The Kremlin propaganda media spread an article with the headline “The West has lost. The US revealed the truth about the Ukrainian counteroffensive”. In the text, military experts Michael Kofman and Rob Lee commented on the war in Ukraine. They allegedly stated that “The event pins hopes on a Ukrainian counter-offensive, but its outcome is unlikely to live up to expectations, instead giving Russia an advantage” and noted that “Putin may assume that this offensive is the highest point of Western assistance to Ukraine and that subsequently Russia will be able to deplete the Armed Forces”. It's fake.

The Insider drew attention to the case. In fact, the article by Kofman and Lee states that the future offensive of Ukraine, no matter how successful, will not lead to an immediate end to the war and that one must prepare for a protracted conflict.

“Ukraine may well succeed on the battlefield, but it will take time to turn military victories into political results”, the article says. Experts also noted that even if Ukraine wins a military victory or a series of victories, this does not mean that the war will end there. However, there is no question of Russia's advantage on the battlefield or recognition of the defeat of the West.

Thus, Russian propagandists continue to promote the narrative that Ukraine is dependent on the West and its interests in the war and wants to demoralize Ukrainians. Like, take a look, even American military experts do not believe in the victory of Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that Ukraine is a tool of the West to undermine Russian statehood.

The Kremlin propaganda media disseminated information that the Polish general Waldemar Skrzypczak allegedly stated that “Poland is preparing for an armed coup in Belarus and participation in its military support”. He stated this on the air of Polsat. This is manipulation.

General Waldemar Skrzypczak notes that Russian mercenaries fighting on the side of Ukraine conducted a sabotage action in the Belgorod region. He noted that similar events could soon take place on Belarusian territory. “If the Ukrainian counteroffensive is successful, the armed Belarusians, who are part of the military potential of the Ukrainian army, will not lay down their arms”, Skrzypczak said.

Waldemar Skrzypczak did not say that Poland was preparing for a military coup. He noted: “We must be ready to support the troops that will carry out the operation against Lukashenko. We have reasons to help them just as we help Ukrainians”.

By spreading such manipulations, propagandists want to show Poland as an aggressor country ready to unleash a war against Belarus. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the West is militarizing Poland in order to start a war against Russia and Belarus.

Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric citing the Russian Defense Ministry claim that “in the interests of the Pentagon in Ukraine, the conditions for the uncontrolled transmission of avian influenza were studied”. This happened in the Kherson region, where strains capable of causing epidemics were studied. Also, “the US Department of Energy recruited specialists with experience and knowledge in the field of weapons of mass destruction to Ukraine”. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Vox Check project drew attention to the case. As part of the program to reduce the biological threat, Ukrainian scientists really cooperated with American ones. Such studies are carried out around the world to counteract the spread of the virus in a particular area. Moreover, studies of bird migration and the transfer of the pathogen by them are also being investigated in Russia.

The fake about the biological laboratory in Kherson has been spreading since 2015, when Tetiana Tomilina, who ran for the role of the Kherson mayor, spoke about it as part of her election campaign. She subsequently became a collaborator. 

Russian propaganda also talks about the alleged “recruitment of specialists in weapons of mass destruction”. Probably, the reason for the spread of this fake was the training of the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Border Service, which was supported by the International Program to Counter the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction of the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). These courses taught to identify “potential dual-use items and block their movement”.

Russian propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulations on the development of biological weapons in Ukraine. This is part of the narrative that “the West rules Ukraine”. “U.S. Pentagon biolabs” have never existed in Ukraine, a Russian fake that has been circulating since 2010 and is one of the longest-running propaganda narratives. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that Russia received more than twenty thousand documents confirming the work of American biological laboratories in Ukraine.

The Kremlin propaganda media disseminated information that allegedly there was a “critically small supply of fuel” in Ukraine, an “acute shortage” and because of this, “panic began” in the country. They refer to a statement by Ukraine's Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolesnyk, who said that “at present, the country is provided with fuel for no more than 30 days”. This is manipulation.

As specialists of the StopFake project note, the reason for numerous manipulations was the phrase of Mykola Kolesnyk, which he said during a round table on May 15, when they discussed draft law No. 9024 (Draft Law on Minimum Stocks of Oil and Oil Products): “Today, if the supply of oil and oil products is stopped, the country will be able to meet the needs within no more than 10-30 days at the expense of its own production and reserves. Mykola Kolesnyk did not say that “an acute shortage of fuel is ripening” in Ukraine.

The creation of a minimum stock of oil and oil products is an obligation of Ukraine in accordance with Council Directive 2009/119/EC.

Also, the chairman of the Committee on Energy, Housing and Communal Services, People's Deputy Andrii Herus, said that Ukraine would create fuel reserves. And the director of the A-95 Consulting Group, which provides services to the subjects of the energy market of Ukraine, Serhii Kuiun, said that now there is no fuel shortage in Ukraine and it is not predicted.

Thus, propagandists are trying to sow panic among the population and discredit the government, which allegedly cannot provide Ukraine with the necessary amount of resources. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Putin banned oil exports to the United States, which brought down the American economy.

The Kremlin propaganda media are spreading information that the “Kyiv regime” allegedly deliberately raises the water level at the Kakhovka reservoir in order to “flood” the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The authorities are allegedly taking measures to “create conditions for forcing the Dnipro, in particular for seizing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”. It's fake.

The case was noticed by specialists from the StopFake project. Ukraine does not flood its own territories, and the increase in the water level in the Dnipro is due to spring floods. As hydrologist and candidate of geographical sciences Konstiantyn Danko noted in a StopFake commentary, flooding the Zaporizhzhia NPP is impossible, because “its infrastructure is designed by default for maximum levels in the Kakhovka reservoir”. According to him, 5 out of 6 hydroelectric power plants operate on the Dnipro cascade, which control and regulate the water level. The sixth is not working due to the capture by Russian troops.

The hydrologist also refutes the narrative that due to the uncontrolled release of water by Kyiv and due to powerful water pressure, it will break the dam of the Kakhovka reservoir. He notes that the structure was built with the calculation of all risks, both natural and anthropological, and the dam is able to withstand water pressure at high speed. But a breakthrough may occur due to the constant shelling of the dam by the Russians.

Russian propaganda also spreads the narrative that Ukraine deliberately held back water in early 2023 in order to drain the Kakhovka reservoir and cause a flood in the spring. According to the hydrologist, during the retreat from the right bank of the Dnipro in the fall of 2022, the Russian military blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and opened the lock chambers in the engine room. Therefore, the integrity of the dam was violated, since then there has been a constant uncontrolled discharge of water at the Kakhovka reservoir.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to shift the responsibility for Russia's crimes onto Ukrainians. Russian propaganda uses the tactics of reflection, attributing its actions to opponents.  Detector Media refuted the fake that Ukraine allegedly stores weapons on the territory of the ZNPP.