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 December, on the 1032th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2602
Fake
774
Manipulation
753
Message
541
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake Ukrainian Armed Forces military recorded threats against Donald Trump

A video allegedly filmed by Ukrainian soldiers burning an effigy of former US President Donald Trump is being circulated on social networks. The military claims in the video that Trump delayed the provision of US military aid to Ukraine and “must pay for it”.

VoxCheck analysts explained that the videos are mainly distributed by Russian propaganda telegram channels and pro-Russian accounts on various social networks. At the same time, there are no such publications in the Ukrainian media.

And the assertion that the Ukrainian military is in the video is unfounded - someone could dress in a similar uniform and attach a chevron with the flag of Ukraine to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Fake Volodymyr Zelenskyi refused to return hundreds of captured Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to Ukraine

Russian propagandists write that Ukraine has been refusing to exchange 500 Ukrainian prisoners of war for four months, because Zelenskyi selected only 38 Azov soldiers, and Ukraine, as they add in fake messages, does not need all the rest.

Analysts at the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security explain that this is simply a propaganda hoax, because Ukraine is making every effort to ensure that all prisoners return home to their loved ones as soon as possible. Moreover, the Ukrainian authorities constantly insist on an exchange procedure based on the “all for all” principle.

Russia uses Ukrainian prisoners as a means of putting pressure on Kyiv and Ukrainian society. For example, on May 17, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that Moscow continues to unilaterally block the exchange of prisoners.

Fake A “drunk” Ukrainian serviceman allegedly attacked a priest

The Kremlin media writes that an incident occurred in Ukraine involving a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier - he allegedly entered a church and began attacking parishioners, and then attacked the priest himself. As evidence to the messages, they add videos from inside the temple.

“Most likely, Bandera is a follower of yet another satanic teaching, which is now flourishing in Ukraine due to the connivance of the authorities. For obvious reasons, there are many such Satanists in the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, adds the pro-Kremlin resource.

StopFake fact-checkers write that no authoritative media reported such an incident anywhere. There were no reports of any attack on the official websites of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Kyiv Patriarchate or the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, where such an incident could have occurred. Also, specialized religious media, such as the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, did not write anything about such an incident. There is no information about such an attack on the police website.

So, most likely the video is staged.

Fake The property of “Ukrainian evaders” allegedly began to be put up for auction

In the Russian segment of social networks they claim that the property of “Ukrainian mobilization evaders” seems to have begun to be put up for auction. Proof of this is a screenshot from the Ukrainian Universal Exchange (UUB), where such an announcement was allegedly published.

“The property of Ukrainian residents began to be put up for auction, including apartments. You can now lose property in this country just because you don’t want to die for the Zelenskyi regime”, the users conclude.

StopFake fact-checkers took up the case and checked whether an advertisement for the sale of an “evader’s” apartment was actually published on one of the Ukrainian asset sales platforms - it turned out that this was not the case. The UUB website states that in fact the apartment belongs to the bankrupt person. That is, we are talking about a person who, for example, was unable to pay their loan obligations and because of which he or she was considered insolvent. Consequently, their property was put up for auction.

But it is not the case about the “Ukrainian evaders”.

Fake Ukraine has allegedly “become a hub” for drug trafficking in the world, German newspaper Junge Welt

Anonymous telegram channels write that Ukraine has allegedly become a hub for drug trafficking in the world, citing an article in a German newspaper. The author of the article asks the question about the ultimate goal of “legalizing marijuana” in Ukraine and makes the reader wonder whether Volodymyr Zelenskyi legalized this substance due to his own “capture”. At the same time, the authors of the fake news allegedly cite data from the report of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC) to support such theses. In it, the organization allegedly writes that against the backdrop of failures, the Ukrainian military is becoming easy prey for drug lords.

VoxCheck analysts explained that GITOC did not call Ukraine a “hub” for drug trafficking in its report. At the same time, Ukraine legalized not recreational marijuana, but medical cannabis, which contains almost no narcotic substance.

At the same time, the publication Junge Welt actually published material filled with Kremlin anti-Ukrainian narratives. After all, it is the pro-Russian media that is spreading fake news not for the first time.

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.