Pro-Russian Telegram channels and social media users are spreading information that Poland has allegedly begun handing over to Ukraine citizens who “escaped from mobilization”. Russian propagandists claim that the first case occurred in October 2024, when Polish police detained a Ukrainian and sent him to the Ukrainian border under escort. However, this is fake.

The StopFake project mentioned it. Its experts found out that in fact this incident concerns not evasion of mobilization, but deportation due to violations of Polish laws, namely suspicions of assisting illegal migration. Official sources do not confirm the accusations of mobilization reasons for deportation.

The spread of fakes about the deportation of Ukrainians from EU countries, in particular Poland, is part of the disinformation campaign of Russian propaganda. In October 2024, no EU government introduced a policy of returning Ukrainian citizens through mobilization. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said that the deportation of Ukrainians of military age contradicts the Temporary Protection Directive, which regulates the status of refugees in the EU.

Russian propaganda, including internet trolls and Kremlin-controlled media, have been spreading deepfakes on American social media aimed at discrediting US presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The materials were created using artificial intelligence.

This was reported by Bloomberg, citing a Microsoft study. DEV.ua journalists claim that the report states that Russian propaganda tactics included fake posts and fabricated images that allegedly came from verified sources, but the goal was to spread negative information about Harris. One of these fakes was audio in which she allegedly discussed her opponent Donald Trump.

However, the attempts to discredit him had limited success. Only one video, published by an RT correspondent on the X platform in late September, became very popular.

Microsoft warns that artificial intelligence will be just one part of a larger digital manipulation effort aimed at influencing elections.

Propaganda Telegram channels controlled by Russia are actively disseminating a statement by the leader of the French party Patriots Florian Philippot, who claims that the European Parliament approved the allocation of an additional 35 billion euros for Ukraine at the expense of frozen Russian assets, calling it theft. This message is aimed at creating a negative attitude towards the West's support for Ukraine and forming a distorted idea of the legality of international aid.

This is what the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes. They emphasize that in fact, Florian Philippot has long been an active relayer of Russian narratives in France, whether or not he does so consciously. Just last week, he also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi would soon lose his post. Similar pro-Russian statements have been repeatedly spread by other figures, such as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

At the same time, Russia continues to boast about its own large-scale thefts in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Russia's real crimes include the so-called “nationalization” of Ukrainian enterprises, their re-registration, and the constant taxation of the population in the occupation zones.

Russia is trying to portray the legitimate use of frozen assets to support Ukraine as “theft” in order to create a negative impression of the EU and other Western aid. Propagandists are also spreading fake claims of “theft” by Ukraine and its partners in order to distract attention from their own acts of looting in the occupied territories, where real crimes are being committed. Such messages are aimed at undermining trust in Western institutions and discrediting the mechanisms of support for Ukraine, showing them as part of an international “conspiracy” plan. Using European politicians like Filippo helps Russia to shape negative sentiments in Europe and spread anti-Ukrainian messages through local mouthpieces, which creates the illusion of domestic opposition to support for Ukraine. Thus, the message about “theft of Russian assets” is another tool of Russia’s disinformation campaign aimed at manipulating public opinion in Europe and undermining support for Ukraine.

Propagandists are spreading information on anonymous Telegram channels that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is allegedly deliberately destroying the Ukrainian people under the pretext of war in order to turn Ukraine into a camp for migrants from Europe and transfer all the country's resources to Western corporations. However, this is not true.

This message is a typical example of Russian disinformation aimed at undermining morale and creating panic. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was an act of aggression on the part of Russia, not a conscious policy of the Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine is defending itself against an aggressor that has violated international law and the country's sovereignty. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian leadership are fighting to preserve the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, not to “destroy the people”. Their goal is to preserve the Ukrainian state and protect its population from threats from the aggressor.

The claim that Ukraine will be used as a “migrant camp” is a completely baseless conspiracy theory. Ukraine seeks to integrate into the European community as a full partner, and there is no indication that the country will become a hub for migrants deported from the EU. Such rumors are classic Russian attempts to stoke fears and social instability. The claim that Ukrainians are “fighting to give resources to Western corporations” is part of anti-Western propaganda. Ukraine receives aid from Western countries to protect itself from Russian aggression, not to give up its resources. This aid is aimed at supporting the defense and reconstruction of the country. The use of ethnic stereotypes and hints at “outsiders” who are supposedly going to take over Ukraine is an attempt to sow discord among Ukrainians and undermine the unity of society. Such narratives are dangerous and are intended to create an atmosphere of mistrust and fear.

Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Zelenskyi and his government in order to reduce public support and sow doubts about the motives of the war for Ukraine's independence. In this way, propagandists are also trying to present Western aid as a threat to Ukraine's sovereignty, which is not true. These types of messages are aimed at emotional influence in order to demoralize Ukrainian society, spread fear and doubt about the country's future.

Ukrainian air attacks on Russian territory have become a common occurrence, although it was hard to imagine in the first months of a full-scale war. Due to Ukraine's resistance to Russian armed aggression, the military actions declared by Putin Special Military Operation have moved to Russian lands in the form of military actions in the Kursk region of Russia and attacks on military facilities. In response, Russian propagandists are trying to downplay the scale of Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory by inventing new terms. One of these is ‘smoke’. This is a euphemism used to replace the concept of a fire or hitting a target within the internationally recognized borders of Russia, which is undesirable for Russian ears. They say that if it is just ‘smoke’, then neither the attack nor its consequences are serious. However, ‘smoke’ does not always harm the Russian army.

For example, on October 9, 2024, Ukrainian UAVs attacked a storage base for about 400 Shahed UAVs located in Russia's Krasnodar Krai. The Ukrainian side recorded a precise hit on the target. A secondary detonation was also observed on the site. At the same time, Russian propaganda sources, responding to this attack, wrote that there was a ‘fire’ in the storage facilities and ‘heavy smoke in Azov’.

By using the term smoke, Russian propagandists are deliberately trying to deny Ukraine's successful strikes on Russian infrastructure facilities, which allow the occupation war to continue. In turn, according to the Kremlin's logic, ordinary Russians should not think that such ‘emergency situations’ are an echo of a real war.