Propagandists are spreading information that US presidential candidate from the Democratic Party Robert Kennedy Jr. confirmed the existence of US biological laboratories in Ukraine, which are working on the development of various types of biological weapons. This is manipulation.

Specialists in the VoxUkraine project drew attention to it. They found out that Kennedy Jr. took part in a discussion with Elon Musk and David Sachs on June 5th. In it, Sachs referred to the “surreal case of war in Ukraine” when US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland allegedly confirmed the existence of biolabs in Ukraine. Kennedy Jr. picked up on this and added that she announced the existence in Ukraine of a network of American laboratories for the development of bioweapons. Analysts emphasize that Kennedy Jr. has a dubious reputation in the American political community, since he has been an active anti-vaccinator for the past 15 years. He spread false claims about vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic and promoted unproven treatments for the coronavirus. Therefore, in 2021-2022, the pages of the figure and organizations associated with him were blocked on social networks, however, thanks to the status of a presidential candidate, Instagram opened access to his personal account.

The information that Nuland allegedly confirmed the development of a bioweapon was refuted earlier. Following her statements on the subject, the State Department emphasized that Nuland was referring to Ukraine's diagnostic and biodefense labs, distinct from the biological weapons facilities. In addition, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine noted that there are no “American laboratories” on the territory of Ukraine, and the laboratories that exist are designed to identify pathogens of infectious diseases.

By spreading the claims of “handy foreigners” like Kennedy Jr., propagandists are giving false verification to their claim. In addition, in this way, they again want to justify the aggression against Ukraine. They say that the war was started in order to destroy biolaboratories that posed a threat to Russian security. However, Detector Media has repeatedly refuted these messages.

Propagandists are spreading information that some EU member states are proposing to “abolish democracy” in order to “ignite conflict in Ukraine”. As evidence, they cite a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Spain, published in Politico. This is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They stress that in fact, in a statement titled “It's time for more majority decision-making in EU foreign policy”, the ministers in question are calling on the EU to “make more use” of supermajority voting in EU foreign policy and security matters. In their opinion, the real challenges associated with Russian aggression against Ukraine and the high security risks for the EU member states require a prompt response and the functioning of all EU institutions. To date, the vast majority of decisions concerning EU foreign policy require unanimity, which in some cases, as noted in the publication, can slow down the reaction of the EU.

There is no mention of any “abolition of democracy” in the material. StopFake experts note that the Treaty on European Union provides that the Council of the EU, depending on the issue, can make its decisions by voting by a simple majority (14 votes in favor), a qualified majority or consensus (all votes in favor). Qualified majority voting assumes that a decision is considered to have been taken when two conditions are met simultaneously: 55% (15 out of 27 member countries) voted in favor, and the population of these countries is at least 65% of the total EU population. This mechanism is also referred to as the “double majority rule”. The Ministers in their publication note that they do not support amendments to the Agreement, but propose more efficient use of existing tools. They also support more often the use of the principle of constructive content, provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 31 of the same agreement. According to it, an EU country can abstain from voting on a specific initiative without blocking it.

Propagandists often take foreign publications out of context to reinforce Russian propaganda messages. In this case, they want to blame the Ukrainians for the erosion of European democracy. They say that because of the war in Ukraine, the European Union has become a puppet of the United States and ignores the opinion of countries that do not support its position on the war. Thus, they also want to show the inappropriateness of EU sanctions against Russia. However, the presence of different opinions about Russian aggression against Ukraine, even within the framework of the unanimous recognition of Russia as the aggressor, is an element of real democracy.

Propagandists are spreading the word that Kyiv is one of the ten worst cities to live in the world according to The Economist due to the careless management of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the mayor of the city Vitalii Klychko. This is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They note that the fall in the rating of Kyiv was not due to the rule of Zelenskyi and Klychko, but because of Russian aggression against Ukraine. In a ranking published on June 21, The Economist did place Kyiv in the top ten least livable cities in the world. The publication's analysts assessed living conditions in 173 cities according to the following categories: stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure. According to the ranking, Kyiv is in 165th place with an index of 44 points out of 100. The extended version of the ranking indicates that the assessment of Kyiv has decreased by 5.9% compared to 2021 “due to damage caused by the war to its stability, infrastructure and general suitability for life”.

Analysts at The Economist also note that the city received only 23.2 points out of 100 in the category “infrastructure” due to constant Russian shelling. In addition, Russian aggression against Ukraine has affected the scores of other Eastern European cities such as Warsaw and Budapest due to their proximity to the war zone. In 2022, the publication excluded Kyiv from the ranking due to the war, so the city has no points in a number of categories.

By spreading such manipulations, propagandists seek to shift the responsibility for aggression from the aggressor to the victim. In addition, by taking foreign materials out of context, they want to find a false verification of their messages, hoping that people will not read their full version.

Propagandists spread information that the news about the need for men in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv to come to the military registration and enlistment office within 10 days, if they did not receive personal draft notices, is confirmation of the “huge losses” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The authors of such reports add that Ukraine is doing this “for the sake of NATO membership” when “resistance to the regime is growing” among the people. This is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They claim that in Ukraine there is a general mobilization due to martial law. The appearance of orders from individual territorial recruitment centers (TRC) is not new, but serves to re-notify those liable for military service. In Ivano-Frankivsk, they explained that such an order is provided in case of an extension of martial law. As before, Ukrainians liable for military service between the ages of 18 and 60 who do not have a deferment are still subject to mobilization.

By spreading such manipulations, propagandists distort reality and try to arouse Ukrainians' distrust of the authorities. In addition, they want to raise a panic and convince everyone that Russia is winning on the battlefield.

Propagandists are distributing a video purporting to be a compilation created by Al Jazeera. It analyzes the comments of Ukrainians on the death of the crew members of the submersible Titan. In particular, according to it, the Ukrainians “massively accuse” the passengers of the bathyscaphe of squandering. As confirmation of such conclusions, the authors of the video used the following “comments”: “Ukraine needs help while these people are spending a fortune on stupid entertainment”, “250 thousand dollars to “view”? It is not surprising that they disappeared”, “While they hang out, we really drown. I hope they don't get rescued”. It's fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the video was not real. Its authors specifically used the logo of the Qatari television company and their design. The fact that this video has nothing to do with Al Jazeera was announced by the company's official English-language Twitter account. According to the channel's explanation, the fake was noticed after Reuters journalists asked for a comment on it. The company representative also noted that propagandists had already used the Al Jazeera branding to create other anti-Ukrainian fakes, in particular, reports that Ukrainian fans were allegedly detained in Qatar for “propaganda of Nazism”.

By creating and spreading such fakes, propagandists want to show Ukrainians as aggressive and ungrateful. Like, they don't care about someone else's grief, because the only thing they need the West for is money and weapons. This reinforces anti-Ukrainian stereotypes in Russian propaganda to justify the crimes of Russians.

Propagandists in the Russian media claim that it is not Russia, but the United States, that is responsible for “prolonging the conflict”. Like, that is why the United States should pay reparations to Ukraine in the future and compensate for the renewal of the destruction “caused by American weapons”.

This message was noticed by experts from the StopFake project. They note that it is a continuation of a larger narrative about the “aggressive collective West” and “Russia's war with NATO”. Since it was Russia who attacked Ukraine, it must answer for the losses to the Ukrainian economy and infrastructure. More statements on this topic began to appear after the London Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine on June 21-22.

According to StopFake, the reaction of propagandists is due to anger at Ukraine's allies, who not only have not abandoned their plans to provide military assistance to Ukraine, but also unanimously support the economic stability of the state. A number of Western leaders, namely: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - even the UN General Assembly not only recognized the decision to pay reparations to Ukraine as legitimate, but also strongly supported the search for practical mechanisms.

Propagandists in the Russian media claim that President Volodymyr Zelenskyi refused to hold elections in Ukraine. Like, in this way he “usurped” power and “weaved” on democratic norms. In addition, they also note that Ukraine does not go to peace talks with Russia, allegedly in order to “preserve Zelenskyi's power”. It's fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They argue that the holding of any elections during martial law is prohibited by the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 83 Section IV) and the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” (Article 19). Propagandists distorted Zelenskyi's comment in a recent BBC interview. Zelenskyi said in it that there can be no elections during the war according to the law, but he wants peace next year.

Project analysts also note that holding elections during the war is not possible for a number of other reasons, including, in particular, infrastructure destroyed by Russia, the difficulty of organizing voting for Ukrainian refugees abroad, as well as security risks in the event of a missile attack on voting day. With the lifting of martial law, the next parliamentary elections should be held in October 2023, and presidential elections in the spring of 2024.

By spreading messages about the “usurpation” of power, propagandists want to personally discredit Zelenskyi and cause distrust in him. In addition, in this way, they want to shift the responsibility for the actions of the Russians to the victim of Russian aggression. They say that only Zelenskyi and his political ambitions are to blame for the fact that the war continues. However, it is the Russian criminal regime that is a true example of the usurpation of power, because it neglects its own legislation for the sake of one person being the head of state.

In the context of Russian propaganda, the Western community is hostile and exclusively destructive. Like, the values are not the same, they lack patriotism and love for their state. They assure that they will never go to fight for their Motherland, because they are not as “strong”, “courageous”, “brave” as the Russians. To do this, propagandists resort to the term “Westerns”, contrasting the European community and the Russians. The term itself is formed from the word “West”. Usually the authors address not only Europeans, but also Americans or other Westerners. Moreover, such messages can describe either politicians or a generalized group of people. If propagandists recall Western politicians, they hint how their political decisions are completely wrong, stupid, and in general people are incompetent in their work. And allegedly Russian “politicians” are able to establish world order. When it comes to Westerners, the authors try not to indicate nationality, origin, country and avoid specifics. That is, there is a people of Russians, but there are some “westerns”.

Such rhetoric is used by propagandists to appease the Russians. For example, one of the propaganda channels convinced the Russians that the level of support for Ukraine “among these Westerners” is falling, so Russia should not worry. With the help of such a dismissive tone, the authors emphasize the alleged inferiority of the Western community, and, on the contrary, exalt the Russians. As a rule, in messages containing the word “westerns”, there were also the words “Russians”, “Russian people”. The authors clearly distinguished between the Russian community and others. In general, propagandists distort reality in this way, feeding the narrative about the existence of a “collective event” - a whole “monogroup”, forgetting for each country, nationality, people, community, person. It is also a manifestation of xenophobia when the authors write about the great Russian people and about “some others, not like them”. It is beneficial for Russian propaganda to oppose a “monogroup” of people and Russians, thus showing the supremacy of one people over others.