Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the commander of the Operational Command “Skhid” (East) of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleh Mikats, allegedly appealed to the administration of Zaporizhzhia with a request to increase the space in the cemeteries for “Polish mercenaries”. The authors of the messages attach a “document-appeal”.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case and found out that this “document” was fake. In particular, the following errors indicate the fakeness of the document:

The name and position of the addressee are incorrectly written in the “document”; Now there is no mayor in Zaporizhzhia, and the powers of the mayor until new elections are exercised by the secretary of the Zaporizhzhia city council. In all documents, he is signed as “secretary of the city council”, but in the fake document they indicated “head of administration”.

Fact checkers also found factual errors, for example, the appeal was to increase space in the Shevchenko district of Zaporizhzhia. There is no such area in the city.

They also found wording that is not inherent in official business broadcasting. For example, the propagandists in the “document” wrote “occupied Donbas”. Since August 2022, a single concept of “the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation” has been introduced.