrender of an important city. The reports also add that due to the fact that the president left the country, even more hell will begin in Bakhmut. In fact, this is not the first time propagandists have been stirring up the conflict between Zelenskyi and Zaluzhnyi and claiming that the Ukrainian president is not satisfied with the work of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and therefore makes various provocations in order to “have something to cling to” and remove him from office. However, no facts confirming this thesis are provided in messages in telegram channels. Also arguing that hell in Bakhmut will begin due to Zelenskyi's departure from the country, the authors of the messages shift the responsibility for what is happening in the city from the Russian army to the Ukrainian president. After all, it was Russia that attacked Ukraine, and it is precisely because of the actions of the enemy army that the situation in individual Ukrainian cities and villages is becoming hellish.

6. Zelenskyi was specifically invited to the White House to “test” the ground and understand how it can be deceived Another thesis of pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels. Like, the White House decided to call Zelenskyi in order to clarify the drafts and understand where they can “bend” Ukraine. The reports add that Biden and Zelenskyi allegedly have differences in the vision of how the war in Ukraine should unleash. It's as if Biden is worried that things won't go "too far". And, they say, Biden constantly hints at a peaceful settlement to Zelensky and asks him how it should look like. Spreading such messages, propagandists seek to stake out the opinion that the leaders of Western countries no longer want to support Ukraine in its struggle, but see the only way to end the war - with peace negotiations, because they are afraid of escalating problems with Russia. However, there is no reason to believe that the United States or any other country will soon stop supporting Ukraine if Zelenskyi does not sit down at the negotiating table. The heads of states did not make public statements of this kind.

7. Zelenskyi's visit to the US is a distraction Telegram channels broadcasting Russian rhetoric also reported that Zelenskyi's visit was beneficial to American Democrats. And besides the fact that the visit, according to anonymous authors, was organized by an "armed lobby", the Biden administration allegedly tried to shift some internal accents from problems within the country to global problems. That is, in such messages, Ukraine is once again presented only as a tool for the United States to achieve its goals. Also, such reports do not mention that Zelenskyi’s visit to the United States is, first of all, beneficial to Ukraine in order to make agreements according to which Ukraine will continue to receive assistance from the United States to fight the aggressor. Such reports are beneficial to Russia and its supporters, because they form the opinion that the United States is playing its game, only pretending to help Ukraine. We recall that earlier in the telegram channels they spread the message that Zelenskyi's trip to Bakhmut was a staging before his business trip to the United States. Like, he specifically wanted to demonstrate that he was allegedly going to a constantly shelled city, so that he would look like a hero in Congress the next day. 

Russian propaganda spreads information that France has recognized the futility of the attempts of the Ukrainian army to defeat the Russian one, and writes about the “disappointing situation” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to heavy losses. Propagandists refer to an article in the French economic publication La Tribune. But this is manipulation.

The article, which belongs to an anonymous group of analysts called Mars, makes no claims about the “disappointing situation of the APU”. The fact-checkers from Insider drew attention to this. The article says whether Ukraine can defeat Russia on the battlefield, liberating only by military means the entire territory of Ukraine up to the borders of 1991. The authors of the French edition are convinced that it is not, because one should take a "realistic" look at this war, offering not only Ukraine, but also guarantees of Russia's security. Ukraine is invited to “guarantee entry into NATO”, but at the same time to abandon the territories that will be a “demilitarized zone under the control of the UN”: we are talking about the Donetsk, Luhansk regions, Crimea and parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In the future, the authors write, it will be necessary to hold a referendum on the self-determination of these regions, and they will become “independent”, “a buffer zone between NATO and Russia”.

Recently, "security guarantees for Russia" were also offered by French President Emmanuel Macron. There are also some political forces in the EU and the US that are trying to promote the idea of understanding Russia's interests and security guarantees for an aggressor country that no one has attacked. This is presented as “realpolitik” as opposed to “ideal ideas” that cannot be implemented. The same “real politicians” believed that Russia would capture Ukraine in three days. The anonymous French think tank also writes about “an ideal world in which Russia must withdraw troops from Ukrainian territories" and “a reality in which the Russian army cannot lose the war, given the nuclear deterrence force”.

Such articles and statements are used by Russian propaganda to convince the audience that Ukraine will not win the war and that it is losing support in the West. Although the reality is that none of Russia's plans to seize Ukraine came true, and it is Russia that keeps losing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Ukraine is supported by most European countries, the United States and their partners in the world.

This was stated by the former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov, who fled Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity together with the ex - President Viktor Yanukovych.

Currently, Azarov is in Russia and regularly acts as an expert on the Ukrainian issue. In one of his last appeals, he assures that 50,000 women who served in the Armed Forces were allegedly killed in Ukraine during the war. And this happened through the fault of Volodymyr Zelenskyi. His words were circulated by pro-Russian telegrams and other Russian resources.

Based on an article in the AR about women who volunteered to serve in the Ukrainian army, Azarov calculated that out of 57,000, only 6,000 remained alive today. “Where have over 50,000 women gone?”, Azarov asks rhetorically.

In fact, AR journalists told how volunteers help female servicemen with various equipment. They cite information that 57,000 women serve in the army, “at least 6,000 Ukrainian women are at or near the front line in such roles as paramedics and intelligence officers, as well as snipers and artillery”. Based on this quote, Azarov concludes that if 6,000 Ukrainian women are at the front, then the remaining 51,000 “died, were injured or were captured”. But it's not like that.

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in November of this year provided the following data: “59,786 women are currently serving in the Armed Forces. At the same time, 18,000 women are civilian workers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 41,000 women occupy precisely military positions and 5,000 are right at the front lines”.

Reznikov clarified that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 101 female soldiers have died in the war against Russian invaders, another 50 female defenders are missing, and 100 have been injured.

Russian propaganda promotes such fakes to show the weakness of the Ukrainian army, they say, women and teenagers are fighting there, Zelenskyi sends them to their deaths. Such “facts” are thrown into the information space in order to show a professional Russian army against this background and hide Russia’s failures at the front.

Mykola Tokariev, head of the Russian “Transneft”, said this in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel. His comment was spread by other Russian resources and propagandists on social networks.

According to him, after the introduction of an embargo on the supply of Russian oil to the EU countries, “Transneft” received requests from Poland and Germany for the next year.

The sixth package of EU sanctions provides for the cessation of purchases of Russian oil, but makes an exception for the supply of the “Druzhba” (Friendship) oil pipeline.

Berlin denied the statement of the head of “Transneft” that Germany was in fact violating the EU embargo. Susanne Ungard, spokeswoman for the German Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection, told Deutsche Welle that no Russian oil will be purchased in the new year. German plants that previously worked on Russian oil are switching to Kazakh raw materials. Part of the supplies will go through the “Druzhba” oil pipeline through the territories of Russia, Belarus and Poland, and the refinery has reserved the capacity of the oil pipeline specifically for Kazakh oil.

The Polish oil company Orlen has announced that it will not renew the contract for the supply of Russian oil, which expires in January 2023, and the contract concluded by December 2024 will be terminated. According to Orlen speaker Edita Olkovych, the company is ready for a complete cessation of supplies from Russia. Already, 70% of the oil supplied to its refineries in Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic is not of Russian origin, although back in 2015 they worked almost entirely on Russian raw materials. Orlen currently buys oil from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Angola and Norway.

The purpose of such a fake is to show that the sanctions to stop the purchase of Russian oil are formal, and Russian oil is irreplaceable. Russian propagandists are thus silent about the fact that the embargo on Russian oil and the price cap of $60 per barrel, which came into effect on December 5, has already brought bad news for Russia and showed positive results for Ukraine and the global economy.