Propagandists spread information that Romania is accumulating troops and equipment on the border with Moldova and is preparing to attack it at any moment. Such messages were especially active on Twitter. It's fake.

Radio Svoboda (Liberty) writes about it. The publication received a comment from the speaker of the Romanian Ministry of Defense Constantin Spânu on this matter. A senior official said that “there were no changes in the deployment of Romanian forces and air defense systems”. This is an important detail, since in a number of messages the propagandists also mentioned the alleged deployment of Romanian air defense systems. Spânu added that the Romanian military has been following the wave of fakes since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine using its own Inforadar platform.

Thus, propagandists are trying to destabilize the situation in Europe. Like, Moldova should be more prudent and loyal towards Russia, otherwise it will be like in Ukraine. In particular, such messages are part of a large-scale information campaign of Russian propaganda against Moldova. Detector Media wrote about the tactics of intimidation that are actively used within its framework.

Propagandists spread information that Italian Prime Minister George Meloni called the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Brussels on February 9, 2023 inappropriate. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that in fact Meloni had in mind a visit to Paris. In her comments to the media, she criticized not Zelenskyi, but France and Germany, who organized a meeting with him separately from other European countries. Meloni said that such an invitation “was more inappropriate” and that community and unity in this case are above domestic political issues.

Thus, propagandists are trying to convince Ukrainians that even the closest allies in Europe are turning away from Ukraine. Allegedly, Ukraine is gradually left alone with the problems that “the West started”. Russian media are actively using Zelenskyi's recent visit to Europe, spreading a number of narratives harmful to Ukraine.

Propagandists spread information that the telegram channels of the Azov brigade allegedly publish racist messages and the authors of the messages rejoice at the deaths of children as a result of the earthquake in Turkey on February 6. Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric add: this is what kind of Nazism Russia is fighting against in Ukraine. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. The messages that the propagandists write about are published in the AZOV Ukraine Supporters telegram channel, which is conducted in English and has nothing to do with the Azov Brigade. In particular, the authors of the channel regularly publish their own messages and repost them from other channels. They are mostly conspiratorial in nature. For example, one can find unconfirmed English-language reports about supposedly “Ukrainian Nazis” in it. The creators of the channel also suggest that the earthquake in Turkey was artificially created by the United States.

At the same time, the brigade's official telegram channel is called “AZOV” and publishes content in Ukrainian. In addition, there are no publications on the earthquake in Turkey on the channel. Moreover, as of today, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Russians, and Hungarians serve in the Azov Brigade. Accordingly, the brigade's claims of “racist views” are not true.

Thus, propagandists devalue someone else's grief in order to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine and justify the crimes of Russians. Like, Russia started the war to fight such manifestations of Nazism. Russian media are actively using the tragedy in Turkey to create and spread fakes and conspiracy theories directed against Ukraine.

Russian propaganda builds an imaginary curtain between the whole world and Russia, saying that there are enemies on the other side. That is why propagandists use the term “collective West” to hint at the alleged hostility of other countries towards Russia, especially the West.

Primarily in Putin’s public rhetoric, the “collective West” first appeared in the 2021 address to the Federal Assembly. Since then, Russian propaganda has used the term “collective West” to refer to all the alleged dangers that the West can bring to Russia. It is noteworthy that under the “collective West” Russian propaganda means both the leaders of European countries and Europeans who are carriers of “hostile Western values”.

However, using this term, propagandists most often appeal to European officials or to large organizations, such as NATO. Thus, Russian propaganda wants to show as if all countries are united against Russia and yearn for its destruction. However, in fact, it is Russia that instills in Russians hatred and hostility to other countries, intolerance towards peoples, and legitimizes xenophobia. At the same time, it calls itself a “safe haven” - a country that is able to protect its people from “all troubles and hardships”.

This is the eleventh text for the new section “Newspeak”, which Detector Media launched as part of the “Disinformation Chronicles” project. In it, we will tell and explain new lexemes used by propaganda to distort reality.

Propagandists say that a year ago at a press conference US President Joe Biden made a reservation about plans to blow up Nord Stream. This is manipulation.

Analysts of The Insider project drew attention to it. They analyzed Biden's responses at a press conference cited by propagandists. A press conference between Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took place on February 7, 2022. At it, Andrea Schalal, a correspondent for Reuters, asked whether Germany gave Biden guarantees to close Nord Stream in case of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden replied that if Russian “tanks or troops cross the border of Ukraine again”, there will be “no more Nord Stream 2”. The reporter tried to clarify how the United States wants to achieve this, to which the President of the United States replied: “I promise you, we can do it”.

Analysts at The Insider drew attention to the fact that at that time Nord Stream 2 was completed, but not yet put into operation. Given the full context of the press conference, it is clear that we are talking about sanctions against the operation of Nord Stream 2. These sanctions were introduced on February 23, 2022 in response to Russia's recognition of the so-called “DNR” and “LNR”. Then Germany stopped certification of the gas pipeline, which led to a halt in its operation.

Thus, propagandists want to shift the responsibility for Russia's crimes to Western countries. Like, the West is provoking Russia and testing its patience. Russian propaganda actively uses the statements of Joe Biden, taking them out of context. Detector Media published a selection of messages that propagandists disseminated on his recent visit to Kyiv.

Propagandists distribute photos that allegedly show a loan agreement of one of the Ukrainian banks. According to it, “the transfer of the territory to the jurisdiction of another state does not release the borrower from obligations”. The authors of messages with photos in Russian telegram channels add: they say, in this way even Ukrainian banks admit that Ukraine has lost or will lose its own territories forever. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found the original contract belonging to Alliance Bank. It does not contain clauses on the transfer of territories to the jurisdiction of another state. In this version of the contract, the paragraphs with numbers in the photo have a different content. Also, VoxCheck analysts did not find similar provisions in loan transactions of other Ukrainian banks.

Thus, propagandists want to demoralize Ukrainians. They say that Ukraine is losing on the battlefield and losing its territory, so the war is meaningless and it must be ended on Russia's terms. However, such fakes are also created in order to hide Russia's failure at the front.

The propagandists distribute images that allegedly show an ad on OLX for renting out an apartment. According to it, “in case of the transfer of the city's territories to the jurisdiction of another state, the tenant is obliged to fulfill his obligations in full in accordance with the current lease agreement. A unique opportunity to move to Europe in one day without leaving your apartment!” The authors of messages with images in social networks add that they say that this indicates the imminent occupation of the western lands of Ukraine by Poland. It's fake.

VoxCheck analysts drew attention to it. They found the ads through the Internet Archive. The author posted it on the announcement platform on January 30 this year. At the moment, it is no longer on OLX, as well as on other platforms for finding rental properties. There are many inaccuracies in the ad itself, which is also a sign of its fakeness, in particular, the eighth floor is indicated in its text, and the second in the categories from OLX. The poster's author registered on the site in January and probably did so in order to place it, since there are no other publications in his profile. It is also impossible to find an image from an ad in an Internet search.

Thus, propagandists want to intimidate Ukrainians in the West and transfer the role of the aggressor to Western countries. They are trying to justify their aggression by “the actions of the West”. Like, today the West helps you, and tomorrow it takes your lands. Detector Media explained how Russians use this narrative in the context of Poland.

Propagandists are spreading an alleged message from the Russian-language edition of Radio Svoboda (Liberty). According to it, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said: “Zelenskyi's widow will be able to obtain US citizenship on an expedited basis”. It's fake.

Analysts of the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to it. They contacted Radio Svoboda (Liberty), where they denied the existence of such a publication. In addition, they could not find a similar quote even in open sources. Distributed images have a publication date of February 23rd. On that day, the Radio did publish a message about Victoria Nuland, but it concerned the supply of fighter jets to Kyiv. Nuland's photo used in the fake can be found in one of the publication's materials for February 17, which refers to US support for strikes on Russian military facilities in Crimea. The project’s analysts also found out the original source of the fake, the Facebook account “Nona Sharabidze”, which quite often spreads Russian disinformation.

Thus, propagandists want to demoralize Ukrainian society and discredit the Ukrainian authorities. Like, the “Kyiv regime” headed by Zelenskyi are traitors who are ready to “sell” the country in any case and flee to the States. Detector Media has already explained how propagandists are trying to devalue the government of Ukraine using the phrase “Kyiv regime”.