Russian telegram channels and media are disseminating a post by entrepreneur David Sachs, who stated that the United States seems to no longer be able to supply air defense systems to Ukraine. He says the reason is that they simply ran out.

VoxCheck analysts have analyzed this case and explained that an American entrepreneur cannot be fully aware of the number of existing air defense systems in the US reserve. Moreover, the transfer of any weapons depends on Congress. That is, such information is not true; David Sachs himself did not provide any evidence regarding the small number of reserves.

And entrepreneur and investor David Sachs has repeatedly spread pro-Russian narratives. For example, he reposted a video allegedly indicating a connection between Ukraine and ISIS. In it, a Ukrainian military man allegedly wears a chevron of a terrorist organization, although in fact it is a trophy obtained by Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters in the assault on the positions of the Russian Wagner groups.

Propagandists disseminated information in the Russian media that the President of Ukraine, according to them, during his last visit to Odesa allegedly revealed the location of a secret base in the port area of the city, where, according to them, drones were being prepared for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, these statements are not confirmed.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They note that the meeting between the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Greece was of an official nature and took place in the presence of many government officials and journalists. It is baseless to assume that a secret military base was included in the excursion program as part of such a visit.

The Greek Prime Minister confirmed that the delegation was near the port when the shelling occurred, but this has nothing to do with Zelenskyi's visit to any secret base.

Propagandists spread such fakes in order to discredit the President of Ukraine and quarrel between Western countries and Ukraine. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted fakes directed personally against Zelenskyi.

In the Russian segment of social networks they write that Ukrainian partisans burned down a drone production plant in Lviv, having previously also eliminated the plant’s security guards. The authors added that they produced 5 thousand drones every month for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular, UAVs “Furia”, “Leleka 100”, RAM II UAV and others. This is manipulation.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed this information and found that until now details about the explosion at the enterprise in Lviv had not been reported. Moreover, the company does not produce UAVs; information about such production was disseminated by a pro-Russian propagandist. That is, his words do not claim to be authentic.

Ukrainian media indeed reported that on February 18, 2024, an explosion actually occurred in Lviv on the territory of an industrial complex on Antonovych street. According to the speaker of the SBU in the Lviv region, Roksolana Yavorska, there were no casualties as a result of the explosion. There have still been no official statements about the cause of the explosion or those involved.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread the allegation that weapons are allegedly being stolen and resold on the black market in Ukraine. As evidence, the authors of the fake referred to a report from the US Department of Defense: it seemed to say how “during the inspection, specialists did not count 40 thousand weapons”.

“I think everyone understands where and for what purposes it was redirected... The likelihood of terrorist attacks in Europe is only growing”, propagandists commented on the situation.

However, the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up the case and found that in a special report, “enhanced monitoring of the end use of defense goods supplied to Ukraine”, they noted that arms supplies to Ukraine were not properly controlled. This is explained by the fact that the presence of US representatives in Ukraine is limited. At the same time, the report does not accuse or express the thesis that weapons “end up on the black market”.

They also gave a positive assessment to Ukraine’s attempts to monitor the supply of weapons and equipment. It is indicated that in some cases, Ukrainian officials conducted inventories more thoroughly than their American counterparts.

Users of social networks and publications disseminating pro-Russian rhetoric are spreading false information that the mother of a deceased Ukrainian soldier in Avdiivka was allegedly given a meat grinder. A photograph in which the same mother allegedly “joyfully” holds an electrical appliance is added to such “news”. “The mother of the Ukrainian soldier who died near Avdiivka was presented with humanitarian aid in the form of a meat grinder. It’s very symbolic.”, the authors of the messages add.

After disseminating such information, StopFake decided to check whether the mother of a Ukrainian military man was really given humanitarian aid in the form of a meat grinder. It turned out that this information was false.

The description of the photo does not indicate who exactly and where “donated” such “humanitarian aid”, and there is also no link to the source of this “news”. StopFake tried to find the source of the photo using a Google image search, but found only messages from Russian websites and anonymous telegram channels.

StopFake later discovered that the original photo of the mother “joyfully” holding an electrical appliance was published by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation charity organization. It does not depict assistance to the mother of the deceased, but the distribution of food and humanitarian aid to residents of Novohrodivka, Donetsk region. Propagandists simply added a “joyful” woman with a meat grinder in her hands in a photo editor and came up with a false description.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukraine and devalue the importance of the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that two trucks with disassembled F-16 aircraft allegedly entered Ukraine from Poland. At the same time, propagandists fear that fighters may be armed with AIM-120D air-to-air missiles, which are capable of destroying air targets at a distance of 150 to 180 kilometers.

The information that the F-16 is already in Ukraine and also in disassembled form is fake. Specialists from the VoxCheck team write about this, in particular. Representative of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Yurii Ihnat considers such reports to be unfounded, noting that the movement of F-16 aircraft to the territory of Ukraine is possible only after appropriate preparation of infrastructure and personnel. Volodymyr Zelenskyi believes that the first F-16 aircraft will most likely arrive in Ukraine in 2024.

The very preparation of pilots for transfer to the F-16 in Britain can take up to two years, and in the USA, probably until the end of 2024. In Denmark, Ukrainian pilots are already training on fighter jets, so it is expected that the planes will arrive from there the fastest.

The main armament of the F-16 fighters is the AIM-9X air-to-air missile. Also used are air-to-air missiles AIM-7 and AIM-120 AMRAAM, which in the latest modification in homing mode can hit a target at a distance of 180 kilometers. According to Yurii Ihnat, Ukraine needs F-16 fighters to hit the enemy from the air, push Russian aircraft away from the borders of Ukraine and destroy drones.

By spreading this disinformation, propagandists seek to discredit international military support for Ukraine. In addition, the creation of such fakes may be associated with the preparation of the internal population of Russia for the upcoming “bad news” from Ukraine, as a consequence of the upcoming work of pilots on F-16 fighters. Previously, we denied information that the Russian military had already allegedly destroyed several F-16s in Ukraine.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels write that Western F-16 fighters will be stationed at one of the airports in Moldova before being transferred to Ukraine. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the Minister of Defense of Moldova Anatolii Nosatyi, who allegedly made a corresponding statement.

In fact, this information is not true. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Anatolii Nosatyi himself has already denied such news in a comment to Newsmaker: “They are aimed only at misinformation of citizens and discrediting the defense department. I would like to point out that all these messages are misinformation. I condemn and refute these fakes”.

The Minister of Moldova also said that in addition to Telegram channels, lies were spread by politicians who “want to destabilize the situation in the country”. Previously, we denied information that the Russian military had already destroyed several F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine.

Users of social networks are again spreading information that the ex-husband of singer Kamaliya, Pakistani Mohammad Zahoor, bought fighter jets for Ukraine. However, this is a fake.

Specialists of the NotaYenota project drew attention to it. They found out that Zahur did not actually buy fighter jets for Ukraine. Kamaliya personally denied this information. This story begins with an interview with Kamaliya in 2022, where the singer stated that she received permission from Zahur to talk about the fact of providing two fighter jets to Ukraine, but without specific details. As it turned out, the singer was referring to military assistance from Pakistan. However, the quote is defaced on a number of websites and social networks, attributing to the Kamaliya man the acquisition of aircraft.

Project specialists drew attention to this situation due to the peculiarities of its reappearance in the Ukrainian media space. They found out that the fake was spread again in early January through one of the Facebook pages, which has more than 440 thousand subscribers. The comments to the message provide a link to the main article, and the domain name of the site distributing this fake is located in the .su zone - the national top-level domain for the former Soviet Union. Even after the Union ceases to exist, the SU domain remains Russian. They note that since 1993, the administrator of this domain has been the Russian Institute for the Development of Public Networks (RosNIRSM), located in Moscow. Since 2009, technical maintenance of this domain has been carried out by the Internet Technical Center, also in Moscow.

The most interesting thing is that the page distributing this stuff through .SU is administered by three persons located in Ukraine. Taking this into account, according to NotaYenota, through pages publishing “good news” about “support for Ukraine” from famous people, fakes can be launched, which test the audience for their reaction to various types of influence.

Russian telegram channels report that as a result of Russian missile attacks on the western regions of Ukraine on January 13, 2024, they managed to destroy a batch of missiles for the Patriot air defense system and warehouses with Storm Shadow missiles at the airfield in Kolomyia.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes that this information is false. According to a message from the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on January 13, 2024, “Russian missiles are getting worse and are flying to God knows where”. On that day, air defense forces managed to shoot down eight missiles, and more than 20 more did not reach their targets as a result of active countermeasures by electronic warfare.

This disinformation campaign seeks to reassure everyone that Russian “high-precision weapons” cause damage and destruction exclusively to “legitimate targets”, such as missile trains. Russian propaganda systematically spread fake news about the destruction of Patriot air defense systems, Leopard tanks, or even F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine in order to exaggerate Russia’s successes in the war.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the United States allowed Ukraine to use HIMARS for “strikes” against Russia. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the US Embassy in Ukraine, Bridget Brink, who allegedly made a corresponding statement.

In fact, this information is fake. Brink did not make such a statement - it was invented by propagandists of one of the Russian media, who subsequently published a refutation. This was reported by checkers from the StopFake project. To create the fake, they used a quote from Brink from June 2022 - then the United States provided Ukraine with a package of military aid, which included, in particular, ammunition for HIMARS: “This will help Ukrainian forces aim more accurately, as well as have a greater range. What range will the Ukrainian forces determine?” However, those ammunition could hit targets at a distance of up to 70 km, and not 300 km, that is, there was no talk of any strikes on Russian territory.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda seeks to create the image that “the United States and Ukraine are aggressors because they are going to attack Russia”, so Russia is supposedly a victim of the confrontation and is forced to defend itself. Thus, Russia “demonizes” Ukraine and its allies. Previously, we refuted information that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could allegedly use any NATO weapons on Russian territory.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels disseminate information that NATO member countries, including the United States, are not against the Armed Forces of Ukraine “hitting”  Russia with all available weapons, that is, foreign ones, and not just Ukrainian ones. Based on the results of an emergency telephone conversation between representatives of the United States, NATO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which followed another massive Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities on January 2, 2024, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin allegedly promised to satisfactorily respond to Ukraine’s requests regarding medium- and long-range missiles. In arguing this, propagandists cite an article by The New York Times. However, this is a fake.

The truth is that The New York Times never published such a story, and their reporter at the Paris bureau of Constant Méheut, the supposed author of the fictitious article, did not actually write the story. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. The Western countries arming Kyiv demanded that Ukraine use only its own weapons to attack Russian territory. In addition, neither on the NATO website nor on the official Pentagon channels there is any mention of the supply of missiles to Ukraine without range restrictions. This information is also not available on the website and communication channels of the US Embassy in Ukraine.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda seeks to demonize NATO, including the United States, saying that they are starting to openly fight against Russia and are even ready to destroy the civilian population of Russia. Thus, the propagandists also want to justify the bloody war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine and, according to them, against the entire West and NATO, which allegedly want to destroy Russia. Previously, Detector Media analyzed the Russian manipulation that NATO would allegedly invade Russia “after the war in Ukraine”.

Propaganda resources disseminated information that the Russians destroyed three or four F-16 aircraft in Odesa. It's fake.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Security has processed this information. In fact, Ukraine is just getting ready to accept the F-16 – we are talking about infrastructure, pilots, and engineering personnel. All statements about the destruction of these fighters in Ukraine are an invention of Russian propaganda, which Yurii Ihnat, a representative of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has already ridiculed.

“Their [Russian – ed.] reports are encouraging: per day, five Ukrainian aircraft are destroyed in the reports of their general staff. There are even memes about the F-16 that they have already found them in Ukraine”, Ihnat said on the telethon.

Propagandists exaggerate the achievements of the Russian army in the war against Ukraine by spreading such disinformation. Like, they have everything under control. Previously, we denied information that Russia allegedly destroyed five Patriot air defense missile launchers.

According to information distributed by propagandists, Forbes allegedly published an article that Ukraine has created a tank brigade that has limited combat readiness and practically no tanks. However, this is manipulation.

The analysts from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that we are talking about the article Ukraine Has Formed a New Tank Brigade by David Ax, published on December 3 in Forbes. In it, the author writes about the 5th separate tank brigade (STBr).

He does not indicate the low combat readiness of the brigade or the absence of tanks in it. David Ax discusses the position of the 5th Tank Brigade, which was formed in 2016. He notes that the unit existed largely only on paper, but has recently begun to recruit and train, as evidenced by photographs published on December 2, 2023.

In his article, Ax also points out that Western partners provided Ukraine with different tanks, but in the photographs published on social networks they are not visible in brigades. However, he does not claim that the unit has no tanks at all, but only points out the lack of information about what tanks are used. The journalist also considers possible options for equipment that the brigade could be equipped with, such as the T-72, Leopard 1 or Abrams.

It is important to note that Ax does not use the term “incapacitated” to describe the brigade. On the contrary, in his material he draws attention to changes in the tactics of using tanks in general, pointing to their use as short-range artillery due to the presence of minefields and the use of drones. This modification of the use of tanks is associated with more complex combat conditions and the use of other technologies.

The 5th Brigade is part of the Reserve Corps. In 2018, the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Serhii Popko, announced that the 5th Separate Tank Brigade of the Reserve Corps was fully equipped with T-72 tanks. However, after a certain period, the brigade was demobilized, and only in February 2022 it was resumed. However, due to losses in other armored and mechanized brigades, tanks and personnel of the 5th Tank Brigade were used to replenish other units. Today it is known that in March 2023 the unit was restored again, it is equipped with equipment, and personnel are undergoing training.

By manipulating the texts of foreign media, propagandists want to strengthen the myth about the incapacity of the Ukrainian army, as well as the theft of Western weapons. This is not their first fiction concerning the Ukrainian Armed Forces — Detector Media has repeatedly refuted others.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating information that they allegedly decided to start arming Ukrainian soldiers with shovels in case they run out of ammunition. According to propagandists, such a plan was allegedly shared by the commander of the 59th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a commentary for the Associated Press (AP). This is manipulation.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reviewed this information. They found out that the commander of the 59th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces actually stated that if there was a shortage of bullets, Ukrainian soldiers would kill the invaders with shovels. However, it was not said that the military leadership would give soldiers shovels instead of weapons, but about how motivated the Defense Forces are to go to victory: “Probably everyone is tired of the war physically and mentally. But imagine if we stop, what happens next? - the commander summed up. Ukrainians do not intend to stop fighting for their own state, no matter what the situation at the front.

Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the military leadership of Ukraine, saying that it doesn’t care about soldiers, so they will soon be sent into battle even with shovels, as long as they hold the defense. That is, in this case, propagandists are speculating on the expression “war to the last Ukrainian”, since it is obvious that it is impossible to resist with shovels against modern weapons. In addition, Russian propaganda creates the picture that no one needs Ukraine anymore, so international military assistance is becoming weaker. Previously, we analyzed the propaganda manipulation that Ukraine allegedly wants to refuse supplies of Western weapons.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the Zhytomyr city council handed over two quadcopters to the 30th separate mechanized brigade, allegedly spending 530 million hryvnia on the purchase of them. Propagandists say this indicates that much of the funds were stolen by local officials. It's fake.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council worked on this case. As it turned out, in fact, 530 thousand hryvnia were spent on the purchase of two “birds”. The Zhytomyr City Council reported this on its telegram channel.

It is common for Russian propagandists to distort information by adding zeros to numbers or replacing one or more words in a sentence to convey the desired as real. Previously, we analyzed information that 200-500 thousand Ukrainians allegedly lost limbs due to the war, although in the original it was about 20-50 thousand military personnel.

Propagandists say a German charity allegedly ran an advertisement comparing the cost of a Leopard tank sent to Ukraine with the cost of operations for 10 sick children. Like, they wrote about it in Reuters. Some people also claim that after the publication of this information, “defenders of Ukrainian refugees” criticized the philanthropists and called them Nazis due to the fact that German children were more important than Ukrainian ones. However, this is a fake video.

The VoxCheck analysts drew attention to it. They found out that the photos and videos distributed by propagandists were edited. The charitable organization Bunter Kreis Rheinland, against which the fake was created, stated that it did not place such advertising. It was also debunked by a reverse search of video frames via Google Images, which showed that the photos were only being distributed by Russian-language resources or users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric. The subtitles on the video also look like they were added during editing, as they contain errors in how words are related, and in some frames there are additional spaces between words.

Deutsche Welle contacted the charity Bunter Kreis Rheinland, which is listed as the author of the ad, and received confirmation from finance director Ralf Orth that the organization had no connection with the ad as their finances are based on donations and they cannot fund such things in Berlin .

The fake posters featured the logos of Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband and Aktion Mensch; both organizations denied any involvement in the advertising and said their logos were used without their permission.

The blue inscription on the billboard belongs to the company Wall GmbH, whose representatives stated that they did not produce such billboards at all.

Propagandists spread such fake news to create skepticism among European audiences about the war in Ukraine. Like, why should Europeans waste their resources on other people’s children when they have problems with their own? However, such comparisons are inappropriate, since the life of every child is priceless.

Commenting on the consequences of missile strikes on Ukraine on December 14, 2023, Russian propagandists are disseminating information that five Patriot air defense missile launchers, one command vehicle, one air situation radar, 80 million ready-to-fire missiles worth $5.5, 160 missiles were allegedly eliminated near Zhytomyr that were in stock. According to Russian propaganda, Russia “virtually destroyed the annual production of MIM-104 missiles with one blow”. However, this is a fake.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council checked this information and found that it was untrue. In fact, the Russians are simply trying to overcome the failures of their hypersonic missiles, which have been regularly shot down by the MIM-104 Patriot since the spring of 2023.

By spreading disinformation, in this case, Russian propaganda appeals to the supposed omnipotence and invincibility of the Russian army. In addition, such “news” should cause a feeling of euphoria among Russian citizens, since the Russian military allegedly managed to destroy as many as five “hyped” Patriot air defense systems, which Ukrainians had been waiting for so long from their partner countries in order to strengthen the state’s air defense. Previously, Detector Media denied information that the Russians allegedly destroyed the Patriot air defense system at the Zhuliany airport in Kyiv.

Information began to spread online that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during his visit to Kyiv on November 20, offered Ukraine to exchange American Abrams tanks for German Leopards in a ratio of 1 to 4. That is, for seven American tanks, Ukraine was allegedly promised 28 German ones. This statement is explained by the fact that the supposedly low efficiency of the Abrams could cause “serious reputational damage to these tanks around the world”, something the Americans would like to avoid. It's fake.

In fact, Lloyd Austin did not offer Ukraine to exchange American Abrams tanks for Leopards during his visit. This is not mentioned in any leading world media, and the information itself was disseminated mainly in Russian or pro-Russian media. At the same time, Lloyd Austin stated at the time that “the United States, along with its allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraine’s immediate battlefield and long-term defense needs”. During the visit, the Pentagon chief also announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth $100 million, but there were no concerns about the loss of image of Abrams tanks as a result of the unsuccessful performance of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.

By spreading disinformation, as in this case, Russian propaganda aims to discredit international support for Ukraine’s partners in the war against Russia. In addition, propagandists aim to convince everyone around them that the Russian military has an advantage on the battlefield, and the defeat of Ukraine is a matter of time.

Earlier, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Ukrainian defenders are very effectively using Western weapons, and in response to this, Russia is increasing its aggression against civilians.

This information was recorded by specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They explained that pro-Kremlin telegram channels are disseminating information about the defeat of the Grim-2 OTRK launcher. Video evidence is added to the messages.

However, in fact, the primary source of such “news” was a satirical telegram channel, the description of which clearly states that all messages are only humorous in nature. But in fact, the video depicts the defeat of Russian equipment. On December 6, 2023, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko published a video of the defeat of the Russian operational-tactical missile system on his telegram channel. It is most likely that the authors of the satirical channel used this particular video to create the news. And then the Kremlin resources replicated this.

Still, it is impossible to say that the Russians did not destroy Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield, because this is more than possible during the war. But propagandists deliberately exaggerate the significance of “destroyed” equipment on the battlefield, hinting at the supposedly low combat capability of the Ukrainian army. And they use supposedly reliable information to support such a thesis.

The head of the Main Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery and Unmanned Systems of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Baranov, in an interview with the military radio station Army FM, when asked whether the Grim-2 installation was at the development stage, replied that the installation was “being improved so let the Russians experience its effects on themselves”.

Read here on how Russian propaganda devalues the weapons that serve Ukraine.

Propagandists spread information that, according to various estimates, in Ukraine, supposedly from 200 to 500 thousand people have already lost limbs, and 50 thousand Ukrainian military personnel have turned to the Ottobock company, which develops prosthetics. This is manipulation.

This case was studied by specialists from the VoxUkraine project. It turned out that the information mentioned was being manipulated. Firstly, Russian propaganda does not cite a single source from which the figures about 200-500 thousand people who lost limbs come from. There is only a link to the Ottobock company, which allegedly ordered prosthetics for 50 thousand Ukrainian soldiers. Secondly, presumably, the propagandists had in mind an article by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which directly quoted the German company Ottobock, providing data on the number of prosthetics ordered by Ukrainians. However, the article is talking about 20-50 thousand Ukrainians, and not just military personnel who lost limbs, and by no means hundreds of thousands. In addition, 50 thousand is a rough estimate based on data from the state and medical partners of the total number of amputees, but not the number of Ottobock clients.

Russian propaganda is trying to scare Ukrainians and encourage us to oppose the current government by exaggerating the number of compatriots who have had one or two limbs amputated. In this case, propagandists are manipulating a sensitive topic. Previously, we analyzed the Russian manipulation that in Ukraine they allegedly want to abolish disability in order to send more people to the front.

This information was disseminated by pro-Russian resources. They say that Berlin sent the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a thousand laptops as a gift to remove the issue of transferring Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine. This is manipulation.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security undertook to analyze this case. They investigated that the very fact of a gift of thousands of laptops for the needs of the Verkhovna Rada was confirmed by the German Embassy in Ukraine, but emphasized that they were transferred “as a sign of solidarity and support”. The issue of supplying Taurus missiles has been discussed over the past months, but so far Ukraine and Germany have not reached a consensus on this matter. That is, the gift of a thousand laptops is exclusively humanitarian assistance, and not a payoff for missiles, as some pro-Kremlin resources tried to provide.

Thus, Russian propaganda wants to discredit international support for Ukraine and assure everyone around that Western countries are already tired of the Russian-Ukrainian war and therefore strive to end it as quickly as possible by any means. Previously, we refuted information that the Russians allegedly destroyed a Leopard tank with a German crew.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating the words of Russian Defense Minister Serhii  Shoihu, who stated that in October the Russian army allegedly managed to destroy 37 Ukrainian combat aircraft. This is almost 2 times more than the promised number of F-16s for Kyiv. Despite the supply of new types of “NATO” weapons, Ukraine seems to continue to lose. However, this is a fake.

The specialists from the Vox Ukraine team analyzed this case. They found that OSINT analysts did not record large losses of the Ukrainian Air Force in October 2023. The Dutch open-source reconnaissance site Oryx found only one destroyed Su-25 during this period. In addition, according to the agreements of the Ukrainian authorities and partner states, Ukraine should receive more than 18 F-16 aircraft - propagandists are manipulating information. On August 21, 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that Ukraine would receive 42 aircraft from the Netherlands and 19 from Denmark. Later, a clarification appeared: the Netherlands will transfer some of the mentioned 42 aircraft to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and some will be left for pilot training. On August 24, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stør also announced the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. In the end, Belgium will also join the supply of equipment of this type from 2025. It should be noted that Norway and Belgium still did not specify the number of aircraft that they are ready to transfer.

Russian propaganda exaggerates the achievements of the Russian army, trying to spread another “victorious” story from the front line among ordinary Russians. That is, propagandists engage in eye-catching activities and publish fake information from the combat zone. After all, we previously published information that Shoihu “knocked down”  a bunch of planes and ATACMS in five days.

Russian media are disseminating information that the recent attack on a civilian ship flying the flag of Liberia is the result of the work of Ukrainian air defense. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that, in fact, according to the British intelligence services, the Russian pilot hit this ship with an anti-radar missile “due to poor tactics in the use of weapons”.

Russia systematically violates international humanitarian law by attacking Ukrainian ports and civilian ships. And Russian aggression leads to the death of civilians, destruction of infrastructure and violation of navigation rules in the Black Sea. In addition, Russia, by withdrawing from the Black Sea Initiative and banning ships from entering Ukrainian ports, violates the right to free navigation in the Black Sea, which is needed not only by Russia, but also by Ukraine and other countries, including NATO members.

The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) has already called on Russia to stop “illegal activities in the Black Sea” and adhere to its obligations under international treaties. Ukraine, despite Russian aggression, ensures legal exports through a new temporary route approved by the IMO.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to shift responsibility for the actions of the aggressor onto the victim of aggression. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes and manipulations regarding Russia’s actions in the Black Sea.

American pro-Kremlin “expert” Scott Ritter, a former UN Armaments Inspector in Iraq, in an interview with journalist Garland Nixon, said that Russia’s high-tech air defense systems were able to completely destroy Ukrainian aviation. According to him, every time a Ukrainian plane, for example, a MiG-29, takes off, it is immediately shot down. Ritter also emphasized that the destruction of enemy aircraft gives the Russian army a great advantage. This is one of the important factors that makes a Russian military offensive possible.

Colleagues from the StopFake project began checking information about the “total liquidation” of Ukrainian aviation. When researching this topic, the fact-checkers referred to the Dutch independent project Oryx, which daily updates the loss of military equipment in Ukraine and Russia. According to it, as of October 27, Ukraine had lost 77 aircraft, while Russia had lost 93 aircraft during the war. For security reasons, Ukraine does not disclose information about the number of its combat aircraft, but at the end of March 2023, another propagandist Oleksandr Khramchykhin wrote that at that time Ukraine had about 350 combat aircraft remaining. Considering this, as well as the fact that Khramchykhin could very likely have underestimated the figures, it can be argued that Ukrainian aviation still did not suffer “crushing losses” on the battlefield during the war. In addition, in 2024, Ukraine's allies will begin delivering F-16 fighters to more effectively fight Russia.

Although Scott Ritter held high positions at the end of the 20th century, already in 2012 he was sent to prison on charges of pedophilia. In 2014 he was released. Since 2019, he has been collaborating with the Russian channel RT and has been making propaganda statements ever since. We previously wrote about how Ritter accused Ukraine of war crimes in Bucha.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the German concern (an association of several enterprises, in this case in the field of defense) Rheinmetall is canceling the construction of a tank factory in Ukraine through Russia. We are talking about constant shelling of infrastructure, so German representatives are supposedly afraid of the power of the occupying army. The authors refer to news from the Reuters news agency. This is manipulation.

The VoxCheck fact-checkers analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that the news indicated: Germany did approve the creation of a joint venture between the main German Rheinmetall and the Ukrainian Ukroboronprom. Further, the journalists wrote that Rheinmetall will be involved in technical maintenance of the equipment. But on the official website of the German defense concern it is indicated that its specialists will be engaged in the maintenance and repair of combat vehicles, and in the future they will produce equipment together with Ukraine.

Actually, the fact-checkers write that this format of work was assumed from the very beginning of the conclusion of the strategic partnership agreement in May 2023. According to the agreement, the enterprise was supposed to begin its work in July, but the project implementation deadlines were delayed. In mid-August, the general director of Rheinmetall explained that tanks within the united concern would begin to be repaired “before the end of the month”.

That is, we are not talking about any canceled construction projects or agreements. According to Reuters, the German defense company, on the contrary, approved the decision to create a joint organization. During the implementation of the construction plan, there were no reports of cancellation of such a plan. Propagandists distorted the context of the material and wrote that even the NATO representative country allegedly fears Russia and curtails any companies on the territory of Ukraine.

This is how the authors try to dispel the thesis about their “irresistible technology”, which is ready to destroy everyone, and as confirmation of this they give the example of the “cancellation” of construction.

In our Newspeak section we described the Russian phenomenon of “irresistible technology”. In short, this is how the Russians try to convince the domestic audience of constant victories.

This information was disseminated in pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that the Russians have already begun selling the first captured parts from destroyed equipment in Ukraine. But they explain that on the Russian classifieds website Avito one can supposedly purchase parts from the British Challenger 2 tank. A screenshot of the advertisement is added to the publication. However, this is fake.

The fact-checkers of VoxCheck project managed to refute the case, because they determined that there was no such announcement on the Russian website. Moreover, propagandists compiled a screenshot of the ad, posting a photo of the Challenger 2 tank, destroyed in 2003 during the Iraq War. Using a special tool - FotoForensics - analysts found that the fake screenshot showed signs of editing.

But it is impossible to say that the Russians did not destroy Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield, because this was more than possible during the war. Propagandists deliberately exaggerate the significance of “destroyed” equipment on the battlefield, hinting at the allegedly low combat capability of the Ukrainian army. And the fact that parts from the equipment are subsequently sold as trophies is how they mock Ukrainian fighters.

Moreover, in general, the information about the destruction of Challenger 2 in Ukraine is true. On September 5, 2023, on the social network X (formerly Twitter), OSINTtechnical specialists, who write about military analytics based on analysis of open sources, published a video of a downed Challenger 2. Subsequently, the British Minister of Defense also confirmed the destruction of the tank. The further fate of the technology is unknown.

That is, there are real cases of destruction of equipment and they cannot be denied. But propagandists are systematically trying to discredit the Ukrainian Defense Forces by creating fake news about the deployment or destruction of some equipment. Read our latest cases: for example, we documented a fake that Russia “destroyed” five Patriot launchers. Another fake was also spread where Moscow allegedly destroyed a Leopard tank with German troops in Ukraine.

And also, in our Newspeak section we described the Russian phenomenon of “irresistible technology”. In short, this is how the Russians try to convince the domestic audience of constant victories.

In the Russian and Georgian segment of the social network Facebook, as well as in pro-Kremlin media, information is being spread that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin allegedly advised the Russian military not to hunt Abrams tanks, so as not to repeat the situation with Leopard tanks. It seems that he said: “A repetition of the situation with the German “Leopards”, when they were hunted, is unacceptable, I saw these calls. Play by the rules!”. It's fake.

As fact-checkers of the MythDetector project note, this news is fake, and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did not say such a phrase. Using search engines, experts determined that before getting onto Facebook, this phrase, allegedly belonging to Austin, first spread on September 25 on the social network X (formerly Twitter). However, its original source is not indicated.

During the 15th meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, held in Germany, Lloyd Austin spoke about assistance to Ukraine, but did not utter phrases regarding the content of the hunt for Abrams tanks. This quote does not appear in any official source or reliable media.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Western partners and show that the US Secretary of Defense is making strange calls to take care of the equipment of the Ukrainian military. Propagandists are trying to create the illusion that the Russian military with its weapons is invincible and is destroying the weapons provided to Ukraine by its partners. Recently, Detector Media refuted the fake that Sweden confirmed the loss of all its tanks provided to Ukraine.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that Sweden has allegedly confirmed the loss of all Leopard 2A5 tanks with the Swedish modification of Strv 122, which were provided to Ukraine as part of military aid. However, this is a fake.

The Reuters fact-checkers drew attention to the case. In response to their request for comment from a spokesperson for the Swedish Armed Forces, they received information that no such official statements had been made. Experts also could not find any reliable materials on the Internet that all 10 Swedish tanks were destroyed. In the press release of the Armed Forces of Sweden for September 21 on the topic of Swedish tanks, there is no mention of their loss. For example, in the article for September 23, the Forbes publication claims only two Swedish tanks were destroyed by a Russian air attack.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit the Ukrainian military and Western partners. For example, either Ukrainian soldiers do not know how to use Western weapons, or the weapons themselves are of poor quality compared to Russian ones. Detector Media has already refuted a number of other fakes aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Russians at the front destroyed a Leopard tank with a German crew, that is, allegedly with German military personnel. The publications refer to the words of the Russian occupier. It's a lie.

The analysts from the VoxCheck project took up the case and found out that the propagandists did not provide any evidence to confirm such information except for the words of the Russian occupier, also stated without facts. Moreover, the German Ministry of Defense denied the presence of German tank crews in Ukraine. That is, we are not talking about any German fighters at all. This is fiction.

But it is impossible to say that the Russians did not destroy Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield, because this was more than possible during the war. However, propagandists deliberately exaggerate the significance of “destroyed” equipment on the battlefield, hinting at the allegedly low combat capability of the Ukrainian army.

The Detector Media analysts have repeatedly explained cases in which they allegedly claimed that the Russian army had destroyed a certain amount of weapons. Thus, the authors are trying to hide their own failures, masquerading as “effective destruction of weapons”. For example, we refuted the fake that Russia “destroyed” five Patriot launchers.

And also in our Newspeak column we described the Russian phenomenon of “irresistible technology”. In short, this is how the Russians try to convince the domestic audience of constant victories. In addition, they also hint at the technological perfection of their equipment.

With all this, the Kremlin natively cultivates the opinion of the fight against the “collective West”, because supposedly EU countries specifically send their military to Ukraine to fight against Russia.

Pro-Kremlin media in English and Spanish are disseminating information that a Russian intelligence group allegedly destroyed a Leopard tank, which Germany transferred to Ukraine along with a crew of soldiers from the German Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces). This allegedly happened in the Zaporizhzhia direction. Russian propaganda add that the seriously wounded mechanic has repeatedly stated that he is a member of the Bundeswehr, and together with the crew they are part of a German army unit. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the EUvsDiDiNFo project. The information disseminated by Russian propaganda contains no details — names and surnames, a clear time and place where the Russians destroyed the tank. Moreover, Germany's military support for Ukraine is limited to equipment and weapons, as well as assistance in training Ukrainian troops on German soil.

This fake is a continuation of the Russian narrative that Russia is fighting against NATO and Western countries in Ukraine. By inventing victories on the battlefield, Russian propaganda tries to raise the morale of Russians and justify Russia's difficulties on the battlefield. They say that the Russians are fighting with the German military, which is much more powerful than the Ukrainian army. Previously, we talked about the manipulation that Jens Stoltenberg allegedly confirmed that Russia invaded Ukraine “because of NATO”.

Propaganda resources began publishing reports about the “shooting down” of a Ukrainian Air Force helicopter in the area of the temporarily occupied Lyman without evidence. They say that the “first shots” of the Russian military’s successful testing of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have appeared. However, this is fake.

Researchers at the StopFake project debunked this case using Google's reverse image search tool. As it turned out, the information provided is not true. These “first shots” only show a helicopter burning in the sky. They have nothing to do with the allegedly downed Ukrainian helicopter. An identical photograph has been used by various media outlets for several years. The oldest publications found by the search engine date back to 2020.

We also managed to find a video from which Russian propaganda took its “proof” of the alleged destruction of Ukrainian equipment. The British TV channel SkyNews published a video back in February 2020 with the same footage, but with a completely different caption. According to their journalists, it shows a Syrian military helicopter shot down by rebels. One can understand that this is the right helicopter from the same ignition of the fuselage (the place where fuel, landing gear, engines can be placed) of the aircraft and the color of the sky.

Previously, we also documented a similar hoax about the Russians “massively destroying” M1 Abrams tanks, although they had not even been delivered to Ukraine at that time. We also denied information that the Russians destroyed the first Leopard tank on the battlefield. This also turned out to be untrue.

This information was disseminated by propaganda media. Reports say Russian troops launched missile attacks on Kyiv, specifically targeting depleted uranium ammunition depots. Thus, the authors of the publication wrote that Kyiv was “threatened” by the fate of Chornobyl, because after the explosion, all the uranium dust allegedly dispersed throughout Kyiv. Therefore, they even urge Kyiv residents to evacuate as quickly as possible in order to save themselves from radiation. However, this is a lie.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project analyzed this case and determined that Russia could not destroy such ammunition, since Ukraine had not even received it yet. In addition, over the past few days there has been no information about warehouse explosions in Kyiv or the region. Only on the 6th, following a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he announced the provision of a new aid package to Ukraine, including weapons, including depleted uranium shells for American Abrams tanks. The official did not note any dates for the likely delivery of weapons to Ukraine. And the Ukrainian media did not publish news about the receipt of such weapons. This is just a stuffing of Russian “news” resources that came up with the material.

Moreover, Russian propaganda is trying to portray depleted uranium weapons as capable of destroying people and generally emitting radiation. Yes, depleted uranium is indeed a radioactive substance, but it is not so dangerous that its use is prohibited. To put it simply, the projectile “does not emit radiation”. That is, the influence of radioactive radiation from depleted uranium is insignificant. For example, BBC military expert Pavlo Aksionov explained that shells with depleted uranium cores are not prohibited by any conventions. The point is that such projectiles consist of a thin core (spire), made of heavy and durable alloys using tungsten or depleted uranium. And in fact, depleted uranium is located only on the core, if there is such a thing at all. And not the entire projectile carries radiation, as propagandists are trying to convince us of.

The Russians are constantly manipulating the nuclear issue. Last autumn, propagandists and Russian officials were convincing people that Ukraine was creating a “dirty bomb” and was preparing to use this weapon with supposedly nuclear waste - depleted uranium. Ukraine is already being called a “huge threat” to a nuclear disaster, allegedly precisely because of the supply of such weapons.

Here's how Russian propaganda raised the nuclear issue in its propaganda dumps - read the latest:

They wrote that Ukraine was allegedly preparing a nuclear strike against Russia; or explained how Ukrainian troops allegedly carried out fake attacks on nuclear facilities to blame the Kremlin although it is known that Moscow resorts to nuclear marching, constant terror and ultimatums. Read and remember how in the summer of 2023, a terrorist country intimidated Ukrainians with an explosion at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that Turkish media reported the destruction of the Patriot air defense system at the Zhuliany airport in Kyiv. It seems to be the third anti-aircraft missile system destroyed by the Russians, out of five. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the VoxCheck fact-checker. They established that neither Ukrainian nor Western or Turkish media wrote about the destruction of the third Patriot air defense system in Zhuliany. Moreover, according to data from open sources, Ukraine has only 2 anti-aircraft missile systems. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced in April 2023 that the United States, Germany and the Netherlands had transferred the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. However, the Netherlands did not transfer the system itself, but two launchers and missiles for them.

Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to sow despondency and panic among Ukrainians, they say, the Patriot air defense system has been destroyed, therefore Ukraine is unprotected. And they also try to convince people that the Russian army seems to be constantly defeating and destroying equipment that is transferred by Western partners. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that in May Russia “destroyed” five Patriot launchers.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, and  the Russian segment of the X social network, formerly known as Twitter, spread the information that “Ukraine should not rejoice”, since it allegedly will receive F-16 fighters only after the end of the war. They link to material published on the Dutch site GeenStijl. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. The political leadership of the Netherlands has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will receive the F-16 after the necessary conditions are met. A press release on the government website says that Denmark and the Netherlands will be able to transfer the F-16 after training Ukrainian pilots, establishing logistics processes and building the necessary infrastructure. According to the Minister of Defense of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, the training of the Ukrainian military will most likely last from 6 to 8 months.

Regarding the Dutch site GeenStijl, which Russian propaganda links to, it is one of the popular political blogs among skeptics. The blog has been involved in scandals more than once, and in the past has opposed the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Western partners and sow discouragement among the Ukrainian military and civilians. Like, the event allocates assistance, but not on time, so it will not be possible to win the war against Russia. Previously, we refuted the manipulation that Ukraine is going to attack the Hasidim in Uman in order to get the Israeli air defense system.

Russian Defense Minister Serhii Shoihu said that “Russia, for humanitarian reasons, does not use cluster munitions, but may reconsider this decision”. It's fake.

Russia has repeatedly shelled the territory of Ukraine with cluster munitions. On February 25, 2022, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch reported that the attack on the hospital in Vuhledar was carried out by a Russian ballistic missile 9M79 fired by the Tochka-U complex. At the end of March 2022, the President of the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachalet, stated that Russia had used cluster munitions 24 times at that time. On April 8, 2022, the Russians attacked the Kramatorsk station with Tochka-U. Then 58 civilians were killed and about 100 people were injured.

Russian propaganda is trying to shift the responsibility for the crimes of Russians to Ukraine. Like, Ukraine is provoking Russia, and it is forced to give an answer. Earlier, we refuted a similar fake that Putin said that Russia did not shell Ukraine with cluster munitions.

The Polish radio station Radio Zet spread the information that the explosion of one of the grenade launchers that the Poles presented to the head of the Polish police Yaroslav Shymchyk in Ukraine undermined the confidence of Ukraine and the United States in Poland. Allegedly, because of this incident, Volodymyr Zelenskyi traveled through Poland without the knowledge of the Polish special services. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications drew attention to the case. The representative of the Polish special services, Stanislav Zharyn, denied this information and said that such stuffing “is designed to humiliate the structures responsible for the security of Poland”. For spreading a fake, a Polish radio station was fined by the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Poland.

Such fakes are spread in order to discredit Poland and create the appearance that there is tension between neighboring countries that support each other. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the German edition of Eulenspiegel published a cover with Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Andrzej Duda.

On the Russian segment of Facebook, on a YouTube page and in media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, a video was circulated stating that Norway had sold Russia a strategically important facility, the Olavsvern submarine base, for $4.4 million. It is also noted that Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister of Norway, agreed to the sale. This base was bought by Gunnar Wilhelmsen, who later allegedly sold it to Russia. The Norwegians turned their attention to the base when two Russian ships stopped there. They employ Russian scientists who provide detailed analysis to the Russian military on NATO infrastructure. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case. Norway did not sell a military base to Russia. In 2013, the Olavsvern military base was decommissioned, after which it was bought by a Norwegian private investment group. And in 2014–2015, Russian ships used the port of this base. However, Olavsvern itself has never belonged to either the Russian authorities themselves or Russian companies. This information was confirmed by the new owners of the base, WilNor Governmental Services AS, which bought it in 2020.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Norwegian authorities, sow discouragement among Ukrainians and quarrel Ukraine with Western partners. Earlier, we refuted the fake that a billboard appeared in Japan with the inscription: “Stop Zelenskyi, stop the war”.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that Russian engineers easily manage to destroy Ukrainian tanks and any other equipment. Like, the Ukrainian army is not capable of resisting the Russian one. As proof of this thesis, the authors cite a video where the Russians allegedly destroyed a Leopard in the Zaporizhzhia direction.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up the case and determined that the video shows a tank clearing mines from the de-occupied territories in the Zaporizhzhia region. However, it was not destroyed, as it continues to work with mine clearance. This fact was determined by the checkers by a reverse search in Google and characteristic publications in the telegram channels of the Ukrainian segment. 

Thus, the Russian army tries to hide its crimes and convinces that it is constantly winning.

Russian media are spreading information that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have confirmed that they are placing air defense systems near residential buildings and have recognized “hits of homes of civilians”. This is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the propagandists deliberately took out of context and disfigured a quote from Yurii Ihnat, a representative of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, he did not speak about the “deliberate deployment of air defense forces near residential buildings”. On the air of the national telethon on July 16, Ihnat said that the forces of the Ukrainian air defense system were positioned to protect previously peaceful cities, as well as important critical and military infrastructure. He stressed that due to the fact that it is impossible to cover the entire territory of Ukraine with the available air defense systems, these complexes are located near settlements. On July 21, Ihnat even reacted to disinformation saying that it was Russia that was spreading it.

According to the speaker, propagandists make such statements to cause panic among Ukrainians and justify their aggression against Ukraine. Detector Media has already written about how other propagandists support their message about the “harm” of the Ukrainian air defense system for civilians.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that on July 19, the Russian army attacked not grain sheds, but a storage site for Ukrainian equipment. The authors report that Moscow will not allow shelling of civilian or port infrastructure. A video of a “destroyed hangar with Ukrainian equipment” is added to the publication.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project explain that this video has nothing to do with the events of July 19th. The video shows the composition of Russian military equipment destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solskyi said that during the attack, the Russians destroyed 60,000 tons of grain. In addition, they damaged the port infrastructure involved in the work of the “grain corridor”.

That is, the Russians continue to destroy the infrastructure of Ukraine, preventing the export of grain from Ukraine. And the authors once again reflect the situation and declare that they are not involved in the destruction of elements of civilian or port infrastructure. Traditionally they say that this is a military facility, but it is not.

Anonymous telegram channels and media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the Joseph Biden administration decided to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions banned by the convention in 2008. Russian propaganda notes that Ukraine signed this document, however, despite this, the Ukrainian military will use them to attack Russian cities. And this type of weapon is dangerous for civilians after the war, if the ammunition does not explode. It's fake.

The case drew the attention of specialists from the VoxCheck project. US presidential adviser Jake Sullivan said that since the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Russia has been using cluster shells, which in 30-40% of cases do not explode. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was created in 2008 and has been signed by 123 countries. However, Ukraine, the US and Russia are not signatories. Joseph Biden also explained that this type of weapons will be transferred to Ukraine due to the lack of other ammunition. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov noted that the Ukrainian military will not use cluster munitions on the territory of Russian settlements and will keep a strict record of use and localization, so that these territories can be cleared later.

Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian army and government, noting that it is in Ukraine that the terrorists are and they want to destroy the Russians. Russia is trying to portray itself as a victim, but it is it who commits the crimes. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that if the United States provides Ukraine with cluster munitions, Russia will have no choice but to use them in response on the territory of Ukraine.

Russian media, as well as anonymous telegram channels with pro-Russian rhetoric, referring to an article by The New York Times, disseminated information that since the start of the counteroffensive, Ukraine has lost up to 20% of all armored vehicles that were transferred to it by Western partners (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers). However, this is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They argue that the New York Times publication actually only mentions that up to 20% of the heavy weapons, including Western ones, used in the counteroffensive during the first two weeks of June, could be destroyed or damaged by the enemy. The authors of the article report that in the following weeks, the level of Ukrainian losses of armored vehicles dropped to 10%, as Ukraine changed its offensive tactics.

By manipulating foreign publications, propagandists want to create the erroneous impression of Ukraine's failure on the battlefield and show the ineffectiveness of Western weapons. However, in this situation, even in this article it is indicated that a number of Western weapons are not used in the counteroffensive, and the losses of Western equipment are exaggerated.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that in Poland, heavy equipment from Ukraine is being sold at the car market. There one can buy any infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), armored personnel carrier (APC) and other military vehicles that were transferred by Western partners. The authors add a screenshot from the site for the sale of cars. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and determined that on the website of the Polish car market there is no mention that the equipment was brought from Ukraine. The authors did not provide any hard evidence, which means that this is a propaganda stuffing. The car market that sells Ukrainian equipment is called Motodemont and is located in the Polish city of Kazimierz. This is a company specializing in the repair of special vehicles and trucks. They also have their own official website. Fact-checkers noted that they did not find any sign of resale of Ukrainian equipment on any of the published ads.

The site presents old copies of military equipment produced for the Polish Armed Forces. However, this technique was not transferred to Ukraine. For example, Motodemont only sells 1980s tracked military vehicles, 5 armored wheeled vehicles, a machine gun, and a launcher. Fact-checkers emphasize that this technique has nothing to do with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Let us remind that earlier we refuted the fake that the 92nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resold ambulances.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the protests in France allegedly used weapons previously handed over to the Ukrainian military. Russian propaganda adds a screenshot of the article with a text about it. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. They note that the article referenced by the Russian propaganda does not exist with that title. In addition, neither the name of the publication, nor the date of publication, nor the name of the author are indicated on the screenshot. The photo was first circulated in 2012. Reliable French and world media did not write such articles, and international partners did not report on the resale of weapons.

Some Russian propagandists refer to Agoravox, but from the very beginning this media has been spreading Russian narratives and discrediting Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and disrupt the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Ukrainians took part in the protests in France for money.

On July 6, anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric began to circulate reports that a significant air defense shortage had formed in Ukraine. Such statements appeared after a night attack by Russian missiles on the territory of Ukraine and hitting a high-rise building in Lviv. It is noted that this was supposedly a test version of air defense tracking. “As it turned out, it was almost empty. Most of the missiles reached their targets (there were no more than a dozen missiles, more than 60% reached their targets, others were shot down)”, they write on anonymous telegram channels. This is manipulation.

According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of July 6, the enemy attacked Lviv with Kalibr missiles from the Black Sea. 7 out of 10 missiles were shot down, there were hits on civilian targets in the city. Consequently, 70% of the missiles were shot down, only 30% reached their targets, and not 60%, as Russian propaganda writes. Also, the representative of the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat, commented on the night attack on Lviv on the air of the Radio Svoboda (Liberty) project Svoboda.Morning. “It is the presence of the F-16 that can make it possible to destroy all air targets attacking Ukrainian infrastructure”, the military man notes. Yurii Ihnat adds that the Russians “worked out the route, using both the terrain and the riverbeds – in this case Dnipro – they flew to Kyiv and turned sharply in the direction of Lviv”.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to sow panic among Ukrainians and arouse distrust in the authorities. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that all air defense systems were installed in Kyiv, so other cities of Ukraine are unprotected.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the UK is allegedly transferring fighter jets with military pilots to Ukraine. That is, they will lead the fighters, not the Ukrainian troops. The authors explain this by saying that Ukrainian pilots take a long time to learn, so they send “foreign mercenaries” to Ukraine. It is not true.

The VoxCheck project specialists took up this case and determined that the UK did not announce that it would provide fighters along with crews. That is, it is an invention of propagandists. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously announced that the British military would train Ukrainian fighter pilots. And already on May 15, 2023, the British government announced that it would begin training Ukrainian pilots in the summer. At the same time, Rishi Sunak explained that the UK does not plan to send fighter jets to Ukraine, it will only train the military. Consequently, the UK does not plan to transfer either fighters or crews to Ukraine.

By spreading this fake, the propagandists feed the narrative about the fight against the “collective event”. Allegedly, mercenaries sent by NATO are fighting on the side of Ukraine. Thus, the authors attribute their failures on the battlefield. Like, the whole world is fighting against them, and not just Ukraine.

Telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric distribute ads from the Ukrainian website OLX allegedly selling ambulances. The authors claim that the 92nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is engaged in the illegal sale of cars. They also add that the military first collects money for these vehicles, and then they resell them and thus earn money. That is, they are cashing in on the Ukrainians. Information about the collection for the brigade (and its results) is added to the publications and the cars are compared with the announcements on the OLX website. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project managed to analyze the case, explaining that the 92nd brigade does not sell ambulances that they received from fundraising. The brands and type of cars in the photo with the collection are different from those exhibited at OLX. Fact-checkers studied the social networks of volunteers who carry out meetings specifically for the 92nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The pages publish the call to the meeting, their results, etc. The cars that are in the posts with the collection and are sold on OLX are different. They differ in brand and appearance. Actually fact-checkers also investigated the OLX site for the sale of cars. They noted that the cars have civilian Ukrainian and European numbers. At the same time, vehicles registered with a military unit have black military numbers. This can be seen in the fundraising publications for the 92nd Brigade.

That is, the propagandists did not provide any evidence that the Ukrainian troops are reselling cars for which they used to raise funds. The authors used random ads from the OLX platform, although these vehicles have nothing to do with the 92nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say the Russians are successfully destroying Ukrainian hardware. They say that the technique of the Russians is of better quality and nothing will interfere with it. As an example, the authors write that on June 9, in the Donetsk region, a Russian army drone destroyed a Ukrainian tank without any problems. Video evidence is added to the publications. 

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up the case, explaining that on June 9, the Russians fired on a dummy tank. It was not a real tank, but a bait for the invaders. The officer of the 54th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Afanasiev posted a video of the consequences of the hit on his social media page. In the video, he said that until the last moment he did not believe that the Russian military would “fall for” the bait prepared by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The military can use such decoys to get the opponent to use a weapon for nothing. This is what the Ukrainian military wanted. In the end, it is impossible to say that the Russians do not destroy Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield, because this is more than possible during the course of the war.

However, propagandists deliberately exaggerate the importance of the “destroyed” equipment on the battlefield, thus hinting at the supposedly low combat capability of the Ukrainian army. Analysts of Detector Media have repeatedly explained cases in which propagandists allegedly claimed that the Russian army destroyed a certain amount of weapons. However, this turned out to be a lie.

Thus, the authors try to hide their own failures by masquerading as “effective destruction of weapons”. For example, we refuted a fake claiming that Russia “destroyed” five Patriot launchers.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukraine is using munitions unsuitable for combat. They say that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are sorely lacking weapons, so the military is using old weapons. The authors add that in this way the equipment will break down quickly, and nothing will resist Russian technology. They add to the publication a photograph allegedly from the Ukrainian composition of weapons.

The case was noticed by StopFake fact-checkers who found out that the thesis about the use of damaged weapons is unfounded. The propagandists did not provide evidence, since in fact the image is a warehouse of Russian weapons, which was recently found by the State Special Transport Service in the Kharkiv region. Suitable shells were given to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the damaged ones were disposed of. That is, the photo showed Russian weapons and the shells were indeed damaged. However, this does not apply to the Ukrainian army and their combat stock.

The propagandists reflected the situation and passed off Russian equipment as Ukrainian. The authors use the rhetoric about the use of damaged ammunition or equipment to convince the lack of decent combat capability in the Ukrainian army. Thus, it is propagandists’ wishful thinking, they say that Ukraine allegedly constantly loses.

The Russian segment, Facebook and media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock asked Ukraine not to call Leopard tanks German. Baerbock allegedly asked the media not to name the Leopard tanks destroyed in Ukraine as German. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. Annalena Baerbock did not ask the media not to call the Leopard tanks German. Experts have determined that open source searches in German, English and Russian lead to Russian propaganda sites and the Russian segment of social networks. Also, on the website of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs there are no texts with a similar request from Annalena Baerbock.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Germany and the assistance provided to Ukraine by Western partners. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Ukraine could join NATO if it gave up the territories occupied by Russia.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ukrainian military has begun to complain about Western equipment. Allegedly, it is not adapted for Ukraine, and in general it is because of it that Ukraine “experiences failures” in the counteroffensive. The authors refer to the material of The Wall Street Journal. This is manipulation. 

The fact-checkers of the Stop Fake project took up the case, and found out that the article does not talk about the Ukrainian military complaining about Western weapons, especially justifying the “unsuccessful counteroffensive”. Journalists from The Wall Street Journal interviewed several Ukrainian servicemen participating in the battles in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk directions. One of the fighters noted that, in his opinion, MaxxPro armored vehicles are not suitable for moving through swampy areas. And according to him, such cars hardly pass swampy areas. It was this phrase that the propagandists used and distorted the entire context of the quote. The military did not criticize or justify “failures” in the counteroffensive. He talked about the features of the operation of a particular technique. 

Thus, the authors once again promote false messages about broken or malfunctioning Western weapons. So, they want to show that the Ukrainian army is constantly losing and even innovative Western technology does not help.

This message is spread by Russian media and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The report says that “after several unsuccessful attempts to attack the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the shares of the German defense concern Rheinmetall went down sharply”. According to Russian propaganda, this happened after the mass destruction of Leopard 2 tanks produced by the concern by Russian troops. Ukraine seems to have become a testing ground for the “miracle technology”, which proved to be not the best. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. The German concern Rheinmetall AG is one of the largest manufacturers of military equipment in Germany and Europe. Together with the Krauss-Maffei concern, it also produces Leopard tanks, which are now supplying Ukraine. The group is now ramping up production and is not having a significant drop in shares or economic problems, as evidenced by the data from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. And the head of the German defense concern Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, said earlier that the Ukrainian military spoke very positively about the weapons provided.

By spreading this message, propagandists are once again trying to promote the message that Russian technology is effective and invincible, and that Ukraine is a testing ground for Western weapons. Russian propaganda is also trying to embroil Ukraine with its partners. Earlier, Detector Media explained the message that Western technology is stupid, it is unsuitable for use in Ukraine.

In Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, reports are circulating that Australia will transfer Hawkei armored vehicles with faulty brakes to Ukraine as part of a military aid package. Russian propaganda refers to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, which allegedly released an article about this. This is manipulation.

As fact-checkers of The Insider media note, in fact, the Australian newspaper reports that the obligation to supply armored vehicles to Ukraine has not yet been formally fixed, but an agreement has been reached. The aid package itself will be announced in July, during Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz's visit to the NATO summit in Lithuania. Australia has 1,100 Hawkeis equipped with the same US-Norwegian air defense system protecting the White House. However, the army opposed the transfer of these vehicles to Ukraine, referring to the fact that the vehicle has faulty brakes. Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryman believes this is a cop-out.

Also, the Australian military came up with another argument. They say that Ukraine will have to transfer so many spare parts that the entire Australian fleet of armored vehicles will become unusable. However, despite this, agreements were reached.

By spreading such manipulations, Russian propagandists are trying to show that the West does not want to support Ukraine in the war, does not believe in its victory, and therefore transfers broken equipment to it. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the Ukrainian military is unprofessional, so the United States is transferring tanks to Ukraine without secret equipment.

The Russian Defense Ministry and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric published a video captioned “destruction of foreign armored vehicles, including Leopard tanks”. They even suggest that they have attracted the Vykhor (whirlwind) anti-tank missile system (VTRK). It's fake.

OSINT community experts determined that the Russians fired from the Ka-52 not at Leopard 2 tanks, but at agricultural equipment - a sprayer and a combine. Later, the specialists of the Stratcom project of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed this.

Thus, propagandists are trying to convince the whole world of the effectiveness of Russian technology. It has no equal, and Western technology can be easily destroyed. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that the Russians “hit” the Leopard2A5 tank near Vuhledar.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that due to the constant Russian shelling, the occupiers managed to destroy many equipment and, in particular, a third of the annual production of missiles before the Patriot.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project worked on the case and found that such a thesis is unfounded. No one knows how many weapons were provided to Ukraine in order to talk about the exact amount of equipment destroyed. In total, there are more than 240 Patriot launchers in 19 countries of the world, thousands of missiles are produced for them with different characteristics and according to different needs. Different countries have different needs and the corresponding number of launch missiles. Such a number is not constant, which means that propagandists simply throw in false information.

The authors often speculate on the topic of Western weapons and exaggerate their achievements, saying that they destroyed a certain number of weapons. For example, earlier we refuted the fake that the Russians destroyed five Patriot launchers. We also explained the message that allegedly all Western equipment is poor, so it is unsuitable for use in Ukraine. Thus, the authors are only trying to convince everyone of the effectiveness of Russian technology. It seems that it has no equal, but all Western equipment can be easily destroyed. So, Moscow wants to create the appearance that Russian troops are constantly winning.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Western equipment supplied to Ukraine is completely poor. They say that equipment gets stuck in the fields and generally breaks down quickly. As proof, the authors cited a photo where the M2 Bradley BMP allegedly got stuck in the Ukrainian black soil. In the photo of the combat vehicle, one can see a white cross, allegedly proof that Ukrainian troops are using it. The authors also add that this is “a vivid demonstration” of how Western equipment is exploited in Ukraine. That is, they hint that all weapons and equipment quickly fail.

The specialists of the VoxCheck project took up this case, explaining that the white cross on the vehicle was added in a photo editor, and the photo shows the M2 Bradley in Baakub (Iraq) in 2006. That is, propagandists created a fake photo to confirm that “Western equipment cannot be used in Ukraine”. Of course, when using machinery on the field of battle, it can break or fail. However, propagandists exaggerate the significance of faulty equipment and explain this by its “absurdity”. Repairing equipment on the battlefield is quite understandable, because no one is protected from malfunctions. At the same time, propagandists want to prove that Russian technology is much better than Western technology, and it “does not break at all”.

By spreading this message, the authors seek to convince everyone of the effectiveness of Russian technology. It seems that it has no equal, but all Western equipment can be easily destroyed. Thus, the Russians want to create the appearance that the Russian troops are constantly winning. For example, we recently refuted a fake claiming that Russia “destroyed” five Patriot launchers.

Kremlin propaganda telegram channels are spreading the word that the US is handing over Abrams tanks to Ukraine without depleted uranium to keep it out of the Russians. Russian propaganda refers to a USA Today article, according to which Western partners allegedly believe that the Ukrainian military is unprofessional, therefore they remove secret equipment because they fear that the tanks will fall into the hands of the Russians. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Vox Check project drew attention to the case. The US is indeed removing secret equipment in case the Russians seize one of the vehicles and use it for reconnaissance. The transfer of equipment to Ukraine without unique armor made of uranium is no exception. Egypt, Thailand, Saudi Arabia or Iraq have already received such tanks. And with armor they were delivered to Poland and Australia. However, the USA Today article did not talk about the low assessment of the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In this way, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Western partners who give weapons to Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian military who are allegedly poorly fighting. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the Ukrainian military is massively complaining about equipment supplied by the United States.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. During rocket attacks on May 16 in Kyiv, the Russians managed to destroy five Patriot launchers, reports say. Like, with the help of one Kinzhal missile, the Russian army destroyed the entire Patriot complex. As evidence, the propagandists cite screenshots of the alleged sale of spare parts from the installation on one of the Ukrainian sites. It is not true.

The case was processed by StopFake project specialists, who, first of all, turned to the Patriot “spare parts” seller. He stated that he only assumes that these parts belong to the Patriot. In addition, the seller finds these and other parts in the open field and usually keeps them for their own collection or sells them on Internet auctions. As for the destruction of five launchers, this is also not true. First, on May 18, the Pentagon confirmed that the Patriot system was damaged (not destroyed) as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, but it has already been repaired. Secondly, the speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat, said that it is impossible to destroy the Patriot “in one blow”, since this is a division consisting of a command post, a radar, and also the launchers themselves (up to eight units). That is, neither the Pentagon nor the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the destruction of five Patriot launchers. However, damage was confirmed to one repaired installation.

Propagandists spread such fakes to convince everyone of the effectiveness of Russian technology. It seems that it has no equal, but all Western equipment can be easily destroyed. Thus, the Russians want to create the appearance that the Russian troops are constantly winning. For example, we recently refuted a fake that the Russians allegedly destroyed the first Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.

Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric reported on May 17 that approximately 10 explosions were heard in Odesa, there were “strikes at military facilities”. According to anonymous telegram channels, “the Russians realized that there was no good air defense in Odesa, they moved everything to Kyiv”, and therefore they are attacking this particular city.

However, such conclusions are unfounded. From May 17 to May 18, Russia launched 30  missiles, of which 29 were destroyed by air defense forces. This was stated by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, on the air of the United News telethon, the speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat, said that during today's missile strike over Odesa region, 8 missiles were shot down. This refutes the message that all air defense systems were installed in Kyiv.

Yurii Ihnat noted: “The capital is attacked most often, so this city, obviously, needs more protection”. He also added about “the eastern and northern regions – there is also a very serious vector of work and air defense is also working there. Therefore, we distribute our forces where it is most needed”.

By spreading such a message, Russian propaganda is trying to intimidate Ukrainians, arouse distrust in the authorities and split society. Like, the amount of air defense is not enough to close the whole of Ukraine, so the Ukrainian authorities determine “more and less important” areas.

This is not the first time propagandists have been spreading this message. Previously, it was promoted on the telegram channels of Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kharkiv regions. In October 2022, Detector Media talked about a message that air defense was taken from Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, and Kyiv and Dnipro were “excessively” protected because they were “more strategically important” for the authorities.

This message has been spreading in the Russian propaganda media and the Russian segment of Facebook. Russian propaganda cites comments under the publication of the British media Daily Mail and writes that “NATO will be bleeding” and that “the Challenger tanks donated by the UK are no match for the mighty Armatas”. This is manipulation.

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. Russian propaganda media cite a skeptical Daily Mail article. The publication ironically notes that Armata tanks are primarily used by Russian propaganda, and not on the battlefield. The article writes that the T-14 is heavier and larger than other tanks, has only a few dozen units, and commanders are unlikely to trust this vehicle on the battlefield. So far, Armata tanks have been seen mainly at military parades on Red Square.

As for the quotes of the commentators referred to in the propaganda, they do not represent the opinion of all Britons. Moreover, the large number of comments under the publication of the Daily Mail is ironic: people write about the Russian “wonder weapon” that does not exist. To create this manipulation, the Russian media used comments from the “Comments with the worst rating” tab. One can register on the site under a fictitious name, which means that it is impossible to identify the commentator. And the users who left comments are registered not only in the UK, but also in other countries - Hungary, the USA, Australia, etc.

Thus, propagandists are trying to convince the audience that Ukraine is losing the support of the West and will not be able to win the war with Russia and resist its “powerful” weapons. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that France allegedly admitted that the situation of the Ukrainian army is disappointing and it will not succeed in defeating Russia.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukraine has lost the first American Bradley infantry fighting vehicle in the Zaporizhzhia direction. As proof, the authors of the messages cite a photo of the destroyed IFV. It is not true.

The VoxCheck project specialists worked on the case, they determined that the photos were edited, and the author of the photo reported this himself. When anonymous telegrams circulated this photo, the author of the edited photo also said this. He acknowledged the fact of editing and explained that the image was created precisely so that Russian resources would “go” for it. In the photo editor, an infantry fighting vehicle was added to the image.

The Kremlin propaganda media spread information that Latvia allegedly gave all stocks of air-defense missile systems (ADMS) to Ukraine and allegedly “deprived itself of protection for the sake of the Kyiv regime”. Propaganda refers to the statement of the head of the Ministry of Defense of Latvia, Inara Murniece. This is manipulation.

 Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to it. To create it, Russian propaganda used only part of the statement of the Latvian Ministry of Defense Inara Murniece. During the Ramstein meeting, Murniece said that, at the request of Ukraine, Latvia “has decided to transfer all of its Stinger missile systems to a country that is fighting the Russian invasion”. She also said that Latvia will not remain defenseless, since the country has the Swedish RBS-70 jet systems.

Thus, propagandists are trying to convince the audience that Ukraine is draining the resources of other countries, reducing the help of Western partners. Earlier, Detector Media denied the manipulation that 58% of Americans allegedly oppose assistance to Ukraine.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric spread information that the Ukrainian military is allegedly complaining about the equipment that Western partners handed over to Ukraine. It is about the International M1224 MaxxPro MRAP armored car. Earlier, propagandists posted a video with this car and wrote that it was smashed “near Artemivsk”. It's fake.

The case was noticed by specialists from the StopFake project. They report that the Ukrainian military, on the contrary, has repeatedly written about the reliability of the M1224 MaxxPro MRAP, for example, the armored car withstood a hit from a grenade launcher. And even the most anonymous Russian telegram channels write that the Russian army should also be equipped with similar vehicles.

By spreading this fake, Russian propaganda continues to discredit Western partners that provide weapons to Ukraine. The propagandists want to show that this technique is outdated or expired. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that supposedly fascist crosses were depicted on Ukrainian armored vehicles.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say the Russians are destroying Abrams tanks en masse. Like, they are so poor quality that they “burn like matches”. In addition, the authors of the reports are convinced that “the unwise production of Abrams tanks from depleted uranium negatively affects both the military and future generations due to chemical poisoning of the population”. It is not true.

The experts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found that the US Army M1 Abrams battle tank has not yet been delivered to Ukraine and therefore cannot “burn like a match” during military operations against the Russian occupiers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive American tanks by the fall of 2023.

In addition, the thesis about the “danger of shells from depleted uranium” is untrue. Yes, pure uranium is a radioactive element, but not depleted. Some countries are armed with tanks with depleted uranium shells.

To put it simply, the projectile “does not emit” radiation and only threatens Russian tankers. Exposure to radioactive radiation from depleted uranium is insignificant.

We recall that earlier analysts of Detector Media refuted the fake about the alleged destruction of the first M1 Abrams tank near Soledar. We also refuted the destruction of another tank on the battlefield - Leopard. We explained the message in which we claimed that only the foreign legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine uses foreign equipment on the  battlefield.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say the Russians “hit” a Leopard2A5 tank with an RPG-76. As evidence, the authors of the messages add to the publication a photograph of an allegedly Russian military man who is aiming at a Leopard2A5 tank. At the same time, there is a patch with the flag of Russia on the military uniform. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated the case and found out that the photo actually depicts a Lebanese military and Israeli Merkava tank, and a patch with the Russian flag was added in a photo editor.

The fact checkers decided to find the real photo through a reverse image search using the TinEye tool. Among the results of the search is a publication on the Twitter of the Lebanese Armed Forces, from where the propagandists took the photo.

Earlier, analysts of Detector Media denied the fake, which said that the Russians allegedly destroyed the first Leopard tank on the battlefield.

In the Kremlin propaganda media, there were reports that the planes transferred to Ukraine by Poland and Slovakia are not effective in combat conditions. Like, this was recognized by the leadership of the Air Force of Ukraine. In their messages, propagandists refer to the words of the speaker of the Air Force, Yurii Ihnat, on the air of the Rada TV channel. Propaganda theses about the inefficiency of the aircraft appeared against the backdrop of news about the transfer of MIG-29 aircraft to Ukraine.

In fact, according to StopFake, the Russian media took out of context a quote from the representative of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat. He did not say that planes from Poland and Slovakia were ineffective. Ihnat said that these planes would help Ukraine on the battlefield while patrolling the airspace, covering strike groups of Ukrainian bombers and other cases.

However, by spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda seeks to create the appearance that Ukraine's partners let Ukraine down, because they are sending unnecessary weapons that allegedly will not help the Ukrainian army in any way.

Such information appeared in the Russian propaganda media. Reports say that the fact that Ukraine will not receive planes from abroad was allegedly announced by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Like, Ukraine is already desperate and there is no optimism that fighters from partners will still arrive. However, this is manipulation.

As StopFake analysts found out, propagandists distorted Dmytro Kuleba's commentary to the German publication Bild am Sonntag.

In fact, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine, on the contrary, has no doubt that it will receive fighter jets from allied countries. However, he added that the acquisition process could take a long time despite the work being done.

Propagandists use such manipulation to reassure the audience that Ukraine will not receive weapons from Western partners to fight Russia. They say that even Ukrainian officials do not believe in new deliveries, so there will definitely not be weapons. Thus, Russia creates the appearance that Ukraine is allegedly losing the support of the West and will soon be left without any help.

This thesis was spread on social networks and in the propaganda media. The reports say that the West did not provide the Armed Forces with the necessary amount of equipment to create full-fledged units. Like, the Ukrainian military has no weapons. The authors of the messages refer to the material of “Forbes”. This is a manipulation.

Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to this case, investigating that propagandists distorted the context of the material. As the fact-checkers explain, the Forbes article says that the lack of heavy equipment in some units is not a problem at all and is a “temporary state of affairs”. A military journalist explained in his material that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have enough other weapons. He gives the example that while heavy tanks have not arrived on the battlefield, the Ukrainian army already has “a bunch of other weapons, including lightly armored tanks”. That is, the military journalist did not say that there were “not enough weapons” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but on the contrary, he talked about the presence of “a bunch of other weapons”, at the same time he called the absence of heavy tanks a matter of time.

Propagandists systematically spread manipulations designed to discredit the West and allegedly show that the Western countries allegedly do not care about Ukraine, which will not be sent the promised weapons and so on. Thus, the authors of the messages discredit Western partners and undermine Ukrainians' confidence in the West.

Detector Media has repeatedly refuted fakes about Western weapons, for example, about the destruction of an American M1 Abrams tank near Soledar, which had not yet been handed over to Ukraine. He also denied the fake creation of Leopard 2 tanks with so-called “nuclear warheads” and explained the message that the West came up with a new deadly weapon called “tectonic weapons” to punish Turkey with an earthquake.

A photo of a German Leopard tank allegedly captured by the Russians with a Russian flag attached is circulating on social networks. Like, the tank went on the attack near Bakhmut, but got stuck in a swamp after a hundred meters. It is not true.

The spread of the fake was recorded by the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project. They found out that Russians used a photo published on one of the Dutch sites back in 2007 for this message. The Russian flag was added to it. There is no evidence that the Russians managed to capture a German tank.

After the decision to supply tanks to Ukraine, propagandists launched a campaign to discredit them, saying that they would not help on the battlefield, they would be burned right away. Also, the Russians have already spread fakes about the destruction of the first Leopard tank.

Messages are circulating on the net that the alleged number of tanks that Germany will transfer to Ukraine is not accidental. They are talking about 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks and 88 Leopard 1 tanks. Users claim that Nazi symbols were encrypted in these numbers: 88 - two eight letters of Latin (HH - Heil Hitler), 14 - the slogan of white racists from 14 words. This is manipulation.

The statement about encrypted characters in the number of tanks is a conspiracy theory. Moreover, finally Germany will transfer more tanks. First, the German government announced the supply of 14 Leopard 2 A6 battle tanks to Ukraine from the stocks of the Bundeswehr. According to VoxCheck fact-checkers, according to NATO standards, a tank company consists of 14 tanks. That is, this figure has nothing to do with Nazi symbols. Somewhat later, they announced the delivery of 88 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine. However, the German federal government finally approved the delivery of 178 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine.

Russian propaganda used the coincidence and came up with a “hidden meaning” in the number of tanks it plans to deliver to Ukraine. Thus, Russian propaganda not only nourished the narrative that Nazism reigns in Ukraine, but also tries to discredit military assistance to Ukraine from other states. Previously, propaganda spread fakes, as if the Ukrainian military were awarding “Nazi” awards and allegedly fascist crosses were depicted on Ukrainian armored vehicles.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, including telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The report says that the Russian military on the battlefield has already destroyed the first Leopard tank with the help of Russian equipment. The authors attach to the publication the testimonies of the so-called “foreign mercenaries” who were allowed to drive the tank. It is not true.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council explains that this statement is not true, since not a single Leopard is even on the battlefield yet. Accordingly, the testimonies of “foreign mercenaries” are also false.

By spreading this fake, propagandists want to distort reality and show that Ukraine is constantly losing and even powerful equipment does not help, because the Russians are successfully destroying it. In addition, Russian propaganda has repeatedly spread manipulations about so-called foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. Thus, propaganda wants to create an appearance that is actually at war not with Ukraine, but with the so-called collective West.

We recall that earlier Detector Media refuted the fake about the destruction of the American M1 Abrams tank near Soledar and explained the message in which they claimed that only the foreign legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine uses foreign equipment on the field of battle.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on Telegram broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that all operators of foreign weapons, such as the Challenger 2 tanks or the AS90 artillery mount, are “foreign mercenaries”. They say that Western countries do not trust Ukrainians and entrust their equipment on the battlefield only to foreigners. The authors of the reports note that the Ukrainian army is only engaged in “protecting equipment” and in some cases, according to them, “foreigners allow Ukrainians to steer”.

Such a thesis is unfounded, because the Ukrainian military use foreign weapons on their own. For example, recently a group of Ukrainian military arrived in the UK to train to use the AS90 self-propelled artillery mount. Earlier, the British government announced that it would transfer Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine for use. This indicates that the Ukrainian army and Ukrainians in particular are entrusted with the use of weapons. This is not the only case when the Ukrainian army is sent for training and taught to use foreign weapons.

As for the so-called “foreign mercenaries”, Russian propaganda replaces the concept and calls the foreign legion mercenaries. The Foreign Legion is legally part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the exact number of its members is not reported, like all other fighters. In theory, both the Ukrainian military and members of the foreign legion can use weapons. The ban does not apply to Ukrainians or the foreign legion, since they are all part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Accordingly, foreign countries, sending their weapons for use to Ukraine, give the Armed Forces of Ukraine the right to operate them.

Russian propaganda has repeatedly spread manipulations about so-called foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. The propagandists claimed that the military from the EU countries fought on the territory of Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion, or the number of foreigners in the Ukrainian army would soon exceed 50%. Thus, propaganda wants to create an appearance that is actually at war not with Ukraine, but with the so-called collective West.

Such a fake was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that against the backdrop of earthquakes that took place in Turkey, Volodymyr Zelenskyi turned to the victims with the goal of “pulling even more weapons”. Like, instead of compassion and words of support, Zelenskyi showed “hypocrisy” and demanded even more weapons. The authors of the messages add a likely screenshot from Twitter, where he allegedly wrote that “Turkey will be able to overcome the tragedy, and the supply of weapons will not stop”. It is not true.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and determined that Zelenskyi did not actually write such a thing, but a screenshot with a message was created using graphic editors. Analysts add that the official account first published an appeal in Turkish, and then in Ukrainian. The fake screenshot did not show the post in Turkish. Moreover, the fabricated nature of the screenshot is indicated by spelling errors, in particular the spelling of “my”.

By spreading such a fake, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Zelenskyi and present him as a beggar, as if the only thing he does is he begs for money and weapons from other countries.

We recall that Detector Media described the main messages that propagandists spread during Zelenskyi's visit to the UK, France and Belgium. In particular, among the many messages it was said that Volodymyr Zelenskyi was begging for weapons from the West.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says the US is unlikely to hand over the Abrams tanks to Ukraine because of their difficult process of maintaining combat capability. The authors of the report add that the Ukrainian army is not capable of repairing tanks, so they will definitely not be sent. As evidence, they refer to the material of the Financial Times, where supposedly experts talked about this. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found out that neither the author of the article nor the experts interviewed stated that the United States was not ready to transfer the tanks. On the contrary, the publication says that after long discussions and requests from Germany and Ukraine, America nevertheless decided to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which is equivalent to one Ukrainian tank battalion. The fact-checkers note that the reporters only cited experts interviewed by the Financial Times who expressed concern about whether Ukraine could actually handle the maintenance of the tank. That is, the context of the article was distorted and the authors used convenient propaganda theses to justify “the unwillingness of the United States to transfer tanks”.

By spreading such manipulation, propagandists are trying to convince that the Ukrainian military is not capable of using Western weapons, they say, they don’t even know how to repair them. Thus, they also want to promote the narrative about the combat-ready Russian technology, which has no equal in the world. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake story about the alleged destruction of the Abrams tank by the Russian army, which had not yet arrived in Ukraine.

Pro-Kremlin media disseminate information that, according to a poll, 94% of German citizens do not support the supply of tanks to Ukraine. However, allegedly contrary to public opinion and under pressure from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, they were forced to agree on the supply of German tanks to Ukraine. This is manipulation.

In fact, according to the results of a regular public opinion poll, 46% of Germans supported the delivery of tanks to Ukraine, 43% were against, and another 11% refrained from answering. In terms of party affiliation: 66% of the supporters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), 61% of the Greens and 49% of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) supported the transfer of tanks to Ukraine. Among the far-right Alternative for Germany party, 84% opposed the decision. It is their opinion, as the fact-checkers of Myth Detector note, that propagandists give out in the opinion of the Germans as a whole. However, in the elections in 2021, the party won the support of 10.3% of the vote. Therefore, such generalizations are incorrect. According to a poll conducted by Civey for Der Spiegel after the decision to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine, 54% of the population supported this decision.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages that the West does not want to help Ukraine with weapons, relying on non-authoritative sources of information or disfigured quotes. Thus, Russia is trying to undermine the authority of Ukraine at the international level, to show the weakness of the Ukrainian government. Propagandists continued to disseminate distorted opinion polls in Germany. They wrote that allegedly more than 70% of Germans are against increasing military assistance to Ukraine, or 40% of Germans are convinced that NATO provoked Russia into a war with Ukraine.

A video allegedly recorded in Berlin is being circulated on social networks. On the advertising screen on the wall of the building, a video is broadcast with a call not to provide tanks to Ukraine. The ads used images of 1943 and 2022 and the slogan “Maybe, never again?”. Social media users add that this is allegedly how the Germans are trying to remind their government about the events of the world war. It's fake.

The video was created with software. The author and date of the video is unknown. The fact-checkers of the Correctiv project have established that the screen is indeed located in Berlin. Its owners denied broadcasting such a video not only on a specific screen, but also on any other of their property.

Thus, Russian propaganda continues to oppose the supply of German tanks to Ukraine. Previously, fakes were spread about similar advertising at Stuttgart Airport. Russian propaganda also spread messages that Western tanks would not help Ukraine, the Russians would burn them down.

A network of telegram channels run by Russian intelligence is spreading the message that Poland is receiving huge sums of money for the repair of Ukrainian military equipment, and therefore is interested in continuing the war.

This is another Russian propaganda message about Poland, which seems to be the most interested party in the war. From the very beginning of the war, propaganda has been writing about Poland, which seems to be planning to divide Ukraine and annex or occupy the western part of Ukraine. Also, propaganda constantly promotes the message that Poland received a lot of cheap labor at the expense of Ukrainian refugees. Now propaganda is spreading the thesis that Poland seems to receive at least 10 billion dollars for the repair of Ukrainian military equipment. These figures are not supported by anything, but on January 29, The Wall Street Journal published an article about the repair of Ukrainian military equipment in Poland, which talked about a secret repair factory that restores artillery and armored vehicles. Poland will continue to repair damaged equipment, including American and European tanks, in the future, journalists write.

Poland is one of the most important partners of Ukraine, and Russian propaganda is constantly trying to present Poland as the aggressor or beneficiary of the war, once again trying to shift the responsibility for the invasion, in particular, to the United States and NATO countries.

Russian propaganda constantly lies about the “achievement” of its army, and therefore makes mistakes. This time, as TSN drew attention, the speaker of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ihor Konashenkov, “reported” that the Russian army destroyed four Bradley infantry fighting vehicles manufactured by the United States. It's fake.

In fact, these machines have not yet been delivered to Ukraine, and only on January 16 it became known that the Ukrainian military began to learn how to operate them at training grounds in Germany.

We recall that earlier Russian propaganda constantly reported on the destruction of Haimars complexes and Bayraktar drones. If we calculate how much propaganda “destroyed” these complexes and UAVs in Ukraine, it turns out that the Russians shot down and destroyed several times more devices and complexes than they were in Ukraine at all.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this after the message of Polish President Andrzej Duda about the transfer of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Propagandists write that this will not affect the front in any way. They say that these tanks will not provide Ukraine with a decisive advantage. It seems to be just a demonstration of support for Ukraine.

In fact, in this way, Russian propaganda is trying to be proactive and use the tactics of depreciation after any reports of providing new weapons to Ukraine. The same messages are now being extended to the Patriot air defense system, which the United States plans to transfer. Like, one installation will not cope with so many Russian missiles, so there will be no significant changes.

The Russian media are spreading the information that NATO is “delivering scrap metal”, that is, old, ineffective weapons to Ukraine, in order to “clean out warehouses” and “recycle old trash”. This message earlier appeared on Russian telegram channels, but this time it has a specific source - the Polish website Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny. But this is a site that was created for the dissemination of Russian propaganda, and has nothing to do with journalism.

As the journalists of the Polish True Story portal found out, most of the publications were copied from other portals. Thus, the impression of a full-fledged media is formed. The few original materials are undisguised Russian propaganda and lies. For example, it was this publication that published fabricated statements by American generals that the Poles were drunkards, drug addicts, and thieves. Most of the texts are written in poor Polish, full of Russianisms, impossible linguistic constructions occur in the texts. According to True Story, this is the result of an unsuccessful machine translation. The editor of the publication, Adam Kaminsky, is a non-existent person. The photo posted on his Twitter and Facebook accounts (both now deleted) is actually a portrait of Lithuanian traumatologist Andrius Zukauskas. Also, real Polish journalists did not find anyone who personally knows the authors of the original articles Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny.

All this proves that Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny is another fake site created solely to spread propaganda messages beneficial to Russia.

Interestingly, almost simultaneously with the message about the “scrap metal” supplied by the West to Ukraine, Russian propaganda is also spreading another one: “Ukraine has become a testing ground for testing the latest technologies and weapons”. This is one of the features of Russian propaganda: not so much to promote some kind of alternative version of reality, but to distribute as many fictional versions as possible so that the audience simply gets confused and stops trying to find the truth or facts.

And they are like this: the West supplies Ukraine with old Soviet-style weapons, which were mainly armed with the Ukrainian army, and new, modern equipment. The first is getting smaller, the second is getting bigger. And this happens for understandable and obvious reasons: the Ukrainian military knew how to fight with Soviet weapons, and therefore they were supplied by countries that still had their stocks. Now there is less and less of it, and more and more Ukrainian soldiers are learning how to use modern Western weapons, while Europe and the United States are supplying more and more of it.

Photos of new Russian tanks, which are placed in a special hangar, are being circulated on social networks. In the comments to the photo, they scoff, saying that “Russia has run out of tanks” and praise the military might of Russia.

However, this photo is old. It was made in October 2012 during Volodymyr Putin's visit to the “Uralvagonzavod”, an enterprise for the repair of military vehicles and the production of military tanks, located in Nizhnyi Tagil. Fact-checkers of the Delfi project found the original source of the image - an article by the Russian portal “Kommersant”, its author is Dmytro Azarov, the photographer of this publication. The photo has nothing to do with current events and does not reflect the real state of affairs with the equipment of the Russian army.

On January 31, during a massive rocket attack on Ukraine, anonymous telegram channels spread the message that the Ukrainian authorities were hiding the truth about the number of Russian missiles. Allegedly, government officials downplay the number of Russian missiles fired at Ukraine and reassure people that Russia will soon run out of missile stocks.

Like, the reality is completely different, and this evidence is a photograph of the sky over the Russian city of Astrakhan, covered with traces of launched missiles.

In fact, neither the Ukrainian authorities nor the Department of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hide the number of missiles that Russia fired at Ukraine, nor are they silent about the consequences of the hits and the results of the work of the Ukrainian air defense forces.

In the Ukrainian information space, a photograph of the sky with traces of launched Russian missiles was distributed by the Strategic Communications Department of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “The sky in Astrakhan. Traces of “gifts” from the invaders who launched them in the direction of Ukraine. The bastards won't calm down”.

Russian propagandists spread such messages in order to intimidate Ukrainians and cause distrust in the authorities.

The holiday is coming and the fakes invented by Russian propaganda are becoming more and more like fairy tales. The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector edition recorded the distribution of a photo collage in Russian telegram channels, where Volodymyr Zelenskyi is supposedly sitting on Santa Claus’s lap and “asking him for another 50 billion dollars”. It's fake.

It was created by the American fictional satirical news outlet Babylon Bee. Today, on the front page of this publication is the news that Max will remain in the position of CEO of Twitter, if they count the votes received by mail. Also, that Cain killed Abel in the field, and not at home, so that the elf on the mantelpiece would not see this. Obviously, the news about Zelenskyi was about US President Joseph Biden signing a budget for next year, in which $ 45 billion is allocated to help Ukraine and its allies. This year, financial assistance to Ukraine amounted to $ 28 billion - and this does not include the cost of weapons transferred by partners of the Ukrainian army.

A network of telegram channels, led by Russian intelligence, is spreading the following message: it seems that the United States has volunteered to provide Ukraine with air defense, including Patriot systems, in order to prolong the war in Ukraine. It seems that this is being done so that the United States continues to earn on the supply of weapons and to continue the effect of sanctions in order to weaken the European economy.

This is another invention of Russian propaganda. Ukraine has repeatedly turned to European partners, the United States and Israel, to get modern air defense systems, especially after Russia launched massive rocket attacks on energy infrastructure. Israel refused Ukraine. Germany, after two rockets fell on the territory of Poland and two people died, offered its own “Patriots” to Poland, but Poland made a different proposal: to send the complexes to Ukraine. Finally, Germany refused after a lot of consultation and evasion. But now these complexes have been agreed to be supplied to Ukraine by the United States. America is doing this precisely on the persistent appeals of Ukraine, which wants to get the Patriot complex in order to better protect both the population and the military.

The thesis about the “prolongation” of the war is also one of the common messages of Russian propaganda, which first threatened to “seize” Ukraine in two weeks, and then came up with “the prolongation of the war by the United States” to explain its own defeats at the front.

The war has led to many consequences, including an energy crisis, and is not beneficial to Ukraine, the US, the EU, or Russia itself, which can stop it at any moment. And it is Russia that is responsible for protracting this war.

The US provides Patriot complexes to prolong the war in Ukraine.

A network of telegram channels, led by Russian intelligence, is spreading the following message: it seems that the United States has volunteered to provide Ukraine with air defense, including Patriot systems, in order to prolong the war in Ukraine. It seems that this is being done so that the United States continues to earn on the supply of weapons and to continue the effect of sanctions in order to weaken the European economy.

This is another invention of Russian propaganda. Ukraine has repeatedly turned to European partners, the United States and Israel, to get modern air defense systems, especially after Russia launched massive rocket attacks on energy infrastructure. Israel refused Ukraine. Germany, after two rockets fell on the territory of Poland and two people died, offered its own “Patriots” to Poland, but Poland made a different proposal: to send the complexes to Ukraine. Finally, Germany refused after a lot of consultation and evasion. But now these complexes have been agreed to be supplied to Ukraine by the United States. America is doing this precisely on the persistent appeals of Ukraine, which wants to get the Patriot complex in order to better protect both the population and the military.

The thesis about the “prolongation” of the war is also one of the common messages of Russian propaganda, which first threatened to “seize” Ukraine in two weeks, and then came up with “the prolongation of the war by the United States” to explain its own defeats at the front.

The war has led to many consequences, including an energy crisis, and is not beneficial to Ukraine, the US, the EU, or Russia itself, which can stop it at any moment. And it is Russia that is responsible for protracting this war.

On social networks and through pro-Russian telegram channels, a video with a powerful explosion is being distributed. The comments note that these are footage of the alleged detonation of the ODAB-500P volumetric detonating (vacuum) air bomb dropped by the Russian Su-34 bomber on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is not true. The video has nothing to do with Ukraine. According to StopFake, it was probably filmed in Syria. This video has been circulating online since at least December 2019, that is, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, it was the Russian media that published these footage in 2019 and, with the help of military experts, found out whether the explosion of a vacuum bomb was actually recorded on the video, or, perhaps, it was the use of other weapons. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to demoralize Ukrainians with its "advantages" in armament and "victories" at the front. Previously, Russian propaganda passed off footage from a video game as the “destruction” of a Ukrainian tank division. 

After the surrender of Kherson, Russian propagandists launched theses on social networks that victory for Russia was inevitable. On November 12, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmytro Medvediev made a statement in confirmation. They say that Russia has so far allegedly not used its "arsenal of means of destruction" and "did not strike at all possible hostile targets located in populated areas", including because of the "human kindness" characteristic of Russians.

Such information is disseminated in social networks. The authors of the publications allegedly refer to a survey conducted for the German TV program ARD-Deutschland Trend. Russian media write that the Germans rebelled against the increase in military assistance to Ukraine. This is manipulation.

As StopFake writes, the German company Infratest Dimap really conducted a survey commissioned by the German TV program ARD-Deutschland Trend. Such surveys are carried out systematically. This time, 1,307 Germans with the right to vote expressed their opinion. The survey was conducted over the phone or online from 31 October to 2 November. The question on the supply of weapons to Ukraine sounded like this: “Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. Germany reacted to this with different steps. Please indicate below in each case whether they are appropriate, excessive or insufficient (…) regarding German arms support for Ukraine?”. That is, in this case, they estimated the number of weapons, and did not investigate issues of support.

A total of 41% of Germans consider the volume of military assistance sufficient, which is 2% more than in August this year. 30% of Germans consider excessive deliveries of weapons - this is 2% less compared to August. 21% called aid to Ukraine insufficient, which is also 2% less than two months ago. The remaining 8% probably found it difficult to answer.

A fake is spreading in the Ukrainian segment of social networks that dozens of small explosive devices have been found in Lviv that can tear off a person’s limb. One of these pictures was shared almost 65,000 times.

In fact, as fact-checkers from StopFake write, no explosive devices were found in Lviv, this information was provided to journalists upon request by the Lviv police. It is interesting that the photo with the same subject is also distributed by Russian local media, in particular in Rostov. Most likely in the photo it is a broken electronic disposable cigarette without a case.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that volunteers have announced another “muddy collection” for British Spartan armored personnel carriers. It seems that the purpose of raising funds is not the purchase of armored personnel carriers for the Ukrainian army, but the desire for profit. Like, Serhii Prytula announced that it is necessary to collect 200 million hryvnia for 50 cars, but in fact they will cost about 58 million. This is not true.

Detector Media received a comment from the Prytula’s Fund regarding car purchases. As the volunteers explained, Spartan armored personnel carriers will be bought from warehouses in the UK. The need to purchase was agreed with the military command. The choice was influenced by several factors: technical condition, price, sufficient quantity in warehouses and logistics. The Fund also explained that the amount of the fee, in addition to the cost of the armored personnel carriers themselves, includes their pre-sale preparation, transportation, and customs clearance. Also, the amount of the fee includes the training of the Ukrainian military by British instructors.

Russian propaganda is systematically trying to discredit the work of Ukrainian volunteers. Earlier, propagandists wrote that Ukrainian volunteers “cynically collect money” during Russian attacks and tried to convince them that it makes no sense to donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and help volunteers.

Anonymous GRU-controlled telegram channels are spreading an article by the Italian publication Il Messaggero to prove that Western Europe is gradually withdrawing support for Ukraine and cutting off the supply of weapons. In fact, the article is titled “Rome freezes order for new weapons for Kyiv. But the support of Ukraine remains”, it is not said that Italy refuses to supply weapons to Ukraine. But only that Italy is waiting for the visit of NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg to coordinate plans for the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The visit of the head of NATO will take place in the coming days. In addition, the article says that the air defense systems requested by President Zelenskyi are few in Italy, and therefore the delivery of these systems is being postponed for the time being. Russian telegram channels insist that the "supply of weapons" is stopped because they are allegedly smuggled into the EU and the Middle East, where they fall into the hands of criminals. All of them have recently referred to an article in a Finnish publication, which claimed that law enforcement officers from several Scandinavian countries found weapons from Ukraine in local gangs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine requested such data from law enforcement officers in Finland - and they did not find any evidence of what was said in the article. Russia has been trying to discredit Ukraine in order to reduce the number of weapons provided by partner countries from the first days of the war. To do this, it systematically invents fakes and manipulates.

Such information is disseminated by pro-Russian information resources. They say that sanction restrictions do not prevent sales of cartridge products in the United States and do not have a significant impact on the work of the enterprise. This is manipulation. The posts cite the company's explanations for the 2021 income statement. In fact, the sanctions against the Tula plant have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, since they were imposed as a US reaction to the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Oleksii Navalnyi with the Novichok nerve agent. The sanctions limit the conclusion of new contracts for the supply of weapons and ammunition from Russia. However, the sanctions did not affect previously concluded contracts, and therefore it was possible to continue their implementation. Over the period from September 2021 to March 2022, the volume of cartridge imports from Russia to the United States did not really decrease. However, in April 2022, the US government made a legislative decision to stop the usual trade relations with Russia. From April 2022, the duty on the import of cartridges from Russia to the United States is 30-45%. In April-June, the import of Russian cartridges decreased by 88% compared to the previous quarter. In June, the US President set a fixed duty rate for Russian products at 35%. Given that almost half of the products of the Tula Cartridge Plant are systematically exported, the company is now suffering from the loss of one of its main sales markets. In July, out of 1,397 workers, the plant transferred 530 workers to downtime with the payment of two-thirds of their wages, and another 337 workers quit. Thus, Russia is trying to promote disinformation messages that sanctions are not hurting the Russian economy and the West is still secretly trading with Russia despite the sanctions. More details.

 Such information appeared in the pro-Kremlin media. Messages began to spread after Volodymyr Putin in his "Valdai speech" said that Ukraine was creating a "dirty bomb" and Russia even knew "roughly where this is being done". Propagandists claim that Kyiv, on the basis of the projectile of the Tochka-U missile system, made a dummy of the Iskander missile for a provocation with a dirty bomb over the exclusion zone of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Like, the layout was made by Pivdenmash specialists, and the main cassette part of the dummy is pushed with radioactive material, and then shot down in the Chernobyl area in order to shock the world and accuse Russia of using nuclear weapons. However, this is not true. According to The Insider's fact-checkers, the so-called mock-up shown by the Russian media is fake. “Despite the similar outlines, Tochka-U and Iskander missiles have different sizes. The diameter of the Iskander is 920 mm, and the Tochka-U is 650 mm, almost one and a half times smaller. It is impossible to create a model of the Iskander based on Tochka-U, except perhaps a smaller copy, which is unlikely to convince international experts. And the scenario in which a rocket allegedly launched by Russian troops with a radioactive filling explodes over the Chornobyl exclusion zone, that is, a practically deserted territory where the harm done to Ukraine will be minimal, does not look very plausible,” the fact checkers write. This is not the first time Russia has claimed that Ukraine is going to use a dirty nuclear bomb to blame Russia for it. Read more about this in the text of Hala Skliarevska.

Russian and some Ukrainian media reported this regarding the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, interview for Politico.

Russia allegedly understood that the Ukrainian authorities consider their country a "testing ground" for Western weapons, so they warned the world about the danger of using a "dirty bomb." In fact, in an interview, Reznikov talked about the prospects of supplying Ukraine with new weapons from allied countries. And also about the fact that the use of Western weapons by the Ukrainian Armed Forces helps push Russian troops out of Ukraine.

The minister called on the partners to test their weapons on the battlefield against the Russian occupiers and ensure the weapons' effectiveness in combat. "We have a combat test site in Ukraine during this war. I think all countries see how we use these systems. You are aware that we have eight different 155 mm artillery systems in use on the battlefield. So it's like a competition between systems," Reznikov said.

The Russian media took this quote out of context and spread a fake in the spirit of "turning Ukraine into a Western training ground" and a "colony of the collective West." Ukraine allegedly lost its independence while receiving military aid from international partners. Russia, having initiated a full-scale war against Ukraine, wants to destroy our country as a state and uses Ukrainian territory as a training ground for prohibited Russian weapons. More details.

This news was written by the Finnish publication Yle concerning an interview with the senior commissioner of the National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi), Christer Algren.

The journalist claimed that the official was talking about the availability of data in the criminal police of Finland regarding the probability of weapons intended for the Ukrainian military getting to criminal groups in this country.

The material states that this firearm is already in Finland and was allegedly found in other Scandinavian countries. The Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that there is a reason to believe that the information presented in the article "was a little made up by the journalist and didn't coincide with the words of the police representative who was interviewed."

Moreover, representatives of law enforcement agencies from other countries confirmed the lack of information about a similar channel for illegally transferring weapons from Ukraine. The Finnish commissioner, in this interview, says that the investigation is ongoing and doesn't cite any evidence, only speculation.

However, based on his words, the publication spreads the Russian narrative that the weapons provided by international partners to the Ukrainian military end up with criminals in Europe.

Propagandists regularly throw such theses into social media to sow distrust in the Ukrainian army at the international level and reduce or even stop the support of Western partners.

This information was spread by the Russian Kremlin mass media and anonymous pro-Russian Telegram channels. The Pentagon allegedly told Kyiv that HIMARS is no longer available for Ukraine." Propagandists draw such conclusions based on an article in The New Yorker. However, it isn't true. As StopFake writes, in fact, the US Ministry of Defense has officially announced that it will deliver 18 HIMARS MLRS to Ukraine as part of the following package. The New Yorker's source in the Pentagon assured Ukraine would receive "more weapons of greater complexity and on a larger scale."

The Russian media write that the Ukrainians are allegedly powerless against Russian high-precision weapons, so we invent "victories." The reports say that allegedly at the weapons exhibition in Poltava, the tour guide said that the X-55 cruise missile can be neutralized with the help of a shout. Then it will seem to explode in the air. "If a cruise missile flew towards you, you didn't scream well," Russian media write. However, it is manipulation. The Russian media reports that the weapons exhibition is a project of Ukrainian artists. In fact, there were no real weapons in the exhibits.

As Suspilne writes, the "Decontamination" project aims to allow visitors to overcome their fear and artists to film the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 3D models of the destroyed equipment were created to implement this idea, which can be seen using virtual reality glasses.

Among other things, models of sugar tanks and a model of a nine-story building in Borodyanka were presented at the exhibition. One of the exhibits was a real-sized model of the Kh-55 missile. According to the idea of ​​the authors, its flight can be leveled with the help of a strong sound. A person shouts at this rocket, and it stops working and explodes at best. It was this explanation that propagandists used to create "news."

In this way, propagandists try to present Ukrainians as inferior, hide the true effectiveness of the Ukrainian air defense system, and make fun of rockets hitting the civilian population.

The Russian media write about this concerning the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmytro Peskov. The aid allegedly won't change the goals of the so-called "special operation" and its final result but will only prolong the "conflict" and make it more painful for Ukrainians.

Propagandists have been spreading this message periodically since the beginning of the great war after reports of new weapons supplies to Ukraine. In this way, they are trying to discredit the supply of air defense systems for the protection of the civilian population of Ukraine, which the Western partners reported after the massive missile attacks on October 10-11. As the Center for Combating Disinformation writes, the supply of air defense systems will nullify one of Russia's biggest trump cards — missile attacks.

Previously propagandists wrote that the Ukrainian military refuses to use "Bayraktary" to discredit Western weapons. Supposedly, Ukraine will no longer receive American HIMARS MLRS and their missiles. France is complicit in "crimes" against the civilian population, as Ukraine fires at Donbas from French self-propelled guns, "Caesar," etc.

Such information is spread by the Russian mass media and users on social networks.

At dawn on October 6, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the territory of the Shepetiv district of the Khmelnytskyi region. As the head of the regional military administration, Serhiy Gamalii, reported, one rocket fell next to an infrastructure object, and the other fell on a cemetery. There were no casualties or injuries as a result of the missile strike. Partially damaged residential buildings and farm buildings.

Every time after launching missiles over Ukraine, the Russians "report" that they hit the target and allegedly destroyed yet another factory or warehouse with Western weapons, or premises where mercenaries were located. Russian propaganda needs such messages to "wash its hands" of shelling civilian objects and to claim its pretended success.

Military correspondent Andriy Tsaplienko discovered a staged video, which the Russians filmed as a video report on the pretended "victory".

He shared footage from a reconnaissance drone that showed strange containers in the trench.

Later, it turned out that the Russians had placed containers in the trench in the Kherson region, which turned out to be warheads of marine anti-landing anchor mines.

After that, a Russian tank allegedly destroys a warehouse of Ukrainian ammunition with one shot. The Russian occupiers don`t know how else to raise their fighting spirit, except for staged videos about their successes.

This message follows from the publications of pro-Russian bloggers. They say that the need for an offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine followed from discussions about the supply of weapons to Ukraine in order to demonstrate to the allies that they should give even more weapons, even despite the depletion of their own stocks.

According to bloggers, we can talk about fighters, tanks and long-range ATACMS missiles capable of hitting targets in Russia. For this, according to the authors of the reports, shortly before the counteroffensive, an article was published by Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, which deals with the possible spread of hostilities to other territories.

However, the supply of weapons to Ukraine began long before the counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, and the results of its use, in particular, could be seen in the Black Sea and the sinking of the Moskva cruiser. Also, the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of course, is not a demonstration of the capabilities of Ukraine, but, above all, an operation to liberate the territories occupied by the enemy, and it was planned from this point of view. According to its results, we recall that more than 2 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory were freed.

The appearance of such messages is a way for pro-Russian bloggers to somehow explain the defeat of Russia on the battlefield and the loss of initiative in this direction, as well as an attempt to kill the wedge between Ukraine and the allies.

The Russian media once again distorted in their own way the content of an article in the American edition of The American Conservative. They write that, according to an article titled “Winners and Losers in the Ukraine War” by founding editor Patrick J. Buchanan, America is responsible for the escalation in Eastern Europe when a number of countries were accepted into NATO, as well as for the confrontation in Ukraine. StopFake writes about this manipulation.

In the original article, there is not a word about the recognition of the fallacy of American assistance to Ukraine. In his material, Buchanan reflects on who can be considered the winner and who will be the loser in the war in Ukraine. He further writes that a new Cold War has been established between the US and Russia and raises the question of whether it is in the interests of the US and how successful foreign policy was then if the Cold War began again.

The Russian media once again used quotes from the text of a foreign publication in order to fit them to their key messages. The text does not say that the United States regrets the support provided to Ukraine, and the only quote given by the propagandists is inaccurate.

This is not the first time that the Russian media have distorted the content of what was written in order to demonstrate the decline in support for Ukraine by Western partners and the United States in particular. Thus, they personify the propaganda cliché about the lack of unity of the Western countries in relation to Ukraine and the war that Russia unleashed.

Russian propagandists decided not to deny the activity and victories of the Ukrainian army in several directions at once, as they could do before. This time they came up with an excuse and circulated it in anonymous telegram channels. It seems that US Secretary of State Blinken, during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Kyiv, made him understand that "it will not work to divide the EU countries into new tranches until there is at least some success (albeit temporary)".

At the same time, the Russians are not worried that these new tranches will be used against them. They promote the thesis that foreign weapons end up on the black market, and it is easier to write them off during a counteroffensive. And they reassure themselves that, they say, a counteroffensive is no longer beneficial for Ukraine, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered heavy losses in the Kharkiv direction.

Thus, they are trying to downplay the success of the Ukrainian military, to attribute the idea of ​​a counteroffensive to the United States or the EU, remembering that the battles were commanded by foreign mercenaries.

This is a typical Russian tactic - instead of voluntarily liberating Ukrainian cities and villages, they are dying on foreign soil, for no one knows why, and they blame the United States and the West for this.

Such news is spreading through the Kremlin telegram channels. Reports say that a tank set of Italian Leopard 2A4 was overturned in the Kherson direction. However, this is not true. Italy and Ukraine do not have such tanks in service.

According to the StopFake fact checkers, the Italian army has got other tanks, namely the Ariete. As of September 2022, Ukraine has not received Leopard tanks from its partners. At the same time, Germany did not make a decision to start production of these tanks for Ukraine.

The propagandists constantly changed their thesis in relation to the supplying country, since the non-existent “Italian Leopard 2A4” and then the “Italian Leopard 2A6” on the battlefield near Kherson were replaced by the “Spanish Leopard 2A4”. This is also a lie because Spain has not used them for a long time as tanks are in a terrible position.

By spreading this news and constantly changing it, propagandists seek to justify the losses and defeats that the enemy army faced in the context of the Ukrainian army's counteroffensive in the south.

As the Center for Counteracting Disinformation writes, Russian propagandists circulated almost identical theses in content, expressed by former CIA officer Andrew Bustamante and Russian State Duma deputy from the temporarily occupied Sevastopol Dmytriy Belik. Bustamante said it's critical for Americans to protest their latest weapons in combat, and in Ukraine, that doesn't mean risking their own military. Bustamante also believes that Putin is winning the "conflict" despite the sanctions. Belik believes that in this way the United States is trying to test the combat effectiveness of the Russian army.

The specialists of the Center believe that the dissemination of these messages is the result of the recognition by the Ukrainian military of the coordination of possible targets in the use of American MLRS HIMARS and their combat effectiveness.

Russia has been systematically spreading the message that “Ukraine is being used as a weapons testing ground” to discredit Western military aid. Propagandists recently said that Germany is using Ukraine to test weapons. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz allegedly let slip about this.

Russian media are spreading such news with reference to US Department of Defense spokesman Colin Kohl. It is not true.

The Russians again distorted the words of the American official, in fact, Colin Cole did not say this. According to StopFake, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Kohl noted during a briefing that the United States will continue to help Ukraine resist Russia's unjustified invasion. He also said that the assistance will take into account the actual needs of the Ukrainian army in the battlefield. Answering a question about future deliveries of HIMARS to Ukraine, Kol noted that the Ukrainians are doing a good job with the number of systems that the Americans and other countries have already provided. Now, according to the official, the priority is to provide the Ukrainians with enough ammunition to keep them fighting. There are no any questions about termination of deliveries of HIMARS systems to Ukraine. Allies of Ukraine only note that their number is now assessed as sufficient, and ammunition for them is a priority.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia disseminates such information on social networks. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional council, Mykola Lukashuk, assures: "Of course, the church never had and does not have any RSZV (reactive salvo fire systems). The Russians once again prove that the Russian Federation is a terrorist country that always spreads lies to justify its crimes. We will never understand it. But you don't have to understand - you have to win and rebuild the state."

This is reported by anonymous Telegram channels. Allegedly, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accidentally said that Ukraine is being used as a testing ground for new weapons. It is not true.

In an interview with the Canadian edition of The Globe and Mail, Olaf Scholz said that Ukraine was given some weapons systems that the Bundeswehr does not have. However, Scholz did not call the transferred weapons experimental and did not talk about the fact that they are being tested in Ukraine. He also said that German specialists teach Ukrainians how to use this equipment correctly.

This is stated in the film Arming Ukraine on the American TV channel CBS News. It was announced by the pro-Kremlin media, and in Ukraine, it was published by the website "Strana". The film says that the US loses control over military weapons after crossing the border, that only 30-40% of supplies from the West reach the front, and the rest goes to the "black market". That is why a system of weapons supervision should be created.

Rustem Klupov, a veteran of military intelligence, a participant in the First Chechen War, and a Hero of Russia, said this on a pro-Kremlin show on the Telegram channel.

According to him, the Russian army destroyed a lot of ammunition for this system, and the missiles’ deliveries are carried out by Ukrainian public transport, in particular in buses and trams.

Recently, the USA announced new military aid for Ukraine - the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive four HIMARS rocket launchers and other military equipment.

These modern rocket launcher systems are actively used by the Armed Forces, and this brings military victories. HIMARS proved so effective that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered commanders to make their destruction a priority. Thus, Russian propagandists regularly launch fakes about the alleged HIMARS destruction. Earlier, they reported the fake destruction of two, then another, then six more HIMARS installations, and also gave burnt straw for the destroyed missiles for these installations.

 Anonymous Telegram channels write about this with reference to The Guardian article. Allegedly, the Western publication "without mincing words" describes "all the weakness of the remnants of the Ukrainian army." Like, the Western military is trying to teach Ukrainians at least something. This is manipulation.

Ed Rahm's article for The Guardian makes no mention of "anti-Russia". Messages that the West wanted to create an "anti-Russia" out of Ukraine are spread exclusively by Russian propagandists. The article is devoted to the story of how a "Mozart Group", volunteers, former foreign soldiers, conducted training for the Ukrainian military in the use of Western weapons. Ed Rahm is indeed talking about separate problems regarding financial support and insufficient training of Ukrainians. However, the article talks about this not as the "weakness of the remnants of the army", but in the context of the fact that people from various professions joined the army and stood up to defend their country. The author notes that only every tenth of the current defenders was a soldier before this war, but due to Russian aggression, they had no other choice but and took up arms. Speaking to the journalist, foreign instructors say that Ukrainian troops lack experience, but they make up for it with enthusiasm and determination. They respect the Ukrainian military, who, despite the circumstances, study, train, and do not lose their sense of humor. Russians systematically use out-of-context and distorted quotes from Western media to spread manipulative messages. 

This is reported by Russian propagandists and anonymous Telegram channels. Allegedly, the "military formations" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are located on the roof of the Odesa Theater of Musical Comedy, and heavy weapons and armored vehicles are located on the territory of the University. It is not true.

Both institutions denied the reports of Russian propagandists. Administration of Odesa Academic Theater of Musical Comedy named after Vodianyi called the message "an insolent and cynical fake of the occupiers". The Rector of Odesa State Environmental University, Serhiy Stepanenko, invited all interested parties to a field trip to the training ground, where training meteorological stations are located for the practical training of meteorology students.

Russian media are manipulating about the transfer of T-72 "third generation" tanks to Ukraine, Insider writes. They said that they are transferring scrapped equipment from the 70s to Ukraine.

The T-72 tank was developed in the USSR in the 1970s, but it has undergone at least 14 modifications that are still relevant today. Modified T-72s are still in service in more than 40 countries of the world (among them Serbia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, Uzbekistan, Syria, and others).

North Macedonia announced plans to dispose of its 31 T-72 tanks but linked it not to their unsuitability, but the transition to NATO standards. Ammunition for the main armament of the T-72 — 125 mm guns — is not produced in NATO countries. 

Pro-Kremlin media and social networks spread information, citing the representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, that the military and space forces destroyed "more than a hundred rockets to the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system" in Lyubimovka, Dnipropetrovsk region. Allegedly, as a result of the attack, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost about 120 soldiers, and that the Russians killed "foreign mercenaries and technical specialists". "However, the strike was carried out on the agricultural enterprise hangars, in which at that time, more than 800 tons of straw were stored (according to Konashenkov, it would be possible to make from it about 100 missiles for HIMARS). In addition, one child (obviously a foreign mercenary) was injured," a fake exposed journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk.

The Russian media spread the statement of the head of the National Defense Management Center, Colonel-General Mykhailo Mizintsev, about the stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at school No. 23 (Yavornytskyi Avenue) in Dnipro. However, "artillery and armored vehicles were placed near the educational institution." It is not true.

The address of school No. 23 in the city of Dnipro is Dmytro Yavornytskyi Avenue, 14. The Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum is located at Dmytro Yavornytskyi Avenue, 16. Its complex includes the "Battle for the Dnipro" diorama, and near its building, there is an open-air military equipment display, The Insider reports.

So, there are artillery and armored vehicles. However, all this was placed not by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as General Mizyntsev claims, but by the Soviet Army at the initiative of Air Marshal Volodymyr Sudets. The order to place the equipment was signed by the Minister of Defense of the USSR Andriy Grechko, and it happened in 1975.

The Russian media wrote about this with reference to The New York Times article (NYT). Allegedly, skepticism is growing in the West regarding Russia's "attrition tactics" they have initiated.

Russian propagandists selectively quote the original article, and also add to the retelling non-existent quotes, writes VoxCheck. The original article cited by Russian media ran under the headline "Ukraine tries to prove it can win, recalling recent strikes." "Rejecting skepticism that Western weapons will allow them to turn the tide against Russia, the Ukrainians point to successful attacks using new long-range missile systems," the introduction reads.

Its author, Andrew Kramer, was formerly a correspondent of the NYT's Moscow and now he is a correspondent of the Kyiv bureau. His publications for the NYT already contained manipulations and messages consistent with Russian propaganda.

At the beginning of the article, Cramer does note that "support for the West has softened", but he doesn’t provide any specific examples that would indicate this. He does not give examples of those who expressed "skepticism that Ukraine will be able to win a war of attrition." More details.

The Russian media report it concerning the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova. The missiles allegedly destroyed the warehouse of Harpoon anti-ship missiles provided by the USA and knocked out the production facilities of the Ukrainian warship repair enterprise and the warship. It is not true.

On July 22, in Istanbul, Ukraine, Turkey, the UN signed an agreement concerning unblocking ports and exporting Ukrainian grain. Russia signed a mirror agreement with Turkey and the UN. All parties have undertaken obligations on the world stage to ensure the safe movement of Ukrainian grain and related products to world markets.

The next day, July 23, the Russian army hit the port of Odesa, where grain intended for export was located, with four Kalibr missiles. Anti-aircraft defense forces shot down two missiles. Two rockets hit the infrastructure of the port - the pumping station. The shock wave damaged the houses around the port. The grain storage itself was not hit.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the strikes by the Russian military on the Ukrainian port in Odesa.

After the missile strike, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar noted that he had spoken with the Russian side. They told him they were allegedly not involved in the missile strike and were "investigating the issue."

Meanwhile, on July 23, anonymous Telegram channels were already spreading different versions of the causes and consequences of the attack on the port in Odesa:

1) if Russia has nothing to do with the attack, then it may be that the Armed Forces of Ukraine themselves loaded the planes with anti-aircraft missiles for provocation;

2) it flew over the Zavodska harbor, where there are Ukrainian military boats, not grain;

3) Ukrainian military air defenses were stationed in the port - this was the target of the shelling, so "the topic of grain can be closed." Russia has never once admitted its crime, but every time it invents fakes, why does it massively hit Ukraine with missiles.

It was said by the European Police Office (Europol) spokesman, Jaap Op Gen Oort. His comment was spread by German, Ukrainian, Russian, and other mass media. According to the spokesman, investigators from EU countries have found "signs of trade in heavy military weapons" on the black market and "a risk that the weapons will end up in the hands of organized criminals or terrorists." His statement caused a significant response.

A few hours after the information "dump," Europol clarified that they were discussing a potential threat and not specific cases. "Europol works closely with Ukrainian officials to reduce the threat of arms sales to the European Union. We have full confidence in them as they implement new measures to monitor and trace these firearms," ​​Europol said in a statement.

According to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mary Hakobyan, information about the potential risks of arms smuggling from Ukraine against the background of the war may be a fact of dishonesty or unprofessionalism of the media or deliberate action of the Russian special services.

The British Daily Mail published a story about armed migrants entering Great Britain through the English Channel. The Center for Combating Disinformation draws attention to the fact that the Kremlin media referred to this material, although there is no mention of Ukrainians. The Russian mass media added the assumption that due to the increase in the supply of weapons to Ukraine, Great Britain would have to face armed Ukrainian refugees in the future.

The purpose of such a message, according to the conclusion of the CPD, is to create the impression that helping Ukraine with weapons will threaten the security of allied countries. The official position of Great Britain to support Ukraine remains unchanged, as does Russian propaganda on the British front. In particular, messages about fatigue from Ukraine and Zelensky are spreading on social networks.

The Russian media report it concerning the reports of politicians. They said that the Russian army has nothing to do with the destruction of cultural objects - historical buildings are deliberately destroyed by Ukrainians themselves with "Western weapons." It is not true.

Ukraine's UNESCO experts and international partners recorded Russian attacks on 160 cultural objects: 72 religious objects, 12 museums, 32 historical buildings, 24 buildings for cultural events, 17 monuments, and 7 libraries. The occupiers also destroyed 2,100 buildings of educational institutions in Ukraine. Three-quarters of destroyed cultural objects are located in Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions. However, there is destruction all over the country. The Russians are looting museum exhibits and other cultural values in the temporarily occupied territories. According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the number of destroyed objects has increased to three hundred. The fact of the destruction of Ukrainian cultural values ​​by the Russians was confirmed by the UN Security Council during a special meeting, "Destruction of cultural heritage as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine," the holding of which was supported by 38 UN member states. Other international organizations recognized the destruction and promised Ukraine to help overcome the war's consequences. StopFake writes about this in more detail.

Russia, on the other hand, continues its tactics of denying deliberate missile strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. Moreover, Russian politicians accuse the West of hypocrisy, as they allegedly first provide weapons to destroy cultural heritage and then funds for its restoration. In this way, Russia is trying to avoid punishment for crimes committed in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Serhiy Lavrov said that due to the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine, Russia changed the offensive's objectives on Ukrainian territories, expanded the geography of hostilities, and decided not to limit itself to the capture of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In particular, he mentioned HIMARS, saying that because of this weapon, Russia should "move away from the current line" of the front.

In fact, the fighting is currently taking place in those regions of Ukraine that the Russian military attacked back in February-March 2022, except for the Kyiv region. It's about Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions. Therefore, theses about the "expansion of geography" through HIMARS is a manipulation, which is part of the message that the supply of weapons by the West seems to indicate the desire of Western countries to "continue the war in Ukraine for their benefits." In this way, Russia tries to demonize the "collective West" and present itself in a "positive" context, saying that it is "defending itself, not attacking."    

Russian propagandists report this "success" concerning the Ministry of Defense of Russia. It is a fake.

HIMARS is an autonomous complex, and there is no transport and charging machine for it. "At first, the propagandists reported about the "destroyed HIMARS," and later explained that it was a Ukrainian military bath and laundry complex based on the ZIL-131," reports the Center for Combating Disinformation. According to the department, HIMARS became a significant demoralizing factor for the Russian military, showing high effectiveness on the battlefield. Therefore, propagandists try to discredit this type of weapon in every possible way.

Previously, the Russian media spread fakes that the Russian army allegedly destroyed two American HIMARS salvo fire systems. The propagandists are also convinced that the Ukrainian military allegedly refuses to use Western weapons because they are "ineffective."

The Russian propaganda media spread this message.

As the Center for Combating Disinformation writes, similar messages are being spread in the media space of Russia after the terrorist attack in Vinnytsia. The Center believes that the occupiers struck the city center, not by accident, and that these actions are revenge for the successful use of HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, due to which the Russians suffered losses along the entire front line. "The destruction of Russian weapons depots, oil depots, and disruption of their logistics routes caused panic in the ranks of the Russian army. Because of this, the enemy resorted to terror tactics to cause a riot in Ukraine, which would force the leadership of our country to sign "peace" on the terms of the Russians. Moreover, Russian propaganda uses methods of intimidation and blackmail to stop the supply of HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, as well as other heavy equipment," the Center reports. President Zelensky called on Ukraine's partners to recognize Russia as a "terrorist state" as soon as possible and to approve new sanctions against Russia after the attack on Vinnytsia.

Such a fake was spread by Russian propaganda. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security notes that reports of the release of heptyl began to apply after the enemy attack on "Pivdenmash" in the Dnipro. But all of them are fakes.

On July 15, in Dnipro, the Russians hit the Southern Machine-Building Plant and the street nearby with six rockets.

The Center for Strategic Communications said that the Russians could have caused the leak of heptyl and carried out a terrorist attack comparable in scale to a nuclear disaster.

However, even at the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, heptyl and its derivatives were urgently disposed of in Pivdenmash, the local ground defense headquarters reported.

"There was no leak. And rumors are spread by enemies to spread panic. Heptyl is a hazardous component of rocket fuel for humans," the Center said in a statement.

Such information is disseminated in social networks and on Russian Internet resources. However, many projects to test biological weapons in Ukraine were implemented in the interests of the Central Medical and Sanitary Service of the German Armed Forces. The information is disseminated concerning the chief of radiation, chemical, and biological defense forces of the Russian army Igor Kirilov. He says that allegedly German specialists in Ukraine paid attention to the causative agent of Congo-Crimean fever and conducted screening for the sensitivity of residents to this infection. It is not valid.

The press service of the Bundeswehr denied the information in response to the request of the StopFake fact-checkers. The agency reported that it is probably the Ukrainian-German Biosafety Initiative aimed at controlling the risks of zoonotic diseases near the EU's external border. However, this project did not conduct any research related to biological weapons. In addition, similar projects have been implemented in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, and five other African countries. Moreover, representatives of the German agency said that a German-Ukrainian cooperation project has been implemented in Kharkiv since 2016 due to the danger of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in the temporarily occupied territories of eastern Ukraine. This project has nothing to do with the development of biological weapons.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fake messages about the work of biolaboratories and the development of biological weapons on the territory of Ukraine, allegedly to harm Russia. Such statements do not correspond to reality and are used by propagandists to justify a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. More details.

The Russian mass media spread the fake of the Ministry of Defense of Russia that allegedly, "in the laboratories of the Pentagon" in Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers were subjected to "experiments on the assessment of the transfer of infectious diseases." The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that "every third of the recently captured Ukrainian servicemen has hepatitis A, and a fifth has West Nile fever." It indicates that "servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine volunteered for experiments" at the Pentagon.

This fake is another in a series of fictions of Russian propaganda about non-existent laboratories for developing biological weapons in Ukraine. Earlier, they stated about "insects and birds" that supposedly had to infect Russians (still impossible, since there is no difference between Russians and non-Russians for bacteria and viruses). Moreover, they wrote about medical experiments in the same defunct laboratories on people with mental illnesses. Now they spread a fake about experiments on the military.

In fact, there is no single refutation of these fictions - there are too many of them. For example, it is unknown why experiment with the hepatitis A virus since this disease is well studied. There is a vaccine against it; it is well treated and cannot be used for military purposes. It is transmitted only through contaminated water or, in some cases, sexual intercourse. Even if a soldier gets hepatitis A, he will not be able to infect the enemy with it. Moreover, West Nile fever is not transmitted from person to person at all - insects spread the pathogen, although a disease from which almost 5% of those who get sick die.

Finally, it follows from the reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation that the Russians test every Ukrainian prisoner of war for dozens of diseases, including those rarely recorded in Ukraine, such as West Nile fever. On the other hand, it is known that Ukrainian prisoners do not receive the necessary medical care, not to mention elaborate complex tests.

The Russian mass media is spreading the fake news that during the military operations in Donbas, the Ukrainian military uses homemade mines with construction debris, which cause gangrene when wounded. This fake was spread by RIA Novosti, MK, Gazeta.ru, Vzglyad, Lenta.ru, Tsargrad, and others, referring to a representative of the LPR terrorist group, who spoke about the "socks" in which construction waste was placed, including pieces of concrete and glass, as well as TNT shrapnel and a charge to "infect a person with gangrene."

In fact, many self-made devices can cause gangrene in a person whom doctors did not help after an injury because gangrene is the death of tissues due to either a bacterial infection or a violation of blood circulation in an organ. There is also no evidence that the Ukrainian military uses improvised explosive devices.

Russian propaganda media, referring to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, reported that they destroyed two new HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, which were provided to Ukraine by the United States. It is another fake, which was refuted by both Ukrainian state authorities and American partners.

"It is a Russian fake. Perhaps the information we have HIMARS has led to panic and increased fear in Russian society. Therefore, they were advised to provide such information. This is work for their internal information market," said Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar.

The United Forces of Ukraine also called Russian reports about the "destruction" of HIMARS a fake that does not correspond to reality. On July 8, representatives of the Pentagon separately emphasized that the United States sees the use of each of the installations provided to Ukraine, and all complexes are taken into account. The Pentagon confirmed that Russian reports about the destruction of HIMARS are false.

Read more about the refutation of the Russian fake about HIMARS here.

Russian and Georgian media spread the information that at the crash site of the Ukrainian helicopter, they found an HGU-56/P ABH helmet used by pilots of NATO member countries and the US Armed Forces, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have them. At the same time, Russian propagandists are distributing photos of the helmet and saying that it indicates the participation in the war of current or former NATO service members.

Fact-checkers at Mythdetector have reported that this information is false. They said the helmet manufacturer Gentex Corporation first published the photos. In this post, the company wrote that the pictures were sent to them by the Air Force of Ukraine as a sign of gratitude for the fact that the helmet saved their lives. It is not the first time that Kremlin propaganda has tried to prove that NATO troops are participating in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The Russian mass media report it concerning the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Allegedly, scientists from the University of Texas studied ticks in the territory of Ukraine, and the study coincided with a sharp increase in the number of ticks in the Russian regions bordering Ukraine and an increase in the number of cases of borreliosis (Lyme disease). It is a fake. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have repeatedly claimed that the United States has created laboratories for the development of biological weapons. This topic became the most common in Russian propaganda. As the Polish publication Wiadomosti writes, the study of Lyme disease was published in the journal BMJ Global Health. For the publication, scientists analyzed the results of 137 studies conducted until 2021 with the participation of almost 160,000 people. The researchers obtained statistics on immunity against Lyme bacteria in Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia, Western Europe, and the Caribbean. The research was conducted in many countries, but only the Russians claimed they were trying to harm them. Russia is again manipulating information to confirm fabricated theses about American biolaboratories in Ukraine, which allegedly became one of the reasons for the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian propaganda media spread such messages concerning The New York Times materials. They said that the capacity of the USA and Europe to provide Ukraine with weapons is already running out. But it is not so.

Experts whose opinions are given in The New York Times talk about the need to consolidate the West's efforts to help Ukraine and speed up the pace of providing heavy weapons as part of military aid. In particular, it is said that the US defense industry is currently working for the needs of Ukraine, and President Joe Biden is negotiating with the countries of the Middle East to provide Ukraine with stocks of Soviet-made weapons. According to the Center for Combating Disinformation, Russian media reports about the lack of weapons among Ukraine's allies are aimed at destabilizing the situation inside our country. Russian propaganda systematically uses out-of-context or distorted quotes from Western media to convince Ukrainians that the world has left Ukraine to fend for itself and that without Western aid, Ukraine will not be able to withstand such a "strong adversary."

Such a message was published on the pro-Russian Telegram channel Legitymnyy. Serhii Prytula, for example, started collecting funds for nuclear weapons but did not realize the consequences of his actions. But it is a fake.

The Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation never claimed to be raising funds for nuclear weapons. More detailed information about the Fund's main work areas can be found on its website. The fact that Prytula can raise funds for any needs of the Ukrainian army joked on social networks after the record collection of over 600 million hryvnias for the purchase of Turkish drones "Bayraktar." Among other things, users of social networks assumed that the next collection would be opened to purchase nuclear weapons. However, it is impossible to implement. In October 1991, Ukraine adopted the Declaration on Nuclear-Free Status, and in 1994 it finally declared it. Therefore, neither the state of Ukraine nor its citizens can "buy" and use nuclear weapons at will. More details.

Pro-Kremlin mass media and social networks reported that the Indian edition of The Economic Times wrote that Western weapons supplied to Ukraine by allied countries will not help it win the war with Russia. The Russian media also reported that the Armed Forces might repeat the fate of the Afghan army: get large amounts of resources but ultimately be defeated. Propagandists also hint that there are fewer and fewer personnel in the Ukrainian military, and morale is significantly falling because the mobilized soldiers practically do not resist the Russian military. However, all this is not true.

As VoxCheck writes, The Economic Times reported problems with developing Western weapons but did not say that Ukraine would repeat the fate of Afghanistan. There is no resource that purports to be an article from The Economic Times that cites the original material. More details.

Russian propaganda media spread information that French self-propelled guns, which Ukraine received as military aid, were sold to the Russian army by the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for nothing. All propagandist media refer to the publication Bulgarian Military, which claims that "French and Ukrainian [from Donbas] sources assure that in the hands of the Russian army, and more precisely in the production workshops of the Russian manufacturer Uralvagonzavod, there are two 155 mm Caesar self-propelled howitzers, donated by France to Ukraine as military aid against the Russian invasion on February 24."

It is alleged that Ukrainians sold two Caesar self-propelled howitzers through an intermediary for $120,000 each. However, as The Insider writes, there is no evidence that the French self-propelled guns were sold to the Russians. The publication Bulgarian Military, which did not write about it, cites only the comments of experts, particularly a lawyer, who claims, referring to his own observations, that the Ukrainian military sold self-propelled guns to the Russians. Since no proper evidence has been found, such facts cannot be believed for sure; it is only assumption. More details.    

The information that the Russian army captured a trophy German howitzer was spread by Kremlin propaganda media. In materials, they allegedly refer to the publication of the German magazine Bild. Propaganda media reports that the howitzer had reportedly been damaged by a trophy German grenade launcher, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received from Germany. However, it is not true.

According to the fact-checkers from StopFake, the Bild publication did not publish the information that the Russian Armed Forces allegedly took possession of the German PzH 2000 howitzer, which was previously given to Germany as military aid to Ukraine. Also, the German publication Welt journalists could not find any confirmation of the information distributed on the network. Also, the Russian side did not provide any photo or video evidence that this self-propelled gun ended up in their military's hands. More details.

Russian mass media, referring to the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, spread manipulative articles that "200 tactical nuclear munitions of the USA are stationed" in Europe, which "pose a threat" to Russia and Belarus. It is stated that Russia and Belarus are "obliged to ensure their security in this regard." The materials also shift the blame for Russia's aggressive policy to the North Atlantic Alliance: "The current crisis was provoked by the NATO countries that declared themselves a nuclear alliance."

According to the StopFake fact-checkers, Russian President Vladimir Putin resorted to manipulating facts, declaring the "threat" of a nuclear attack by NATO countries. Unlike senior Kremlin officials, NATO has never threatened Russia with the launch of warheads. For example, in May 2022, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev, announced the "possibility of the conflict with NATO turning into a nuclear war." On June 12, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, directly threatened a nuclear strike on Poland.

Without further context, Putin's statement of 200 tactical nuclear warheads stored in Europe can seem threatening. However, the Russian president, thinking about the "security" of his country, deliberately did not say how many similar warheads are in Russia's arsenal. According to NATO analysts, Russia's tactical nuclear arsenal exceeds the US stockpiles in Europe by about ten times. According to the estimates of NATO experts, as of 2020, there are 1,500 to 2,000 nuclear warheads in Russian storage facilities, compared to 150-200 American free-fall bombs, which are in special storage facilities in Europe.    

It was stated by the French politician Regis Castello in Telegram and the Russian plant "Uralvagonzavod," which in the comments asked to convey "thanks to President Macron." The Russian mass media spread these comments. The General Staff of the French Armed Forces called this information fake. "This information is false. We categorically reject it. We discussed this with our Ukrainian partner," the General Staff said.

As reported in the Strategic Communications Department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the source of information about the capture of the SPA was named as a little-known French politician (probably a member of the Communist Party of France, an opponent of the current president of this country) Regis Castello.

He does not provide any confirmation or evidence but only refers to a comment on his Telegram channel, which representatives of the Russian plant allegedly left.

"This is proof that the supply of weapons to Ukraine is a strong blow to our enemy, and he is trying to sow distrust in the Armed Forces among the French and create the impression that it is useless to send weapons to our country," the message emphasizes.

Anonymous pro-Kremlin Telegram channels spread such rumors. The Western partners demand that Ukraine not transfer their weapons to the front, but this does not apply to the Western decommissioned, old Soviet equipment that is transferred.

They announced this demand behind the scenes after the information that the Russians had captured the French Caesar's self-propelled guns. The report does not provide any proof; it is written that there are "rumors" about it. Recently, Russian propaganda often turned to foreign weapons in Ukraine. If earlier Vladimir Putin repeatedly said only that the West and the USA had "stuffed" Ukraine with weapons, then later the Russians launched a series of accusations: the "black market" of weapons flourishes in Ukraine, while foreign weapons "are by no means suitable for a major land war" and is not designed for intensive long-term work, and even more so for frequent long marches on broken roads and off-road. So, the Ukrainian military leaves weapons depots when withdrawing from positions.

This news should be read "between the lines" and understand that the Russian army is waiting with horror for foreign weapons to arrive at the Armed Forces of Ukraine; they are afraid of them and try in every way to sow discord so that Western partners and volunteers doubt the feasibility of helping Ukraine.

Anonymous pro-Russian Telegram channels distribute information with such a message. Their authors are convinced that if the West prolongs the supply of weapons to Ukraine, it will start using them to attack Russia.

However, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have already repeatedly explained that Ukraine uses weapons provided by allied countries exclusively for self-defense - to fight off the enemy that attacks our territory and protect its sovereignty. In particular, the head of the German Ministry of Defense, Christine Lambrecht, said about the non-use of weapons in the attack on Russia: "We did not need to demand this from the Ukrainians; they clearly stated it. We are confident that Ukraine will use weapons only for defense."

Ukraine is a peaceful country and does not attack other countries; in the case of a Russian-Ukrainian war, it only defends itself. Therefore, weapons are needed precisely for defense. However, using such a message, Russian propaganda wants to convince our Western partners that giving weapons to Ukraine can be dangerous. It is beneficial for Russia that its partner countries do not provide Ukraine with weapons for defense.

The Russian media spread fake information that the permanent representative of the US to NATO, Julian Smith, allegedly stated that there were difficulties in providing military aid to Ukraine because many countries had already allegedly "given almost everything they had."

Russian propagandists have launched a spam mailing in the Telegram about the mass betrayal in Sievierodonetsk. According to the press service of the National Guard, there are reports in the network that the bridges in Sievierodonetsk were allegedly blown up by the Ukrainian command so that the fighters could not get out of Azot.

Another manipulative report states that the Ukrainian victims were allegedly thrown into the field or taken to the morgues of the Dnipro and Mykolayiv and then buried in these cities.

The National Guard emphasizes that in this way, Russia continues to carry out information and psychological operations to cause panic in society.

Russian media are actively spreading the news that the Americans have accused the United States and Ukraine of stealing $ 40 billion in military aid. In particular, RIA-Novosti wrote about it. Do reports say that under the news of allocating a new tranche of aid, Americans ask the authorities where the previously given money went? Also, Americans under this post seem to be concerned about the use of taxpayers' funds and financial responsibility for government actions. Russian propaganda turned the comments of anonymous users into loud headlines such as: "Where did the money go?", "Ukrainians spent the previous 40 billion too quickly!" etc. However, all this is manipulation. According to StopFake, the news was made based on the comments of seven anonymous users of the social network Twitter. Their authors are not opinion leaders, experts, or analysts. In addition, comments were added almost simultaneously, which is a sign of the activity of bots. Therefore, it is evident that such an opinion cannot reliably reflect Americans' views. Russian media often use this technique to create news and mislead readers artificially. It is not the first time Russian propaganda has tried to discredit US aid to Ukraine. Earlier, we wrote about how similar attempts were made based on extracted citations from an article published in The Wall Street Journal. Similarly, during the week, propaganda used comments from individual social media users from France and Germany to spread the idea that citizens of these countries did not support and "dislike" Ukraine.

Russian propaganda media spread this information. In particular, the publication RT. In Kharkiv, the Ukrainian army deployed artillery and MRL in the city hospital №28. In their texts, the journalists refer to the head of the National Defense Management Center of Russia, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. However, this is a fake. Journalists from the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center asked the city council for comment, where they denied Mizintsev's words and called them nonsense. Recently, similar information about weapons depots has been spread about other hospitals in the city. The Department of Health of the Kharkiv City Council also noted that there is no army or terrorist defense in medical institutions in Kharkiv. We will remind the Russian propaganda, not for the first time invents stories about warehouses of the weapon in Ukraine placed on civilian objects, particularly in hospitals, schools, and shopping centers. Recently, the fake about the placement of firing points in Odesa schools was refuted by the head of the Odesa RMA, Serhiy Bratchuk.

Information about this is disseminated online. The reports claim that the Russian system allegedly shot down a Ukrainian AN-26 plane with weapons and military equipment consignment over Odesa on June 5. The authors of such posts refer to the message of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. However, it is not valid.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, gave an interview to the Russian newspaper RIA Novosti, in which he accused the United States of deliberately prolonging Ukraine's predicament. "The United States is prolonging the troubles of Ukraine. The United States is prolonging this bad period for Ukraine, for the people of Ukraine," Peskov said. The statement was widely circulated in the Russian media. For example, RT wrote that the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov announced that America was prolonging Ukraine's troubles and delaying the process of arms supply, which was terrible for the country. In fact, Peskov's words are manipulation and an emotional reaction to the unprecedented assistance the United States provides to Ukraine. It is almost 54 billion dollars allocated by the US Congress. The total amount of aid includes the cost of weapons that the United States supplies to Ukraine. Also, in his statement, Peskov "forgot" to say that it was because of Russia that "all the troubles" and the "bad period" arose in Ukraine. Silencing the root causes and shifting one's responsibility for war crimes against Ukraine to anyone else (Ukraine, the United States, the collective West) is part of the information policy of the occupiers. Of course, it is more advantageous for Russia to leave Ukraine without help and support because, unfortunately, we will not be able to resist such an enemy on our own. Also, in this way, Peskov is somewhat intimidating, saying that even Ukraine's partners in this war are only harming it. Hinting that as long as the United States sends weapons, the war will continue. However, the war in Ukraine began not because of actions but because of an attack by Russia, which, in particular, with the help of American weapons, Ukraine is resisting.

This message was spread by the Russian media and social networks concerning an article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), published on June 13. Russian propaganda has traditionally exaggerated information and speaks of "ordinary sawing" and "expected theft." However, the quotes announced by the Russian media are taken out of context and distort the opinion expressed in the original source. The fact-checkers from StopFake drew attention to the manipulation. The WSJ published an article about how much money the United States spends daily on military aid to Ukraine under the headline: "Since billions go to Ukraine, officials are concerned about the possibility of fraud and waste." It reports that the United States sends about $ 130 million a day in aid to Ukraine (including the cost of weapons, not just money as such). The US Congress has also allocated nearly $ 54 billion to Ukraine, exceeding annual aid to any other country, including aid sent to Afghanistan at the peak of US military involvement there. The article's authors, referring to the opinion of American politicians, draw attention to the need to establish an effective mechanism for controlling the allocated funds, which did not happen at the beginning of the war due to the need to respond quickly to challenges. That is, Americans want to be sure that the money allocated goes to their goals. And this is natural, given the amount of funding.

Russian media reported that the Ukrainian military allegedly refused to fight with weapons provided by Western partners. This thesis is disseminated concerning a CNN article. CNN does have a paragraph saying that "some units (AFUs) prefer to use commercial drones equipped with explosives" instead of the American Switchblade. In other words, it is already clear from this quote that this is not a mass renunciation of all Western weapons by the Armed Forces, and Russian propaganda has distorted CNN material. Another quote from the material confirms this: "In some cases, according to one of the sources familiar with American intelligence, Ukraine has simply decided not to use unfamiliar Western systems."

Following the results of the three-month full-scale war against Ukraine, the Russian General Staff announced that "...the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 186 aircraft and 129 helicopters since the beginning of the SMO in Ukraine...", "...the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 1,084 UAVs and 3,373 units of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation ". Specialists of the Zaporizhzhia Center of Investigation compared the figures of the Russian General Staff with official data and proved that what was said could not be true. Thus, according to information from the World Air Forces 2022 directory, at the end of 2021, Ukraine had 134 fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, and transport aircraft under the command of the Air Force. Another four are in the fleet. Total - 138 units. In this way, if the Russians report 186 "trophies," it turns out that they destroyed 30% more military aircraft than Ukraine had before the war. According to the same directory, at the beginning of 2022, there were 112 helicopters in Ukraine. Of them, 15, 88, and 9 belong to aviation, army, and navy.

The fake, repeatedly refuted, is spreading on social networks again - about the crucifixion of an LPR soldier by the Azov Battalion. The VoxCheck project drew attention to this.

This video, in which a man is allegedly crucified and set on fire, has existed since 2015. Then the Russian media spread the video about the group "Kiber Berkut" - a Russian or pro-Russian hacker group - which allegedly received this video from the Azov fighters. According to the publication, there is no confirmation of the reality of this video or the fact that there is no Azov fighter in the video. Moreover, it is impossible to identify people on the video or confirm that it is not a production video.

At the same time, Kiber ​​Berkut has repeatedly disseminated fakes created by this group - non-existent orders, documents, fake videos, and photos allegedly obtained by Ukrainian hacking websites. The Azov Regiment reported in 2015 that it had nothing to do with this video. In addition, even the Russian media outlets that distributed the video wrote that there was no evidence that the video was authentic. But after the start of a massive information campaign against Azov in the Russian media in early 2022, this fake is again actively spread - and without the postscript "unverified video."

This thesis is spread by pro-Kremlin propaganda media, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. Reports say that Russian invaders allegedly "blocked 300-400 Ukrainian servicemen" on the Azot plant in Sievierodonetsk territory. Russian media also claim that the UAF fighters are "holding hostages" at the plant and "negotiating the occupiers" capture. However, this is not true.

In fact, according to StopFake fact-checkers, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to control the Azot industrial zone and chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region. Also, the Armed Forces do not hold hostages - people are hiding in the bomb shelters of the plant from the continuous Russian shelling. According to the head of the Luhansk DMA, Sergey Gaidai, Russia has failed to establish "quick and easy" control over the city, as announced. Gaidai also denied reports that "the Ukrainian military is blocked at the plant and wants to be taken, prisoner." "Information about the blockade of the Nitrogen plant is a complete lie spread by Russian propagandists. The rest of the "details" are a sick fantasy of Rodion Miroshnyk, a collaborator. Our people are holding the Sievierodonetsk industrial zone and destroying the Russian army in the city," Gaidai said.

On June 11, at 9:46 p.m., Russians fired four rockets at the city of Chortkiv in the Ternopil region. Russian propagandists claim to have destroyed weapons. But this is not true! The head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Ternopil region, Oleksandr Bogomol, said there were no weapons at the targets. "We see this as a crime, as a blow to the civilian population," Bogomol said.

The head of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration, Volodymyr Trush, said that part of the military facility was destroyed and four 5-story buildings were damaged. Twenty-two people were injured, including children. SES units rescued 12 people from the rubble, including two children. The detonation damaged the gas pipeline.

This fabrication was spread by representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense. "To do this, in a densely populated area of ​​the city near the service station of the regional ambulance, where the burial place of plague victims, the Armed Forces plans to place an air defense complex or its model," said the head of Russia's National Defense Management Center Mikhail Mizintsev. According to him, hundreds of civilians may be injured during this provocation. The colonel-general also noted that if the Russian military strikes at the complex, Kyiv will spread information in the media "about the emergence of biological danger allegedly through the fault of the Russian military".

There is indeed a cemetery in Odesa, where thousands of victims of the plagues of 1812, 1829, and 1837 were buried. It is a famous mountain, popularly called "Chumka." The regional sanitary-epidemiological station has repeatedly warned that it is forbidden to touch the Plague Mountain and everything stored in it. And although the risk of infection is minimal, it is still there. Epidemiologist Valeriy Sushko says that the plague is not as persistent as, for example, anthrax, so there is nothing to fear.

A spokesman for the head of the Odesa regional military administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, stressed that the so-called news of the provocation as part of Russia's information and psychological operation aimed at fueling panic among Ukrainians.

"Another goal is to conduct an information and psychological operation by the enemy and an" information alibi "for the use of weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine," Bratchuk added.

Such reports are spread by Russian propaganda media, citing a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry. According to the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, the Russian Defense Ministry said that in Kharkiv in the buildings of the road clinical hospital (Igor Muratov Street), city hospital № 25 (Alexander Avenue), endocrinology clinic of the Institute of Endocrine Pathology (Gurevich Street) and children's clinic 23 (Metrobudivnykiv Street), soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine equipped firing points and ammunition depots. The Ministry of Defense also added that hospital staff and patients were forcibly detained to ensure their safety. However, this is not true. According to fact-checkers in the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Kharkiv City Council, there are no checkpoints, army, and terrorist defense in the medical institutions of Kharkiv.

In the Russian segment of social networks, they spread the fake that the United States allegedly provided Ukraine with two tactical nuclear missiles worth $ 9 million. The messages say that it happened allegedly due to a mistake made by an American Kleine Brogel Air Base employee in Belgium, "Matthew Kovalchuk," for which the Pentagon now punishes him.

According to Myth Detector, the source of the "news" was the Russian satirical publication panorama.pub. Panorama.pub warns that the news published on the resource is not true but is a "grotesque parody of reality."

Russian media have reported that Pentagon officials are studying Russian equipment seized in Ukraine, including the Dagger missile, to "copy and get something for themselves." Russian propaganda refers to an article in The New York Times in these reports.

According to StopFake, the American publication did write that researchers from the Pentagon came to Ukraine to analyze Russian technology. However, their trip explores how Russia's military-industrial complex uses Western technology. "Researchers have found that ammunition and equipment, including missile guidance systems and laser rangefinders, contain microchips, printed circuit boards, motors, and antennas manufactured in the United States and the European Union," the statement said. "Currently, several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are investigating how components of their production entered Russia's weapons systems to circumvent the arms embargo."

Fact-checkers recalled that back in 2014, after Russia's occupation of Crimea, the United States and other EU countries imposed the first restrictions on supplying weapons and selling high-performance computer chips to Russian companies. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, an embargo was imposed on the supply of advanced technologies to Russia, such as the export of semiconductors, computers, lasers, telecommunications equipment, etc. At the same time, the NYT material refers to X-101 cruise missiles, Azart radio stations, and reconnaissance drones, but there are no Dagger missiles among them.

Read more.

On the morning of June 5, after the explosions in Kyiv, pro-Kremlin telegram channels circulated two theses.

The first is "this is for you for Donetsk." On Saturday evening, June 4, propaganda media reported that "a series of explosions took place in Donetsk… The Armed Forces of Ukraine fired 40 shells from the “Grad, "the blow fell on the city center." "The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reports that eyewitness reports from occupied Donetsk shatter the following statements by the Russian media: "They shoot from the Kuybyshev district, fly over Voroshilovskyi and fall in Kalininskyi," "arrival in Kalininskyi, a departure from Makiivka, everything is obvious," "there were eight flights from Makiivka East Batman, "people are beginning to understand what is happening and they need to be convinced again that Ukraine is bad. "

On Sunday morning, June 5, Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov in a telegram, "boasted" that he had flown to Kyiv for the evening shelling of Donetsk, "no one will allow anyone to shoot in Donetsk with impunity."

The second thesis was that the target of the attack was a car repair plant in Kyiv because its buildings repaired Russian-lined T-72 tanks and prepared them for sending advanced foreign military equipment imported from Poland and other Eastern European countries. The chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia, Oleksandr Kamyshin, confirmed that Russian troops had struck the Darnytsia Railcar Repair Plant (DVRZ) on the left bank of Kyiv with four missiles. "It simply came to our notice then. They hit the railroad every day; we repair it quickly and move on. One of the railway workers was injured and treated. And we promptly began to eliminate the consequences of the missiles hit, "he said. According to Kamyshin, there are no "tanks" mentioned by Russian propaganda. He invited journalists to see for themselves. "I officially declare that there is no military equipment on the territory of the DVRZ. This plant repaired gondola cars and grain trucks, which we use for export. I officially invite all Ukrainian and foreign journalists to the DVRZ today. We will confirm that Russia once again lied. And that their real goal is the economy of Ukraine and the civilian population. They want to block our opportunity to export Ukrainian products to the West. Media accreditation is required. The event is open to media representatives accredited by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, " said the Chairman of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia.

The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine refuted the most common fakes about the movement of Ukrainian railway trains.

First, all weapons provided by partners, including hand weapons, are transported in special cars and other routes. Secondly, missiles launched by the Russian army fly on a given trajectory to the destination, so it is doubtful to hit a moving train. Third, the money will not be lost. Ukrzaliznytsia allowed the return of tickets for canceled trains due to the war. It is also important to remember that train routes change due to the nature of the fighting. The train may be delayed in the event of a rocket attack on the railway infrastructure. Ukrzaliznytsia has clarified the schedule so that the train does not arrive at its destination during the curfew.

It was stated at a regular briefing by the head of the National Center for Defense Management, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. It is alleged the Ukrainian military plans are to deploy US MRL directly in the city of Shostka in the Sumy region and fire on Russia's border areas to "provoke a response and then accuse the Russian Armed Forces of indiscriminately shelling civilians and infrastructure."

In fact, American MRL will finally come to Ukraine - and plan to use it where they are needed now - on the front lines to resist Russian invaders. At the same time, there is no point in "provoking" the occupiers' fire from anywhere - they have already fired on Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and other Ukrainian cities many times, destroying Mariupol, Popasna, Rubizhne, and almost all of Sievierodonetsk. The whole world sees Russia's indiscriminate bombing and shelling of residential neighborhoods, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the shelling of evacuation vehicles and railway stations. Russia is violating all the rules of war, and experts have already acknowledged that Russians are involved in the genocide of Ukrainians. That is why Mizintsev's statement is another fake of military propaganda to convince its population that the Russians are not killing civilians in Ukraine and have not started an aggressive war.

In many posts, social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, said that the Bayraktar drone was shot down 3.5 minutes after its use. It was bought for 5 million euros collected by concerned Lithuanians. It is an outright fake that is easy to refute: the drone is not yet in Ukraine. The founder wrote it of the crowdfunding initiative on Laisves TV journalist and public figure Andrius Tapinas who actually announced the fundraising campaign.

"Unfortunately, we see sad news. Russian propaganda on social media spreads the message that our Bayraktar was already shot down and was in the air for only 3.5 minutes. The ability to shoot down an unmanned aerial vehicle that has not yet been purchased and is in the factory requires incredible anti-aircraft artillery, " he wrote, ironically. He added a few more details: almost 200,000 people were transferred funds from Lithuania in three days. Then, when it turned out that the Turkish manufacturer would make a gift to Ukraine and provide one drone for free - Lithuanian organizers decided to arm this gift for 1.5 million euros. And the amount that remained in the accounts, and where the funds are still coming, to transfer to the aid of the Ukrainian army. A campaign to choose a name for the drone is currently underway on the journalist's Facebook page.

Fact-checkers from StopFake: "The first reports of the beating of the bayraktar appeared in late May, before the end of the crowdfunding campaign."

According to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation, this thesis was spread by several American media concerning the words of Doug Bandow, a supporter of Trump. Promoting the Russian narrative, Bandow concludes that the supply of weapons by Western countries to Ukraine could lead to a war between Russia and the United States. "Although Bandow emphasizes that Putin is solely responsible for the war in Ukraine, according to the scientist, the United States and Europe provoked the Russian president by violating" security guarantees given to Moscow. " The scientist resorted to manipulation. There could be no guarantee that NATO would not expand, as the Alliance pursued an "open door" policy. These are not the first pro-Kremlin statements by D. Bandow promoted by the Russian propaganda machine. Today, through the scientist, the Kremlin tries to persuade Ukraine to negotiate, convincing the Western world that Putin's concessions are the only way to end the war, " the Center wrote. We remind you that this is not the first time Russian propaganda has tried to promote its narratives through so-called Western experts. In this way, the propagandists want to create the appearance of support for Russia's actions by the Western world.

Another fake in the grand narrative of Russian disinformation about what is happening with foreign weapons in Ukraine. Russian propaganda at first pretends that it has been "completely destroyed," and many times. Then - that it is sold to Al-Qaeda militants. Now - a new fake about the alleged purchase of Western weapons by "Syrian militants."

All this is to persuade Western countries to reduce their support for Ukraine with weapons or prove that Ukraine does not control the weapons supplied by partners.

There is no evidence of these alleged sales. But there is a lot of evidence of the Ukrainian military's successful use of Western weapons.

Russian propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov in the program "News of the Week," continued to spread the fake that Ukrainian manufacturers allegedly modified Turkish Bayraktar drones with "spray containers" with which they allegedly intended to spray viruses. This fake appeared in late March but has now been extended. Kiselyov claims that this drone modification was developed at the Motor-Sich plant, which the Russians "destroyed with high-precision missiles" last week. To prove the existence of such "finished" bayraktars in the story, Russian propagandists showed an unknown who made a small quadcopter with a container, writes Insider.

The propagandists are fabricating fakes in advance. When the Russians fired four rockets at Zaporizhzhia on May 25 (Ukrainian air defenses destroyed one), they called the shelling "the destruction of the Motor-Sich plant." The Ukrainian military leadership did not report any hits at the plant's shops. But it is well known that the missiles hit the mall and other civilian objects. One person was killed, and three others were injured

Russian propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov in the program "News of the Week," continued to spread the fake that Ukrainian manufacturers allegedly modified Turkish Bayraktar drones with "spray containers" with which they allegedly intended to spray viruses. This fake appeared in late March but has now been extended. Kiselyov claims that this drone modification was developed at the Motor-Sich plant, which the Russians "destroyed with high-precision missiles" last week. To prove the existence of such "finished" bayraktars in the story, Russian propagandists showed an unknown who made a small quadcopter with a container, writes Insider.

The propagandists are fabricating fakes in advance. When the Russians fired four rockets at Zaporizhzhia on May 25 (Ukrainian air defenses destroyed one), they called the shelling "the destruction of the Motor-Sich plant." The Ukrainian military leadership did not report any hits at the plant's shops. But it is well known that the missiles hit the mall and other civilian objects. One person was killed, and three others were injured.

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.

 The media reports about the tacit agreement of NATO countries not to give Ukraine certain heavy weapons are fake, or a member of the Czech Alliance does not know anything about it. It was stated at a press conference with Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď by his Czech counterpart Jana Chernohova, idnes.cz reports. The other day, the German news agency dpa, citing Bundestag member Wolfgang Hellmich, wrote that NATO had allegedly agreed in private not to provide the Armed Forces with certain types of heavy equipment, such as infantry fighting vehicles or Western-made tanks. "There is no such agreement. Well, at least I didn't go down without explaining myself first. And if this idea came to someone's mind, we would not support it, "Chernohova said when asked by a journalist. In Prague, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky also denied similar reports. "It simply came to our notice then. Ukraine's support comes from individual states, and NATO does not have such a large program [of support]. The Czech Republic is proud to support Ukraine militarily, help Ukraine resist Russian aggression, and participate in all relevant projects, as our capabilities allow or necessary, " Lipavsky said. Truss assured that NATO countries would continue to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine. She stressed that now it is important to create a recovery plan for Ukraine.    

Russian propagandists are spreading a fake story about "small arms depots" that were allegedly sold during the war, and it was because of this sale that Artemsil was shut down. Fake was analyzed in detail by StopFake.

The only thing that is true in the report of Russian propagandists is that warehouses in the mines where salt was mined in Bakhmut (former Artemivsk) existed. Weapons from the First and Second World Wars during the Soviet era and then, already during independence, kept some guns from the disbanded Ukrainian units.

But back in 2014, 95% of these weapons from warehouses were transported to Western Ukraine when there were fierce battles around Bakhmut. First of all, modern weapons were exported, but old ones were also moved - for example, Maxim machine guns and other historical weapons. For instance, Yuri Biryukov, an adviser to President Petro Poroshenko, wrote about this in 2015 and inspected warehouses. From a military point of view, warehouse values ​​don't matter. And one of the largest producers of salt in Europe - the company "Artemsil" can not work due to constant shelling. That is why salt has become so expensive in Ukraine, and there are interruptions in the supply of salt in Europe. "The company is not working, idle, according to the order, indefinitely. The shelling is constant; the administrative building is partially destroyed. There were direct hits in the mine, in the warehouse. The production process is impossible. We will not endanger people. Moreover, most of the residents of Soledar and employees of Artemsil have already been evacuated. Most of the employees of the administration, engineering, and technical workers are not on-site, " acting director of the enterprise Viktor Yurin told Radio Svoboda. That is why the "salt crisis artificially created by the Kyiv regime," which the propagandists write about. The sale of the "shooting failure to sell it to Africa" ​​is a fiction of former Verkhovna Rada deputy Ilya Kiva, who was the first to spread this lie.

According to him, in these bots, attackers try to convince users that the real chatbot does not work. The “Shos letyt” chatbot, developed by Lviv Regional Military Administration specialists and IT specialists at the request of “Zahid” Air Command, is running smoothly. The bot works only in the mobile version of the telegram application. It allows all willing residents of the Lviv region to report the threat in the sky (missile, drone, or plane) and Ukrainian defenders - to neutralize it. You must log in through the "Diia" application to report a hazard.

However, this is another lie of the Russians. The head of the city department of education and science, Olena Buynevych, said that currently only the security guards, teachers, and the directorate, which are preparing for the end of the school year, are in the mentioned educational institutions Suvorov district mentioned by the Russians.

"Russia's Ministry of Defense is lying. Well, not for the first time. They do not get used to it. I understand and share the concerns of the residents of densely populated neighborhoods of schools № 40 (was in previous reports), 14, and 71. There around the skyscraper. Typical sleeping areas are private sector islands and large "Czech" and " Khrushchev. There are no "firing positions, armored vehicles, and artillery." There is a watchman, a principal, and teachers. People fill out magazines, go online lessons, prepare for the end of the school year, "the official added.

Under her post on Facebook, residents of Odessa confirmed in comments that there are no military or armored vehicles near schools.

The network is spreading a fake about the "order" to remove bayraktars from the hotspots of the front. A document with "Head of the President's Office" is attached to such posts. This document is allegedly a scan of a letter from the President's Office to Valeriy Zaluzhny. However, the fake authors broke through and indicated his position incorrectly, calling him the Chief of the General Staff, not the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Instead, the Chief of the General Staff in Ukraine is Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala.

The Borova community in the Kharkiv region has denied a fake spread by Russian propagandists about the placement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a local school - the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center reported.

Russian propagandists, citing the head of Russia's National Defense Management Center, Mikhail Mizintsev, said Azov National Battalion fighters were holding hostages children and civilians in the basement of a school in the village Borova in the Kharkiv region. The fake report said that in the kindergarten "Berizka," Ukrainian defenders equipped barracks and deployed military equipment in the area. Propagandists are spreading lies that the Ukrainian military keeps civilians not only in the basements of the garden but also in the school. According to the Russian side, the hostages include women and children.

Information about the fact that the Ukrainian military allegedly showed their lined tanks as Russian military equipment is spread by Russian media and telegram channels. Reports claim that Ukrainian soldiers were allegedly caught falsifying the news about tanks. According to StopFake, the federal channel "Russia 24" dedicated a story to one of such fakes in the news program. "Russian media claim that the Ukrainian military is incompetent and is photographed against the background of their own lined Bulat tanks, pretending to be Russian equipment," the fact-checkers wrote. But the photo does not show Ukrainian Bulat tanks, as explained in an interview with StopFake expert on tank technology Alexander Kostur. He added that in the story of the channel "Russia 24," there are images of two different tanks, but neither is a tank "Bulat" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the expert, there were no such tanks in the Ukrainian army at all. Read more.

Such a thesis along with the video was spread by Russian propaganda media referring to the Russian Defense Ministry. The video, which the publications add, allegedly captures the moment "when American M777 howitzers and a Ukrainian artillery crew are hit by the Kub drones-kamikaze." The reports also stated that "after the strike, the Ukrainian military tried to hide in the woods. As soon as they hid their howitzers and tractors there, artillery struck the forest. All equipment and American howitzers were destroyed," propagandists wrote. However, this video is fake. According to StopFake, Russian media edited two videos into one in order to falsify the "destruction of American howitzers. A number of reasons point to this fake: the inconsistency of the footage with the May seasonal weather, geo-positioning, and the absence of footage of broken Ukrainian equipment in the video. More details.

This was stated by Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. "The other day Ukrainian nationalists deployed air defense equipment in the Odessa film studio. The militants of the terror defense forces are going door-to-door to identify residents who adhere to the nationalist logic of rejection," Zakharova said. However, this is a fake. On the page of the Odessa film studio denied Zakharova's words. Also her statement called a fake the speaker of the Odessa regional military administration Serhii Bratchuk on the air of the national marathon. In addition, he stressed that such statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry are an informational alibi for the upcoming attack, which they want to create for themselves. However, he added that the Odessa Film Studio does have military equipment - a rare World War II vehicle that is used during filming.

 This is the thesis disseminated by Kremlin propaganda. According to the Center to Counter Disinformation, the Kremlin claims that the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party threatens to leave the parliamentary coalition if Sofia decides to help Kiev with weapons and that this will allegedly lead to the resignation of the government. Propagandists also claim that military aid to Ukraine is not supported by Bulgarian society. "In fact, the government of Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov has set out to help Ukraine in countering Russian aggression. Bulgaria will provide military and technical assistance to Ukraine through the repair of damaged military armor and maintenance of military equipment. According to the decision of NATO leaders, deliveries of Bulgarian arms to Ukraine through intermediaries in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland cannot be ruled out. After Moscow stopped supplying gas, more than 67% of Bulgarians supported the EU and NATO sanctions against Russia and Bulgaria's military support of Ukraine," the Center said.  

According to the Center to Counter Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Russian propaganda spreads this thesis, confirming it by saying that Hungary will veto the embargo on the import of Russian oil, which the European Union plans to include in the sixth package of sanctions against Russia. The veto of the embargo was announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on May 3. Since 65% of Hungary's oil consumption comes through the Druzhba pipeline, and there are no alternative lines to the country, the draft sixth sanctions package includes exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which are allowed to extend imports until the end of 2023. ""But due to the prohibition of transit through the Hungarian territory of military aid to Ukraine, the EU has launched a legal process, the result of which could be the termination of Euro-donations for Hungary. The reaction of EU countries prompts the Hungarian leadership to withdraw its veto of the EU oil embargo against Russia," the Center said in a statement.

This is the thesis spread by the Russian propagandist media allegedly referring to The Washington Post. The reports claim that most Americans are "dissatisfied with Biden's policy toward Ukraine." As fact checkers at StopFake write, for example, propaganda resources presented the results of a poll conducted among Americans in late April 2022. The propagandists claim that Americans are dissatisfied with both the sanctions imposed against Russia and the amount of military aid to Ukraine. According to StopFake poll by The Washington Post-ABC News, the number of Americans who support Biden's activities related to the war in Ukraine has increased. The percentage of those who do not support the policy, however, has not changed. "This survey showed that a majority of Americans, despite concerns about the war, agree that Ukraine needs even more help. Other surveys conducted at different times and by other organizations also show broad support for Ukraine among Americans and assistance," - the fact checkers write.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, this is the thesis spread by Russian propaganda with reference to the speaker of the Russian State Duma, Volodin. The propaganda claims that today's Kyiv leadership is a country in a debt hole"" and ""many future generations of Ukrainian citizens will pay for all the ammunition, equipment and food the U.S. will supply.

"'This statement is a deliberate manipulation. Under the terms of the lend-lease program, Ukraine could receive potentially unlimited support from the U.S. and other countries, not only for weapons, ammunition and equipment, but also for medicine, food and other necessities, all while bypassing export controls. Under the terms of the program, used military equipment can be written off, and no payment can be made for destroyed equipment. The lend-lease agreement will supplement Congress' preliminary defense support for Ukraine, which has already received $1.7 billion in military aid authorized since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion," the center said in a statement. Russian propaganda benefits from spreading such messages, because it allegedly levels aid for Ukraine from allied countries and to some extent discredits them, saying that because of their aid Ukrainians will be left in debt.

This is the information disseminated by Russian propaganda media. The reports claim that the Ukrainian Motor Sich Concern is developing the new bayraktars. They add that such devices will spray viruses from the air. ""In fact, we are talking about the development by the Kiev regime of means of delivery of biological weapons with the possibility of use against Russia,"" the reports say.

However, this is not true. As Ukrainska Pravda writes, no documentary or visual evidence of such a request has been cited in Russian propaganda. However, the activity of the so-called biolaboratories Russian propaganda recently cited as another reason for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. You can read more about the so-called biolaboratories at the link."