Spilnota Detector Media
Detector Media collects and documents real-time chronicles of the Kremlin disinformation about the Russian invasion. Ukraine for decades has been suffering from Kremlin disinformation. Here we document all narratives, messages, and tactics, which Russia is using from February 17th, 2022. Reminder: the increasing of shelling and fighting by militants happened on the 17th of February 2022 on the territory of Ukraine. Russian propaganda blames Ukraine for these actions.

On 24 December, on the 1034th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2605
Fake
776
Manipulation
755
Message
542
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake The Ukrainian army will lose 60% of its combat strength

Such information is distributed in the Georgian segment of Facebook in Russian. Reports say that 60% of the Ukrainian military cannot return alive from the front line, and the losses are about 200,000 out of 800,000 fighters. The authors of the messages referred to information from The New York Times allegedly dated March 11. However, this is an unsubstantiated conclusion.

According to Myth Detector project analysts, the statistics presented in the viral post cannot be found in any official source. In addition, the New York Times did not publish an article about the liquidation of 60% of the Ukrainian military.

However, according to analysts, the New York Times is not directly mentioned as a source in the published information, although the text circulated on Facebook is accompanied by a screenshot of the publication, which gives the impression that this media published the information.

In fact, the March 11 issue of the New York Times pictured in the post contained two articles about Ukraine. The first one concerned the meeting between US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, where the main topic of discussion was the effective resistance of Russia against the backdrop of the ongoing war.

The second article is devoted to the grief of the fighter Dmytro Kotsiubailo who died near Bakhmut and was the commander of the “Da Vinci Wolves” unit. However, none of these articles contains information about the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and statistical information about the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Disclosure The Security Service of Ukraine announced suspicion of a resident of Transcarpathia justifying Russia and spreading Russian propaganda

The Security Service of Ukraine reported that the man justified the actions of the Russian military and denied armed aggression against Ukraine. In particular, he published comments of a conspiracy nature, referring to the theories of world government. The posts of the Transcarpathian were openly anti-Semitic and pro-Russian, and were also in tune with Russian theories about the explosions at Nord Stream 2 and the Crimean Bridge.

The man also published anti-government materials, where he denied the war in Ukraine and called the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi a dictator, saying that Russian referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are legitimate.

Propagandists often resort to conspiracy theories to justify Russia's actions and divert attention from Russian crimes. Detector Media has already written about the inventions of the Russians about the explosions at Nord Stream 2.

Fake On the covers of their recent publications, the American Newsweek and the French FRANC-TIREUR ridiculed Zelenskyi

Propagandists distribute photos, allegedly foreign publications, namely the American magazine Newsweek and the French magazine FRANC-TIREUR on March 21 came out with covers that ridicule the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Like, the meeting between the President of Russia and the leader of China left him behind the geopolitical trends. It's fake.

Analysts of the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to it. They found out that the special edition of Newsweek, as stated on the fake cover, was not published on March 21st. Moreover, there are no regular editions of the magazine with this date, as the official website of the American Newsweek shows. On the FRANC-TIREUR website, it is also impossible to find a cover that is being distributed by propagandists.

Thus, they are trying to discredit the President of Ukraine and show that even in the West they supposedly understand what a geopolitical defeat Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow has become for them. This cover game is part of the disinformation campaign associated with this visit. Detector Media wrote about its main messages, including how Russia is trying to present it as a sign of a productive rapprochement.

Fake Ukrainian military shoot at Russian-speaking civilians

Propagandists are spreading a video in which Ukrainian soldiers allegedly shoot at a civilian car of a woman with a small child. Like, that was the reaction to the Russian language, heard from them. According to the plot of the video, the military man and the driver allegedly belong to the Crimean Tatar people. It's fake.

The fake was refuted by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Its specialists found out that the location captured on the video is located in the temporarily occupied territory between Donetsk and Makiivka. In addition, one of the primary sources of the fake is a netizen under the nickname “Yurii Aleksieich Z V”. The Ukrainian military put solid crosses on their cars, and the Wehrmacht crosses are visible on the video. Moreover, the use of registrars in Ukraine is prohibited even in the rear. The Main Intelligence Directorate specialists also found out that the body of the car on which the Ukrainian military was traveling was manufactured in Russia and was not delivered to Ukraine. In the video, you can see signs of unsuccessful editing.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to show them as cruel and inadequate, and also to cause conflict with representatives of the Muslim community, in particular with the Crimean Tatars.

Newspeak How Russia blurs reality with the help of a newspeak: “propaganda”

Russian propaganda claims that the information field of Ukrainians is “permeated with propaganda”, too much “Nazism propaganda”. Allegedly, the Ukrainian leadership is forming a nation of Nazis, because it promotes such values in society.

The term “propaganda” is closely intertwined with Russian narratives, in particular, about the formation of the Nazis or individual nationalist groups in Ukraine. According to propaganda, the leadership of Ukraine condones people in their desire to “destroy other peoples or minorities”, especially Russian-speaking people. For example, the “protection of the Russian-speaking population” became the reason for the “special military operation”.

Since 2014, Russia has devoted a lot of time to building confidence that there are Nazis among Ukrainians. To do this, they exaggerated the weight in Ukrainian society of carriers of nationalist views, and also promoted the perception of Ukrainian nationalists as sharing views with representatives of Nazi Germany and mocking supporters of Russia.

However, these are Moscow's inventions to justify the war in Ukraine, which Russia unleashed. Using the term “propaganda” the authors are trying to hint that Ukraine is using hostile propaganda against another state, propagating “Nazi views”, etc. Once again, Russian propaganda is positioning Ukraine as an aggressor, while hiding its actions. At the same time, propagandists reflect their actions in this way and say that it is Ukrainians who kill civilians, profess hatred for many peoples, and despise other cultures and religions.

Fake Britney Spears’ Instagram page banned for Russia-supporting post

Propagandists are spreading information that the Instagram account of the American pop start Britney Spears was blocked for a post in which she expresses support for Russia in the war against Ukraine. Like, this is how American freedom of speech works, oppressing critics. It's fake.

According to a “screenshot” of the post that allegedly banned Spears' account, the singer “believes that Western media coverage of the crisis in Ukraine has the sole purpose of fueling the war”. In addition, she allegedly stated that she believes in “freedom from Western hegemony and controlling capitalist oligarchs [US media]”. At the end, Spears allegedly said that “Ukraine has been bombing Donbas since April 2014 and NOBODY has said a word”.

Analysts of The Insider project drew attention to the fake after it appeared on Russian television. They found out that the post was not real, and the singer deleted her Instagram page on her own, which she does regularly. In addition, the fakeness is indicated by the fact that not a single popular American show business media (for example, TMZ or Entertainment Tonight) wrote about the post. The fake was even refuted by some propaganda media.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to convince that the American elites are gradually turning away from Ukraine, and American freedom of speech is hypocritical. Like, how can the American government help Ukraine if it humiliates its own citizens. However, in this case, the propagandists created a fake that even they did not believe. Detector Media has previously written about other similar messages, for example, that Ukrainians are Nazis because they choose big dogs.

Fake Kamala Harris believes that Joe Biden's “inadequate behavior” is the business of the Russian special services

Propagandists distribute a “screenshot” of the website of the Russian-language service “Voice of America”. It depicts an “article” stating that, according to US Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden's “inappropriate behavior” is the work of Russian intelligence agencies. It's fake.

Analysts of the MythDetector project drew attention to it. They found out that the photos were not real. In addition, although the “screenshot” refers to Agence France-Presse (AFP) as the primary source, they do not have such articles. Analysts also contacted the Russian-language edition of the Voice of America, which denied the existence of such a publication.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to convince everyone that the West paranoidly blames Russia for all its mistakes, even if it is about the “inadequacy” of the president. Like, Joe Biden barely speaks, so how can he be considered the leader of the free world? This rhetoric is consistent with the messages spread by supporters of the ex-President of the United States Donald Trump, who are supporters of conspiracy theories. It is with them that this fake “plays”.

Fake Austrian shopping malls oppose involvement in war in Ukraine

Propagandists distribute a video allegedly filmed in one of the shopping centers in Vienna. It shows a TV screen, which shows the inscription “Nicht unser Krieg” (Not our war) against the background of the Austrian flag. Like, the Austrians do not want to support Ukraine. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the photo with the inscription contained traces of inept editing. In particular, the pixels on the “screen” are uneven and moved out, which is impossible in a real screen. Moreover, on other screens shown in the video, you can see an advertisement for a waste reduction project in the Turmstraße residential center of the Mitte district in the city of Berlin. In addition, one of the Twitter users found out that the shopping center where the photo was taken is not in Vienna, but in Berlin.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to convince Ukrainians that Europeans are war-weary. Like, the Austrians do not want to help Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian diaspora in Vienna is actively implementing a number of projects that are of high interest among ordinary Austrians.

Fake Cars donated by Latvia as humanitarian aid are being sold in Ukraine

Propagandists are spreading information that Latvian cars which were donated as humanitarian aid are being resold in Ukraine. Like, cars confiscated from Latvian drunk drivers can already be found in the car markets of Lutsk and Rivne. The authors of these posts even add a “screenshot” from the video, supposedly proof of the veracity of this information. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found a video from the “screenshot” in the TikTok and found out that there was no inscription “Confiscated from Latvia” on it. In addition, the authors of the video do not say that the cars in the video were brought from Latvia and do not indicate the date the video was shot. The account on which it appeared is dedicated to auto-selection and car reviews.

VoxCheck analysts remind that on February 16, 2023, the Latvian Saeima decided to confiscate cars from drunk drivers. The seized cars are handed over as humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian military. As part of this initiative, eight cars have already been handed over, and on March 14, the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia decided to hand over another eighteen state-owned cars.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to accuse Ukrainians of neglecting the help and sympathy of foreigners. Like, ungrateful Ukrainians are begging for everything out of Europeans in order to resell it later. For the same purpose, propagandists wrote about how Ukraine allegedly plundered European humanitarian aid worth 342 million euros.

Orest Slyvenko, Artur Koldomasov, Vitalii Mykhailiv, Oleksandra Kotenko, Oleksandr Siedin, Kostiantyn Zadyraka, and Oleksiy Pivtorak are collaborating on this chronicle. Lesia Bidochko serves as the project coordinator, while Ksenia Ilyuk is the author of the project.