Russian propagandists are disseminating information in the media according to which Ukrainian soldiers are allegedly “zombified” before battle and taught to “experience the joy of killing”. Propagandists claim this is evidence of “cruel training methods” in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They say that the so-called “zombification” of soldiers takes place during training sessions in Kyiv, which are conducted by an expert in combat psychology, US Army Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that Grossman explained his methods during training on a Ukrainian television channel, answering the question whether every soldier is capable of killing the enemy on the battlefield. He noted that modern training methods make killing almost a conditioned response, and the reaction of most people to this radiation is joy. However, after a fight, moral doubts may arise, which are then rationalized.

Propaganda is trying to negatively influence the image of the Ukrainian army, spreading this and similar myths, trying to blame the West and, in particular, NATO for everything. Thus, they want to show the conditional “higher morality” of Russia and justify its crimes against Ukrainians.