The thesis of the division between Poland and Russia of Ukraine, and the preservation of the "neutral" third of Ukraine with its center in Kyiv, Russian propaganda has been promoting at least since 2014. It began to be actively dispersed from the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, "reinforcing" it with fake maps, which allegedly demonstrated Poland's intentions to capture the western regions of Ukraine; then forged documents with alleged orders to attack these territories; then scared by the alleged battalions of Poles in Ukraine; then talked about the "legalization of Poles"; then about the alleged plans of Poland "to side with Russia and then capture the western regions of Ukraine" and so on. At first, it was spread by pro-Kremlin telegrams, then picked up by the Russian media. Similar statements began to be heard from Russian politicians, intelligence, and "diplomats," such as the Russian Foreign Ministry and representative of the department Maria Zakharova. Currently, this thesis has been promoted at the level of the Russian Security Council, particularly: Secretary of this Council Nikolai Patrushev. He said on May 31 that Poland had allegedly moved from plans "to seize territories in western Ukraine," as evidenced by Polish President Andrzej Duda's visit to Kyiv and his statement that "the Polish-Ukrainian border will soon cease to exist."

In fact, Duda was talking about a new friendship agreement between Poland and Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine and Poland could soon introduce joint border controls, particularly border and customs controls. Zelensky also stated the possibility of creating a single conditional border when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union. "We are relatives. And there are no boundaries or barriers between us. They have not mentally divided the Ukrainian and Polish peoples for a long time. Therefore, we agreed to implement this soon in a relevant bilateral agreement. First on the joint border and customs control, and then on a single conditional border when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union, " said the Ukrainian president.

Russian telegram channels spread a fake that the Church of the Ascension in Lukyanivka, Kyiv region, was destroyed by the Ukrainian military after the retreat of Russian troops. This fake Russian propaganda was built on one photo of the Ukrainian army with blue armbands, "posing against the background of a completely undamaged church." It was spread by one of the pro-Kremlin telegram channels, from which the Russian Defense Ministry often reposts information.

In fact, the Russians destroyed the church after the Armed Forces liberated Lukyanivka. According to VoxUkraine, the first reports of the liberation of Lukyanivka from Russian troops appeared on March 24, 2022. "We found photos of the Ukrainian military on a tank near an undamaged church using a Google Images reverse lookup. It is a screenshot of a video published by a Ukrainian fighter on March 25 on his TikTok account. On March 26, in comments, the video's author noted that the church had already been destroyed, " the fact-checkers said, adding that other fighters and the Armed Forces' Strategic Communications Department also wrote about the church's destruction. In particular, the Armed Forces reported that the Russians destroyed the church on March 25 with four shots from a tank. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), to which the church belonged, also claims that a Russian tank destroyed the building on March 25. According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, as of May 27, 133 churches were completely destroyed or damaged due to Russian aggression.

The network spreads fakes about alleged financial assistance from the Ukrainian Red Cross, saying that the organization will pay 3,000 hryvnias to refugees, displaced persons, the military, children under 18, and people who have lost their jobs. It is offered to go to the telegram bot. The Red Cross of Ukraine denied this information and called not to transfer personal data and bank card numbers to scammers. "Be careful, check the information on official sources of the Red Cross of Ukraine, for example, on the website redcross.org.ua," the organization said. "If you find fake information, let us know by sending a link to the fake source and a letter to sos@redcross.org.ua."

Scammers often manipulate Ukrainians and launch schemes with alleged financial aid from the state, banks, other organizations, or countries. If you have become a victim of a fraudulent scheme and provided scammers with your social network login or bank card details, you should immediately change your login passwords, change your bank card's CVV code, or reissue your card. We remind you that you can not enter your personal data and payment card details on unfamiliar and suspicious websites and advises you to set up control over the movement of funds (SMS notifications, transaction limits, etc.). Banks never ask users for a payment card PIN, CVV code, payment confirmation codes, and passwords for Internet banking. Similarly, no institution needs your passwords to log in to the social network to process your data. Passwords are requested only by scammers to gain access to your account. We warn that fraudsters often create clones of social networking sites, banks, and other institutions. To avoid problems - do not go to these sites with a link; search for official sites through a search engine, and pay attention to their addresses - one extra letter or misspelling may indicate that this site is fake.

An English-language fake is spreading on Facebook - President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly bought a residence in Florida for $ 35 million, which the United States has allocated to help Ukraine in the war with Russia. Check Your Fact denied this information, noting that there was no evidence that Zelensky had bought the property and that the house was still up for sale. "A reverse image search shows that the house presented in the publication is up for sale at Sotheby's International Realty for $ 11.5 million. There are no signs that he has been sold, " the fact-checkers said, recalling that Zelensky had rejected a US proposal to evacuate the capital Kyiv after a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This fake is aimed at American users because it contains manipulation and lies about buying property: they say that the Ukrainian president paid for the villa from "their taxes." It is not the first time Russian propaganda has tried to discredit Zelensky in the eyes of the foreign community. These are attempts to undermine the trust in the Ukrainian government among ordinary citizens of other countries, including the United States, further influence the support of Ukraine by international partners. Earlier, Zelensky gained popularity among English-language Twitter, Ticket, and Reddit users. Read more about how the world discovered Zelensky in MediaSapiens.

The pro-Kremlin media spread this manipulative thesis, noting that training plans for protection against chemical weapons for 2019 were found at the Red Cross base in Mariupol. At the same time, Russian propaganda "reminds us" that pro-Russian militants then allegedly "reported the preparation of a provocation with chemical weapons in Mariupol." Thus, Russia is trying to convince that the Red Cross and the Ukrainian authorities allegedly "prepared a chemical attack." Such messages should operate on the principle of "information alibi." The Russian media is preparing an information background so that the Russian authorities can shift responsibility for the crimes committed in Ukraine.

The Red Cross, like the United Nations, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and others, is studying the effects of chemical weapons and trying to prevent their use. This is not the first time Russian propagandists have spread fakes and manipulations about the alleged "preparation of provocations with the use of chemical weapons by Ukraine." The propaganda also manipulates the fact that Ukrainians are provided with means of protection against chemical weapons - this allegedly proves Ukraine's intention to use them. In reality, it is protected in the event of a chemical attack by the Russian Federation.

This thesis is spread on social networks together with the picture of the LGBTQ IA+ flag - a community to which the colors of the Ukrainian flag - blue and yellow stripes - have been added. Some users also allegedly spread a statement by Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in which he allegedly said that Detector.

In fact, no official sources have published this quote from Arestovich, and the flag of the LGBTQIA+ community does not contain the colors of the state flag of Ukraine. According to Reuters, the portal Know Your Meme, which documents memes and Internet culture, wrote about the changed color of the flag. They clarified that the photo initially had an ironic meaning, but later various users began to distribute it without context as factual information.

The American online magazine LGBTQ Nation noted that propaganda against the LGBTQ IA+ community is "an important part of Russia's military efforts." "The Putin regime's focus on humiliating the LGBT community inside Russia is being used as part of its military action against the Ukrainian population," the newspaper said.

This fake provoked a wave of ridicule and criticism of Ukraine by foreign audiences on social networks. In particular, they mentioned attacks during prides in various Ukrainian cities. So, it is obvious that this fake was spread to stop the support of Ukraine among foreigners.

The video of a freight train carrying dozens of tanks and military equipment across a railway bridge is being spread on social media. The posts claim that the tanks are allegedly moving to the Russian border in the direction of eastern Finland, noting that the country is allegedly preparing to go to war with Russia, reports Euronews.

The Finnish Defense Forces have already denied this information and said that these allegations are "false" and that the equipment, on the contrary, is moving away from Russia's border. In fact, this equipment was transported to the annual two-week military exercises in western Finland. Euronews writes that it compared the video with images on Google and found that the video was shot in the city of Tampere: the footage shows that the train is moving west, towards the villages of Niinisalo and Sakyla.

It is spread on social networks and media that the OSCE allegedly provided the Azov Regiment with communications and intelligence in Mariupol. According to StopFake, these reports refer to pro-Russian militants from the occupied parts of the Donetsk region, who are distributing photos and saying that they allegedly found a satellite phone with a sticker of the organization on Azovstal.

The OSCE denied allegations of communications and intelligence to the Ukrainian military at Azovstal, saying it had never provided any additional information other than open official reports. The organization says that since the start of hostilities on February 24, 2022, the Mission has recorded increasingly hostile public rhetoric against the OSCE SMMU, especially in areas not controlled by the Ukrainian government. "False, unsubstantiated, and increasingly outrageous allegations have been made about the SMMU, which the OSCE has refuted. As for Mariupol, the SMMU has not controlled its office in Mariupol since March 15 due to ongoing fighting, ” a spokesman told StopFake. The fact-checkers noted that there was no evidence that the phone with the OSCE sticker was found on Azovstal and that the Ukrainian military used it. They pointed out that the phone " with a high probability could be found in the building of the former OSCE office in Mariupol."