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 09 May, on the 805th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2131
Fake
691
Manipulation
647
Message
434
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Сonspiracy theories How conspiracy theorists explain events in Ukraine and in the world: Theory of “Chemical Emissions”

Propagandists have been trying to explain current events using conspiracy theories for years, trying to justify the crimes of the Russians. An example of this is the theory of “chemical emissions”.

According to it, various types of chemical weapons have been allegedly being cut over Ukraine for years from special helicopters without identification marks. They say that rich countries are testing harmful chemicals on residents of developing countries. That is why there is a headache, burning eyes, and sore legs. Before the full-scale invasion, some conspiracy theorists tried to explain the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. This theory combines conspiracy theories of the “new world order” and the “golden billion”. In both of them, people are mocked in order to entrench a world order that benefits only the elites, the richest and most privileged representatives of humanity.

Russian propagandists use this theory in the context of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory. In particular, they claim that NATO and Ukrainian troops allegedly use chemical weapons against civilians, although this has never been confirmed. To strengthen this theory, the Russians spread fakes they created about supposedly found chemicals with American labeling in different places of the country.

Thus, Russia wants to shift responsibility for its actions and their consequences to other parties and divert attention from possible provocations on its part. Like, it must be said that Ukraine is doing something so that they don’t think about it while it continues its aggression against Ukraine.

Fake Ukrainian female refugees in Germany began to have children from Turks in order to obtain citizenship

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that allegedly Ukrainian female refugees in Germany began to give birth to children from the Turks, without waiting for their men from the front to receive German citizenship. Like, an article about this was published on the Deutsche Welle website. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to it. They found out that the original material for the publication by the author Olena Diuzhyna mentioned the demographic situation in Germany, where the proportion of children has increased significantly. Ukrainian refugees are also mentioned in this article, but in a different context. In particular, Germany has accepted more than a million Ukrainian refugees since February 24, 2022, most of whom are Ukrainian children.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees. Like, none of them wants to return home. However, this is not so - according to the material of the portal Word and Deed, 62% of Ukrainian refugees stated their desire to return to Ukraine in the future. Detector Media has already talked about the ways in which Russia is trying to humiliate Ukrainian refugees abroad.

Message Bilderberg and the US appointed Borrell as Colonial Manager of Europe

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell is holding an urgent European Congress in Kyiv at the end of October to “make empty promises” to the Ukrainian government. They say that he was chosen to be the caretaker of Europe, but he is not doing well in this role, since there is no unity among European leaders on the situation in Ukraine. He was allegedly appointed to this “position” at the last meeting of the Bilderberg Club, where it was determined that Europe would de facto become a US colony.

Analysts of the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to this message. They note that it stems from conspiracy theories about the EU. In particular, the Bilderberg Club is a forum of annual meetings with a hidden agenda and list of participants. At the same time, Russian propaganda constantly portrays it as a secret world government that appeals to the theory of a “new world order”.

In response to accusations that the EU has allegedly lost sovereignty and become a vassal of the United States, project experts note that the United States is a strategic partner of the European Union in spreading peace and stability throughout the world. Together they are two of the world's greatest donors of humanitarian aid. In addition, the EU and the US have the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship and the closest integration of their economies in the world.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to divert attention from Russian aggression against Ukraine and crimes committed by Russians, as well as express their disagreement with the general position of EU countries regarding Russia’s actions. Detector Media also refuted other fakes, messages and manipulations of Russian propaganda directed against the EU.

Message Historical memory is being systematically destroyed in Ukraine and the Baltic countries

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that a number of European countries, and especially Ukraine and the Baltic countries, are systematically destroying historical memory. They say that they have forgotten about the lessons of the Second World War, and they worship racist, neo-Nazi and extremist ideas.

Analysts of the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to this message. They note that the Kremlin media repeatedly scares with the “rebirth of Nazism” in the West and “historical revanchism” against Russia. The myth of Nazi Ukraine is refuted by the fact that Nazi and communist ideologies were banned in Ukraine at the legislative level in 2015.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, providing a false need for “denazification”. By baselessly calling all Ukrainians Nazis, they deliberately portray Ukrainians in a negative light. Detector Media has refuted a number of fakes and manipulations using this message.

Disclosure How the Russians launched a disinformation campaign against Ukraine through fake websites of Ukrainian and Western publications

On the social network X (formerly Twitter), since October 25, materials have been massively distributed on fake websites of well-known Ukrainian and foreign media. The fact-checkers of The Insider project were the first to write about this spam attack. Detector Media publishes the main techniques and narratives used in this spam attack.

Some of the tweets contain a link to several pseudo-novelty/analytical materials. The Insider analysts found that they were posted on sites counterfeiting well-known Ukrainian publications, such as OBOZREVATEL. In these columns one can see the messages of propagandists repeated many times - they say that Ukraine’s defeat is inevitable, Israel will completely take away Ukrainian military and financial assistance, Ukrainians will freeze without heating and will survive without salaries and pensions. It seems that all this is so that the “Kyiv regime” retains power.

Propagandists and foreign media sites falsify them. As noted in The Insider, pseudo-columns are published on “clones” of such publications as Der Spiegel, Welt, Fox News, La Parisien, Walla, etc. Western audiences are served the same narratives, only in English, French, German and Hebrew. The centrality of the attack and the connection of its organizers with Russia is indicated by the fact that within its framework they published links to Russian propaganda media, where a video about “drug addict Volodymyr Zelenskyi” was posted.

By resorting to this, propagandists want to cause panic among Ukrainians and despondency in the Ukrainian government, which should lead to destabilization of the political situation. This is also indicated by the fact that the attack occurred simultaneously with protests in several Ukrainian cities under the slogan “For demobilization!”, where the same visual materials were used. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted Russian manipulations and fakes aimed against the Ukrainian government, elected by the people.

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.