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 14 November, on the 994th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2525
Fake
750
Manipulation
735
Message
535
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake Fake poster offering Ukrainians the chance to earn extra money by “interfering in Georgian politics”

Russian propaganda telegram channels are distributing a photo of an ad pasted to a pole with information for Ukrainians about the possibility of earning extra money in Georgia. The poster promises 100 euros for one participation in a rally, and as much as 150 euros for people with a flag. The ad also says that even men are helped to leave Ukraine. Propagandists comment on the poster, writing that these are supposedly Ukraine's priorities today: “Not to pull your country out of the mud, but to plunge others deeper into the same mud”.

In fact, such a poster does not exist - it was created using graphic editing and superimposed on a photo. This was found out thanks to the reverse image search function from Google. So, the original photo was first posted online in 2021 on the regional resource of the city of Rivne 0362.ua, and it shows a completely different poster - an announcement of a joint concert of DOROFEEVA and Dance Way, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the modern dance studio.

In addition, the original image has been edited in other places. For example, a different gate and the roof of the building located in the back right of the photo are noticeable.

This fake photo is a reaction of Russians to the protests in Georgia, which began after the parliamentary elections in this country. Georgians took to the streets to express their disagreement with the official election results. Russian propaganda did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of the unstable situation in both countries - both in Ukraine and in Georgia, and issued such a primitive fake in order to claim that the protests in Georgia were paid for and decreed.

Fake Russians write that their wheat will save the EU from starvation

Against the backdrop of the end of the grain harvest, Russian media began to spread information that this season in European countries there is allegedly a catastrophic grain crop failure due to “anti-Russian sanctions”. Propagandists also write that against the backdrop of hunger in Europe, Russia has become the guarantor of food security for the EU.

In fact, Russian propaganda simply manipulates data and spreads disinformation. This is reported in the StopFake project. This year, the world, and Russia in particular, has seen a drop in grain yields. However, this is due to unfavorable weather conditions at the beginning of the sowing season, and not the EU sanctions policy. A very rainy spring and summer caused delays in harvesting and negatively affected wheat growth in Western Europe, while Central and Eastern Europe suffered from a lack of moisture, which also affected grain filling. According to data from the European Commission published at the end of September 2024, due to unfavorable weather conditions, the total volume of grain production in the EU is projected at 269.9 million tons. This is only 3.9% below the average for the past 5 years.

However, in Russia, according to the October report of the US Department of Agriculture, wheat production fell by 10% compared to the previous season. Russian propaganda deliberately does not provide data on Russian grain, taking into account only the decline in yields in European countries, although Russia itself suffered due to weather conditions at the beginning of the year. In the end, the Russians deliberately keep silent about the fact that Russia is not the only one among the three leading grain exporters in the world. The EU and Ukraine are also among the world's largest producers and exporters of agricultural products. They play an important role in the supply of oilseeds and grain crops to the world market.

It should also be noted that Russia steals Ukrainian grain from the occupied territories and sells it. Thus, the British newspaper Financial Times published an investigation back in 2022, where it showed, using the example of one vessel, how Russia trades Ukrainian grain stolen from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia region.

Previously, we analyzed the Russian fake, which claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were deliberately shelling fields in the Kherson region to destroy the harvest.

Fake Disinformation that Ukraine intends to make a bomb from nuclear waste from nuclear power plants

Russian sources are once again spreading information that Ukraine is preparing to make a dirty nuclear bomb. Nuclear waste from nuclear power plants is used to create it. After all, as the propagandists write, this waste can allegedly be used not only for detonation, but also for contaminating the area for tens of kilometers.

However, information that Ukraine can create nuclear weapons from waste from nuclear power plants is unfounded. This is reported by journalists from the StopFake project.

In 1994, Ukraine joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. These actions confirmed that Ukraine is the owner of all nuclear weapons that it inherited from the USSR and intends to get rid of them completely, using atomic energy in the future only for civilian purposes. Already in 1996, Ukraine renounced nuclear weapons and has not developed the corresponding technologies since then. Today, Ukraine has neither the ability to create such a type of weapon, nor the desire to violate the preliminary agreements.

Polina Sinovets, head of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Center, said in a commentary for BBC Ukraine that “we do not enrich uranium to obtain a high content of the 235U isotope, which is necessary for creating uranium nuclear weapons”. Nuclear weapons can also be created by enriching plutonium in nuclear reactors, which is not practiced in Ukraine. “We do not enrich uranium - this is the main thing, and we do not process nuclear fuel to obtain plutonium - that is, there are no opportunities for either the uranium or plutonium paths of developing nuclear weapons”, Polina Sinovets concluded.

After all, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently denied information about Ukraine's intentions to restore its nuclear arsenal, noting the importance of NATO membership as the main guarantee of security. Also, the creation of such weapons cannot go unnoticed. Thus, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors the nuclear programs of states and constantly monitors the situation in Ukraine. At the same time, earlier NNEGC Energoatom stated that it was Russia that could prepare an act of nuclear terrorism at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP, violating all possible safety rules.

The narrative about the creation of a dirty nuclear bomb in Ukraine is one of the most widespread. Russian propaganda uses it to discredit Ukraine and justify Russian full-scale aggression.

Fake The lie that Yermak called Macron a “hypocritical politician” because he seemed to be willing to cut aid to Ukraine

Russian sources have distributed a video on behalf of United24, which says that the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak, allegedly called French President Emmanuel Macron a “hypocritical politician” for his “demand” to reduce the G7 loan to Ukraine to $20 billion instead of the expected $50 billion. In an interview with the 1+1 channel, Yermak also allegedly asked an outrageous rhetorical question: “Back in April, Macron was ready to send his army to help us, and now he wants to reduce the amount of aid?”

However, this information is not true. This is reported in the StopFake project. The video was fabricated by propagandists - United24 did not publish such news either on their website or in their social networks. Moreover, United24 is a state platform launched to consolidate international support for Ukraine, so it is very unlikely that insults against the leaders of allied states could appear on the platform.

Secondly, the interview with the 1+1 channel, where Yermak allegedly made the corresponding statement, does not exist at all. The last time the head of the Presidential Office gave an interview on this channel was three years ago, when he became a guest of the VIP with Nataliia Mosiichuk program. In the end, the claim that Macron allegedly demands to reduce the amount of the loan to Ukraine is fake. In fact, the President of France, together with the US government, was one of the initiators of the program, according to which the G7 countries will transfer a loan of $50 million to Ukraine, using the proceeds from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia in Europe worth $325 billion. The funds should arrive in Ukraine by the end of 2025. The motivation for approving this loan was Donald Trump's statements that if he wins the presidential election, he will stop providing financing to Ukraine. Thus, the G7 program is designed to ensure a regular flow of aid to Ukraine, regardless of the decisions of the next leader or the head of the United States.

Earlier we analyzed the Russian message that Yermak was seeking to escalate the war.

Fake Russians misinform that IMF does not consider the option of Ukraine's victory in its forecasts

Russian resources are spreading information that, allegedly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast does not include the option of Ukraine winning the war against Russia. As the propagandists claim, “Western experts have stopped believing in “Ukraine's victory” in the special military operation”.

However, this is a fake, writes StopFake. On October 18, 2024, the IMF published a report on Ukraine. In the document, analysts estimate that the war will continue into the next year, 2025, and “the outlook remains highly uncertain”, and therefore additional financing of $32 billion will be needed. It will be covered by $33.1 billion of the G7's proposed Emergency Relief Arrangement (ERA) initiative, which provides for the use of proceeds on frozen Russian assets.

The report's risk section also talks about baseline and downside scenarios, both of which assume that the war will last longer than expected. At the same time, the scenarios do not talk about Ukraine's expected loss. On the contrary, the IMF report emphasizes: “We are currently focused on supporting macroeconomic, external, and financial stability to strengthen Ukraine's potential for victory”. This contradicts the information disseminated by Russian propagandists.

With this fake, the Russians are feeding the propaganda narrative about the West losing faith in Ukraine's victory. Earlier, we refuted the information that Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko stated that the West “is tired of driving Ukraine into debt”.

Fake Disinformation: in the Vinnytsia region they beat a Kazakh citizen who was allegedly mistaken for a citizen of the DPRK

Russian Telegram channels are spreading information that allegedly in the city of Zhmerynka in the Vinnytsia region, three Ukrainian young men beat up a citizen of Kazakhstan, mistaking him for a Korean. In the corresponding publications, the propagandists add that during the clash, the Ukrainians allegedly shouted racist insults, and the Kazakh embassy even intervened in the incident.

However, in fact, the “news” about this incident is fake. This was reported by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation after verifying the information at the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Vinnytsia region. No similar incidents have been recorded in Zhmerynka recently.

This fake is a reaction of Russian propagandists to the involvement of North Korean troops in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The purpose of such lies is to discredit Ukrainians and create a false idea of racism in Ukrainian society. Earlier, we refuted the information that the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers allegedly beat up an ethnic Hungarian in western Ukraine.

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.