On July 27-28, St. Petersburg will host an economic forum within the framework of the Russia-Africa summit. The mention of the economic forum in the media began to appear a few days before the summit and only after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Agreement. Moreover, at first only niche media reported on the summit.

Brand Ukraine analyzed such world media as New York Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Politico, Independent, Newsweek, Voice of America, Financial Times, The Guardian and highlighted the main messages about this event.

Putin has a precarious position in relations with African countries.

The fact that Russia is under great pressure, writes Politico and Voice of America. According to them, Russia's shaky position in relations with African countries is due to three events that occurred the day before: Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Agreement, an attempted rebellion by the Wagner group, and the decision of the Supreme Court of South Africa to arrest Volodymyr Putin if he appears at the summit in Johannesburg .

Russia does not play an important economic role for Africa.

Despite the Kremlin's statements and high status in Africa, Russia invests little in this country and does not provide humanitarian assistance. And according to Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, “China and the European Union are much bigger trading partners with Africa” than Russia. This was written by the Associated Press and Voice of America.

African countries strive to be full-fledged players in the political arena.

African leaders “cannot afford to look like they are sitting on the sidelines”, despite the fact that they have no leverage over Moscow or Kyiv. “They [African countries] should be seen as proactive”. This was stated by Priyal Singh, a senior fellow at the South African Institute for Security Studies, to the Financial Times. And analyst Cameron Hudson of the American Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Associated Press that “the continent of 1.3 billion people is becoming more confident on the world stage”, so if African countries leave the summit with the feeling that Russia does not hear them, they can distance themselves from it.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is using the summit to advance the peace plan.

The Financial Times wrote that “South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is using his presence at the summit to advance the peace plan”. It was this plan that Ramaphosa, along with three other African presidents, presented during his visits to Kyiv and Moscow. It implies not only free trade in the Black Sea, but also the importance of territorial sovereignty.

After withdrawing from the grain deal, Russia may be under criticism from African countries due to rising food prices.

Due to the withdrawal from the grain deal, world food prices will rise, so African leaders may begin to criticize Russia for this move. Also thanks to this, some African countries are becoming even more dependent on Russia. Politico wrote about it. The Guardian also wrote about the Russia-Africa summit and noted that Volodymyr Putin is afraid of public criticism.

In the Georgian and Russian segments of Facebook, an alleged cover of the American edition of The Nation is being distributed, in which Volodymyr Zelenskyi holds three frightened leopards on leashes, mines lie next to them, and a little further under a tree there are Russian military men in helmets with the letter “Z”. The leopards allegedly personify the Leopard tanks handed over to Ukraine, which seem to be unable to break through the Russian defense line. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case. They determined that The Nation had never published such a cover. Moreover, fact-checkers contacted the publication, where they confirmed that such a cartoon was not published in any issue of the magazine.

Russian propagandists systematically distribute fake covers of foreign publications. Thus, they are trying to ridicule Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian authorities and show that the West does not support Ukraine. Earlier, we refuted the fake that the humorous magazine LeMan depicted Zelenskyi on the cover, who was tied to a pole with burning military equipment.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are circulating a video of a Ukrainian soldier saying that the Ukrainian military is clearing minefields with their own feet. And this is confirmed by the fact that the military command is throwing elite units to the slaughter. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the VoxCheck fact-checker. The propagandists used the story of Radio Svoboda (Liberty). On the video there is a fighter of the 47th separate mechanized brigade “Magura” with the call sign “Frenchman”. The video distributed by the propagandists and the video of Radio Svoboda (Liberty) are identical. The military says that the Russians densely replaced the fields and places where sappers cannot reach, the military will clear mines with their own hands. “It is very difficult because they have been standing here [the Zaporizhzhia direction] for more than a year, and all the fields are very heavily mined with anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. Unfortunately, we can say we will clear these fields with our own feet”, the military man said.

Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the high military command of Ukraine, which allegedly does not spare the Ukrainian military and leaves them to their deaths. They also try to show the incompetence of officials and therefore the impossibility of Ukraine winning the war. Earlier, we refuted the fake that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are calling for the destruction of all people in the de-occupied territories.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, allegedly admitted that Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and certain territories of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Russia. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications drew attention to the case. Mykhailo Podoliak on the Rada TV channel said that there are three options for ending the war, but Ukraine is satisfied with only one victory over Russia and the complete de-occupation of Ukrainian territories. The adviser to the Office of the President did not speak about the fact that Ukraine was forced to give up part of the territories to Russia.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities, saying that they are not going to recapture the occupied part of Ukraine. And also sow panic among Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the manipulation that the British supposedly assumed that the Ukrainian army and NATO would be defeated by Russian Armata tanks.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the Azovstal garrison allegedly surrendered without the order of Volodymyr Zelenskyi in order to save their own lives. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. The operation to leave Azovstal was coordinated with the leadership of Ukraine, the garrison carried out the order of the highest military command. On May 16, 2022, the commander of Azov, Denys Prokopenko, announced that the defenders of Mariupol had complied with the order of the top military leadership. On May 17, 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the commanders of units at Azovstal received an order to save the lives of personnel.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Azov battalion and the defenders of Mariupol, saying that they themselves decided to leave Azovstal, and the top military leadership has no influence on them. Allegedly, the Ukrainians again made heroes out of traitors. Earlier, we refuted the fake that NATO could involve the Azov and Kraken battalions to suppress protests in France.

Propagandists continue to downplay the success of the NATO summit in Vilnius. For decades they have presented the alliance as the eternal enemy of Russia, which poses a threat to peace.

Most often, for Ukrainian audiences, Russian propagandists promote the theory that if Ukraine joins NATO, the US will take over and turn it into its colony.

The roots of this conspiracy theory go back to Soviet times, when the citizens of the USSR were intimidated that NATO wanted to destroy the population of the Union. The Cold War left a reflection on the perception of NATO by Ukrainians. Even with geopolitical changes and the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact (the Soviet alternative to NATO), Ukrainians have not been committed to the North Atlantic Alliance for decades. According to opinion polls, Ukrainians' distrust of NATO peaked in 2006. Skeptical messages about the Alliance were fed by pro-Russian politicians and media people. In particular, one of the main elements of the election campaign of the odious Nataliia Vitrenko was the fight against NATO. In 2008, deputies from the “Regions” party brought balls and flags with “NATO - no”  inscriptions to vote for a resolution on mutual understanding with the Alliance. Ex-president Viktor Yanukovych also nourished the rejection of NATO, promising Ukraine a “neutral status”.

By spreading such conspiracy theories, Russia wants to force Ukrainians to remain in the networks of Soviet ideology. This is how propagandists want to intimidate Ukrainians and prove the seemingly unviable Ukrainian statehood. However, the Revolution of Dignity and Russia's aggression against Ukraine increased support for Ukraine's integration into NATO, not only among the citizens of Ukraine, but also in several NATO member countries, as the poll of the Renaissance Foundation shows. The Ukrainians have nevertheless become convinced that in the NATO member countries, the troops of the Alliance have almost no influence on the life of the states in which they are based. In addition, NATO is very cautious about accepting new members. In particular, despite the high level of support among the Ukrainian society, the Alliance itself has not yet accepted Ukraine into its membership.