Propagandists are spreading information on social networks that mobile crematoriums made in Sweden and Italy have allegedly appeared in Sumy. They say that the Ukrainian authorities plan to use them to destroy thousands of bodies of dead soldiers in the Kursk region. However, this is fake.

This was pointed out by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Its experts found out that it is Russia that is actively using mobile crematoriums and found numerous evidence of this. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, as of April 2022, 13 mobile crematoria were operating in temporarily occupied Mariupol to destroy the bodies of dead civilians. The use of such crematoria was also recorded in the Chernihiv region and Novoaidar, Luhansk region.

This fake is part of a constant disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Propagandists have been spreading similar messages regularly since the start of the full-scale invasion. Already in September 2023, they were spreading similar disinformation about the alleged “delivery” of 200 mobile crematoria from Germany, which indicates the systematic use of this topic to create fear and mistrust in society.

Such stories are aimed at creating panic and undermining trust in the Ukrainian authorities and military. Propagandists are trying to convince Ukrainians and the international community that Ukraine is allegedly hiding its losses and is ready to take extreme measures to keep this a secret. It also diverts attention from the crimes that Russia itself is committing, in particular the use of crematoria to hide its crimes in the occupied territories.