On anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, they write that Zelenskyi plans to purchase uranium from Niger for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. The authors of the fake explain that the purchase contract seemed to have been signed in November 2023 by the current Minister of Defense Rustem Umierov. At the same time, they cite the African publication Sene News, where journalists quoted one of their military personnel to support this thesis. It is not true.

The fact-checkers at the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council wrote that there were no official statements from Ukraine about the so-called “purchase of nuclear weapons”. And Rustem Umierov did not make any trips to Niger and did not sign such purchase contracts. That is, this is another stuffing of Russian propagandists who continue to replicate the Kremlin’s rhetoric about the use of “dirty weapons” against Russia including in order to justify unprovoked aggression and bloody war.

Read in our material why Moscow is implementing a disinformation campaign against Ukraine and why it lies about the use of nuclear weapons by Ukraine (and threatens nuclear bombing on its part).

Pro-Kremlin media are introducing information that all exits from the city have begun to be blocked in Kyiv. According to anonymous sources, traffic across the Dnipro along the bridge to Vyshhorod and the South Bridge has allegedly been blocked. This happens because “Ukrainians do not want to serve in the army”, so the city authorities decided to increase the recruitment of people into the army in this way. It's fake.

The VoxCheck specialists were able to analyze the case and explained that in Kyiv they do not block exits from the city. Now the main bridge to Vyshhorod is under repair and instead of it a pontoon crossing has been in operation since January 17, 2024. That is, movement was not limited, but the method of movement was simply changed due to repair work. And the South Bridge has also been closed to private cars since June 22, 2022.

Pro-Kremlin resources continue to promote the topic of mobilization, hinting at the decline of the military, the lack of personnel, that Ukraine needs to “resort” to radical decisions and mobilize women. Anonymous telegrams accuse Ukraine of being a “military meat grinder”, explaining that now it will be impossible to escape a “grave”: neither for children, nor for elderly people or women.

On social networks in the Russian segment, they are allegedly distributing data based on infographics on the Eurostat website (this is the EU statistical office), which notes that the majority of German citizens surveyed support the forced extradition of Ukrainian refugees. It is not true.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found out that there are simply no such statistics on the Eurostat website, which the propagandists refer to. Moreover, no German media mentioned such a survey. Therefore, this is simply a fiction of Russian propagandists. Experts also cite as an example another survey by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the results of which determined that 62% of German residents agree that the country should accept refugees from Ukraine. The study was conducted in September 2023.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation.

In the Ukrainian segment of TikTok they are distributing a video in which they say that a state of war is not specifically declared in Ukraine, because then deputies and civil servants would be fired, and subsequently those fit for military service would be mobilized.

The VoxCheck analysts explained this stuff: “state of war” is rather a diplomatic term and characterizes the process of a state’s foreign policy in the world. While “martial law” describes the country’s domestic political agenda. And in order to be in a “state of war”  there are no mandatory official documents that would confirm this. For example, the UN Resolution On Aggression in 1974 writes that an invasion or attack by the armed forces of a state on the territory of another country, bombing or blockade of ports is qualified as an act of aggression - in international law, an act of aggression is considered a “primary” or “mother” crime. To briefly explain, if Russia had not attacked (had not committed aggression; had not used the armed forces of its state against the sovereignty of another state), then Ukraine would not have had to defend itself from Moscow’s crimes.

Moreover, politician and diplomat Andrii Shevchenko, in a commentary for Detector Media, explained that there is a war going on in Ukraine and this is understandable without announcements. And he added that international law is not focused on words or statements, but on actions (Russia carried out a large-scale military attack on Ukraine). Therefore, from the point of view of international law, what is happening is an obvious war and a violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine.

And as for the general mobilization, it occurs precisely during the period of “martial law”, or more precisely at the moment this state is declared. And according to the law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”, people’s deputies, in particular, have a deferment from conscription for military service during mobilization.

In the social networks of the Russian segment, they are distributing a story from TSN, where they say that due to the adopted amendments to the law “On mobilization reparation and mobilization”, women who “have not given birth before the age of 25” must register with the military. Moreover, the so-called story said that the Verkhovna Rada seemed to have expanded the list of specialties for women who would be required to register with the military. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts worked on this case and explained that the plot was primarily compiled. After all, the recording itself was created using artificial intelligence technologies. However, earlier there were indeed discussions around the bill on recruiting, mobilization and service: then MP Mariana Bezuhla, known for her scandalous messages on social networks about Valerii Zaluzhnyi and calls for his dismissal, published possible legislative norms on her Facebook. They stated, in particular, that women fit for military service were registered as liable for military service. At the same time, during martial law, women are recruited to combat positions only voluntarily.

However, during a big press conference on December 19, 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyi  said that he would not sign a bill with clauses on the mobilization of women. But even in these legislative innovations there was not a single clause about “women who did not give birth before the age of 25”. This is simply a fiction of Russian propaganda. The mobilization bill is being finalized; it had previously been submitted to Parliament - without changes to the mobilization of women - but was subsequently withdrawn for revision.

In general, only doctors and pharmacists must register with the military from October 1, 2023; however, military registration does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on travel abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.