Propagandists again tried to undermine the authority of Ukrainian refugees by disseminating information, allegedly the Indian TV channel WION published a video in which they claim that 93% of Ukrainian male refugees purchased tickets to Asia through Europe. They say that the hotel booking service Booking recorded an increased demand for flights on April 23, 2024. The video explains that this happened as a result of an order from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restrict consular services to men. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the WION channel did not actually have such a video, but instead the propagandists assembled it from various sources. An example of this is a video in which the executive director of Human Rights Watch talks about women's rights. It was taken from another interview back in 2023 and has nothing to do with Ukrainian refugees. Moreover, the Booking service has not confirmed any changes in demand for tickets.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes against it.

Propagandists began disseminating information on social networks and the media that Ukraine intends to mobilize Russians and Belarusians who are in the country with the status of political refugees. In such “news” they attach a fake “document” in which, as they claim, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi addresses the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umierov with a corresponding initiative. “It says that the Ukrainian command initiated the conscription of citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus with the status of political refugees to serve in a special unit formed from foreigners”, propagandists write. This “document” was allegedly signed personally by Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrskyi. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that, despite the fact that neither Russian media nor social media users provide any additional information about who published the “document”, Russian propaganda began discussing it with various “experts” in propaganda programs.

StopFake submitted an information request to the Public Relations Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They asked whether such an initiative and such a document really existed. They were told that this information was not true.

In addition, the fact of forgery of the “document” is confirmed by the presence of a number of gross errors, which were probably made by a person who does not speak Ukrainian. For example, propaganda uses the word “we care” in a sentence where we should have written “we urge.” It is likely that the propagandists mistranslated the Russian word “boy” (to try to help someone), which would have been more appropriate in a Russian document. Another example is with the phrase “the issue of conscripting foreigners”. The word “call” (call, invite) is incorrectly used in the context of the appeal “about mobilization”. Propaganda should have written “the issue of conscription (mobilization) of foreigners”.

They are spreading such manipulations to disrupt the mobilization process in Ukraine.  Detector Media also refuted other fabrications of Russian propaganda on this issue.

Propagandists are distributing a video on social networks with the symbols of the European news channel Euronews, which states that a refugee from Ukraine allegedly created a beauty salon in Poland with mosquitoes, the bite of which was supposed to relieve clients of cellulite. The video reports that after one of the patients was admitted to a Gdansk hospital with allergies, Polish police allegedly detained Kateryna Ivanchenko, the woman who, according to propagandists, organized this business, for fraud. “The Ukrainian woman earned 1 million zlotys from ordinary mosquitoes, which were believed to suck out fat”, the publications note. In fact, this information is not true.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that the video distributed online imitates the design of Euronews videos - in particular, the company logo can be seen in the upper right corner of the video. However, there is no such story either on the official website or on the media company’s social networks. The fact that this story is completely fictitious is indicated by the fact that none of the Polish media also reported such cases of fraud on the part of the Ukrainian woman.

To create a fake video, attackers used video clips from free stock videos. To illustrate the fictitious arrest of the owner of a beauty salon, a video clip of the arrest of a suspect in the arson of a shopping center in Gdansk was taken. This incident occurred in July 2020 and has nothing to do with the incident described in the fake video.

The purpose of this fake is to discredit refugees from Ukraine in the eyes of the Poles. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian fakes regarding Ukrainian refugees.

On social networks and Russian public pages, propagandists are actively spreading messages that “a group of Ukrainian refugees, dissatisfied with the policies of the Polish authorities regarding the supply of Ukrainian goods and insufficient military assistance, staged an act of revenge and set fire to the pharmaceutical composition of Farmacol in Katowice on the evening of April 8”. Propagandists are also distributing two short videos from the scene, one of which shows a burning building with the inscription Farmacol. Social networks traditionally use hate speech and accusations against Ukrainian refugees. However, this is another fake of Russian propaganda.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that on the evening of April 8, 2024, in the Polish city of Katowice, a warehouse belonging to the pharmaceutical company Farmacol actually burned, but Ukrainian refugees had nothing to do with this incident. No Polish media or any other reliable source has information about the arson of the train specifically by Ukrainians.

Moreover, the Polish site Fakehunter also denied this fake and quoted the deputy head of the prosecutor's office of the Southern District of Katowice, Slawomir Barnas: “Previous conclusions made at the visual review stage exclude the possibility of arson in this place, not to mention the fact that the culprits were foreigners”. The prosecutor's office does not yet want to comment on the true cause of the fire, since it does not yet have an expert opinion, but it calls the version that Ukrainian citizens were involved in the incident unfounded.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to demonize Ukrainian refugees in Poland and cause a negative attitude towards them. Thus, they also want Poland to stop helping Ukraine and its people. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian lies about Ukrainian refugees.

Propagandists, citing the Australian edition of the Daily Telegraph, are disseminating information that German police allegedly announced the neutralization of “the largest network of shoplifters in the last 10 years”. According to these reports, a group of fraudsters who stole goods from shops in 12 cities in Germany included Ukrainian refugees and stole €2.7 million in six months. To confirm this information, propagandists are distributing corresponding screenshots and a video report from the Daily Telegraph. However, this is fake.

StopFake specialists drew attention to it. They found that the Daily Telegraph never posted the video on its social media and there is no corresponding news on their website. The latest mentions of Ukraine and Ukrainians, which can be found on the Daily Telegraph website, concern regular shelling by Russian civilian forces in Ukraine.

Although the attackers used the Daily Telegraph logo in the video, the media company's actual videos look different: they do not have the publication's logo, the inscriptions are made on a white or black background, and the entire video is accompanied by the voice of a journalist, while the video distributed online only has musical accompaniment. The attackers tried to imitate the Daily Telegraph's corporate style, using the publication's collage style, which they publish on their social networks. However, this attempt was unsuccessful as the font in the fake video was significantly different from the one used by the Daily Telegraph.

The news about the neutralization of a group of Ukrainian refugees who allegedly committed shoplifting in Germany is also fiction. None of the important German media reported such an incident. Fake messages are distributed exclusively on Russian news sites and anonymous telegram channels.

Propagandists spread such messages to discredit Ukrainian refugees abroad and make foreigners dislike them. Detector Media has already repeatedly refuted other Russian fabrications against Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

Anonymous claims that German police have allegedly exposed “the largest network of shoplifters in the last 10 years”. The group of fraudsters who stole goods from stores in 12 cities in Germany allegedly included refugees from Ukraine - in 6 months they allegedly stole 2.7 million euros. The messages refer to the Daily Telegraph material and an alleged story made by the publication’s media workers. It is not true.

StopFake fact-checkers investigated the case and found that there was no such story on the website and social networks of the Daily Telegraph. Russian propaganda used the Daily Telegraph's corporate style to create a story and fake news to create false confirmation of a non-existent news about the detention of a “gang of Ukrainian refugees”.

That is, both the news itself and the “plot” are fiction.

A screenshot from the supposedly official website of the EU Delegation to Ukraine is being circulated online, containing information about the “deportation of 830,000 Ukrainians to resolve the conflict”. The authors of the “news” report that lists of citizens subject to deportation have already been compiled, so they invite you to go to the telegram bot to familiarize yourself with them.

In fact, this information is fake, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. There is no publication of similar content on the official website of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

Probably, such content is distributed to increase the reach of anonymous telegram channels to which links lead. In addition, the creators of the fake seek to destabilize the situation in Europe and make Ukrainian refugees object to their future in EU countries. Previously, we denied information that German citizens allegedly advocate the forced extradition of Ukrainian refugees from the country.

In an interview for the Polish news channel Polsat News, former Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army Raimund Andrzejczak, according to propagandists, expressed the opinion that Ukraine’s losses should be estimated in millions, not hundreds of thousands. However, this information is manipulated.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found that in his speech Andrzejczak mentioned the losses associated with the large flow of refugees and limited resources for mobilization. He spoke of a certain threat, pointing to the shortage of people in Ukraine and the problem with mobilization capacity, claiming “10 million refugees”.

However, Andrzejczak's estimates of losses are not precise. According to the Mykhailo Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Research, more than 9 million Ukrainians are abroad, only some of them are refugees, and the others are labor migrants or those who left the country earlier. According to various estimates, the number of Ukrainian refugees ranges from 4.9 to 6.5 million.

The Center for Economic Strategy study also cites different figures, pointing to fewer Ukrainians abroad due to the war. Estimates of the actual losses of the Ukrainian military also vary, but do not reach millions. Approximate numbers of dead and prisoners are contained in the materials of the “Book of Memory of those who fell for Ukraine”, which has been keeping records of losses as a result of the war since 2014.

Propagandists often take phrases of famous politicians and military personnel out of context in order to dramatize the situation and cause despondency among Ukrainians.

Russian telegram channels, with reference to Polish border guards, disseminate information that during February 5, 2024, 16,400 people left Ukraine for Poland. The reason for this is the alleged flight of Ukrainians from Zelenskyi.

In fact, Russian propagandists manipulate information. This is written about in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. So, on February 5, 2024, 16,400 people actually left Ukraine for Poland, but on the same day 17,600 people returned from Poland to Ukraine. In addition, this does not mean that none of those who left will return back. These days, when the skies over Ukraine are closed to civil aircraft, one of the few options to get to any other country is to go through Poland. Ukrainians can visit their relatives abroad, travel or go on their own business, and then return back.

In this case, the Russians resort to one of the propaganda tactics called “selective truth”. Its essence is that a statement may be partially true, may be completely true but not include the whole truth, or may contain several deceptive elements. That is, in the message about the “flight of Ukrainians from Zelenskyi”, the Russians deliberately kept silent about the 17,600 people who returned from Poland to Ukraine on February 5, 2024, thereby providing one-sided information.

• Read also: Ukrainian refugees are caught on the Polish-German border to send them to the front.

Anonymous telegram channels are distributing a video allegedly from the European media Euronews, which states that a Ukrainian refugee in a Paris museum broke the statue of the Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg “Journey to Self-Discovery”, imitating sexual intercourse with it. It's a lie.

The case was investigated by VoxCheck analysts, who determined that Euronews did not create such a story, and the video was simply assembled from different photos and videos that were not related to each other. For example, no information about such an incident could be found on the official media pages on social networks: on the media website, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.

Using a reverse search on Google, it turned out that all the footage was used in the so-called story - can be found in the public domain. In addition, according to the information presented in the video, the statue was damaged and its limbs (arm and leg) were broken off. However, this was not shown on the video. No additional information about the destruction of the sculpture was found in other media.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research.

On social networks in the Russian segment, they are allegedly distributing data based on infographics on the Eurostat website (this is the EU statistical office), which notes that the majority of German citizens surveyed support the forced extradition of Ukrainian refugees. It is not true.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found out that there are simply no such statistics on the Eurostat website, which the propagandists refer to. Moreover, no German media mentioned such a survey. Therefore, this is simply a fiction of Russian propagandists. Experts also cite as an example another survey by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the results of which determined that 62% of German residents agree that the country should accept refugees from Ukraine. The study was conducted in September 2023.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation.

Social media users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric are distributing an image that is described as the cover of the new issue of the Indian edition of Rodip Reb dated December 30. On one side of the cover one sees Ukrainian refugees, and on the other - rodents. It is accompanied by an English inscription: “BATTLE FOR EUROPE. Moles and refugees: the situation in Europe is becoming increasingly tense”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the MythDetector project drew attention to it. They found out that it was a photomontage. Indian edition called Rodip Reb. None of the search engines, including Google and Bing, have results for this edition. The image being circulated contains the website address www.rodipreb.in, but the said site cannot be accessed. After publishing the cover of the same non-existent publication, MythDetector verified its authenticity with the Indian fact-checking organization FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH. It confirmed that an Indian publication called Rodip Reb does not exist. The image is also impossible to find on the Internet outside of the telegram channels and Facebook communities where it was distributed.

Propagandists regularly resort to spreading “fairy covers” to create the false impression that the world is gradually ceasing to support Ukraine. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other publications with false covers from various world publications.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the head of the Chernihiv state military administration, Viacheslav Chaus, at a press conference following the results of 2023, said that more than 50 thousand mobilized from the Chernihiv region have already died in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In fact, this information is not true, reports the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. At the press conference, Chaus reported on the demographic situation in the region and noted that the decrease in indicators by 50 thousand residents is due to displaced persons since the beginning of active hostilities in other regions of Ukraine or abroad. That is, the information about the alleged disclosure by the head of the Chernihiv state military administration of the number of people mobilized in the region is a fiction of Russian propaganda, since Chaus did not make any statements on this topic.

In addition, exact data on the distribution of those mobilized by region is not published in open sources, as well as information on the number of killed and wounded defenders of Ukraine. The last is a state secret that will be disclosed only after the end of the great war.

Russian propaganda continues to speculate on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine, which has become sensitive for Ukrainians, since this topic concerns almost every family. The purpose of spreading this disinformation is to intimidate the Ukrainian people, saying that compared to the Chernivtsi region, the numbers throughout Ukraine should be tens of times higher. More exposures of fakes and manipulations by Russians on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine can be found here.

Russian propaganda resources are disseminating information that there are checkpoints on the Polish-German border where Ukrainian refugees are allegedly detained in order to deport them. It's fake.

This misinformation was processed by the fact-checkers from the StopFake project. They found out that the mentioned checkpoints do exist, but they are not related to Ukraine. The checkpoints are set up for security reasons and are related to the influx of illegal migrants and the activities of smugglers who smuggle people across the border illegally. According to the head of the press and information department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Illarion Pavliuk, the Ministry is not developing any measures to put pressure on Ukrainians liable for military service who have traveled abroad.

After the promulgation of the Bill of December 25, 2023 to improve certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service, Russian propaganda speculates noticeably more on the topic of mobilization. The bill in the first reading contains, in particular, an invitation to Ukrainians abroad to clarify their credentials. However, this is not a hunt for people, and no forced mobilization outside of Ukraine is planned.

Pro-Russian resources write that Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support employees began handing out draft notices to Ukrainian men in Warsaw. As proof, propagandists are distributing a video in which a man in military uniform allegedly issues a draft notice to a Ukrainian in the Polish capital.

In fact, the video is staged - it was shot by a Ukrainian military man who is undergoing rehabilitation in Warsaw after being seriously wounded in the war. The purpose of this production, according to the military man, is “to fray the nerves of evaders” who left Ukraine illegally. He spoke about this in a new video distributed by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Russian propaganda systematically speculates on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine, in particular, spreading disinformation. Propagandists fuel their narrative with this fake, saying that the Ukrainian authorities are pursuing a policy of “grabbing” ordinary Ukrainians. Moreover, from now on they will supposedly “catch” Ukrainians abroad. Previously, we worked on the Russian message, according to which paying assistance to Ukrainian male refugees seems to be much more expensive than transferring them to the service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Pro-Russian online publications and users of social networks are spreading a call to expel Ukrainian refugees from Germany to Ukraine in order to relieve the burden on the German budget to pay assistance to Ukrainian men and cover the “large losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” with recruits. By spreading this thesis, they distort an article by Peter Carstens, a journalist for the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung to liaise with and match Russian propaganda. It was analyzed by the fact-checker of the StopFake project.

The FAZ article does not call for the deportation of refugees. At the same time, the author compares the costs of social assistance to refugees who have received asylum in Germany with military support from Ukraine. From February 24, 2022 to September 2023, Germany has allocated approximately 24 billion euros to support Ukraine. Of this amount, more than 15 billion euros were allocated to help Ukrainian refugees. Data from the German Federal Government shows that military support to the Ukrainian army by the end of December 2023 amounted to only 5.4 billion euros. Carstens argues that this ratio of spending is ineffective in the context of the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine and it is necessary to increase the share of spending on military support for Kyiv.

Peter Carstens also presented the positions that exist in German society regarding Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. In particular, he wrote that there are not enough workers in Ukraine not only at the front, but also for civil defense or for extinguishing fires. Carstens also quoted Bundestag member Roderich Kiesewetter: “It would be very helpful if the government could make an agreement so that these young people or older people can return without having to go to the front if they don’t want to”.

In early January, the topic of deportation of Ukrainian men from Europe appeared in fake news about the establishment of checkpoints to “filtrate” Ukrainian men with subsequent mobilization into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And also in conspiracy theories about the existence of a secret order for the return of men aged 18 to 60 years from abroad, otherwise their passports and Ukrainian citizenship will be revoked.

With such messages, propagandists try to incite distrust in the governments of states hosting Ukrainians. They are also manipulating the topic of developing a bill that could change the rules for registering those liable for military servicemen and performing military service.

One of the propaganda telegram channels disseminated information that due to “numerous violations” of visa-free rules by Ukrainian refugees, sanctions would be applied to them in the form of a ban on free movement between EU countries.

In fact, there were no “statements” about restricting the right of refugees from Ukraine to move freely throughout the EU countries either from officials or from the relevant EU bodies. Also, the propaganda message on the telegram does not contain any specific information about “numerous violations” by Ukrainians in Europe, note investigators from the “No Lies” project. To make the message “plausible”, the creators of the fake placed in its text the names of several countries with a link, which supposedly should show what restrictions were introduced in these countries. However, there is no such information there.

By spreading this misinformation, propagandists are trying to create a picture that Ukrainian refugees have already fed everyone up and that they are the cause of all the troubles and problems in Europe. Previously, we denied information that German citizens support the forced extradition of Ukrainian refugees.

Propagandists are distributing an allegedly official letter, which states that Ukrainian men born between 1960 and 2006 who have submitted documents to obtain a passport at the foreign representative offices of the Document State Enterprise will receive temporary travel documents to return to Ukraine. Data about them will supposedly be entered into the register of persons liable for military service and will be provided for verification to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support. Those who are wanted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support will allegedly have their passport revoked.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security wrote about this.

Firstly, the Document State Enterprise does not have the authority to issue “temporary travel documents for returning to Ukraine” - this is handled by diplomatic missions or consular offices.

Secondly, men born in 1960 are now 63-64 years old, in 2006 - 17-18 years old. Only men from 27 to 60 years old are eligible for the prize. Here is another proof of the falsity of the information.

Thirdly, the mentioned letter was allegedly signed by Volodymyr Shvachko, but he was suspended from exercising his powers as general director for the duration of the internal investigation from December 26, 2023 to January 19, 2024. That is, he could not do this. If this “document” were real, it would not have been signed by Shvachko, but by a temporary acting official.

Fourthly, the “letter” contains a number of errors, including spelling errors. For example, “as received” is a tracing-paper from Russian. The text of the “letter” itself begins with the words “At your request”, but does not first contain the name of the person who made this request - this is unacceptable in official business correspondence.

By distributing this fake document online, Russian propaganda is trying to intimidate Ukrainian men abroad, saying that “the authorities have taken them seriously: they will all be found and mobilized”. This release of information took place against the backdrop of a sensational bill dated December 25, 2023 to improve certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service. In particular, it proposes to introduce verification of men who are abroad. In addition, it spells out the negative consequences of violating the law if it is adopted in its original form.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that under the “influence of Ukrainian gangs” money laundering, trafficking in children, drugs, weapons, etc. are flourishing in Poland. The publications refer to materials from Polish media.

The VoxCheck analysts worked on the case and explained that the material was published in a Polish-language media system that systematically disseminates Kremlin propaganda. Consequently, any theses do not claim to provide objective information.

One of the materials that really reveals the topic of crimes committed by foreigners in Poland is the material in the publication Rzeczpospolita, which analyzes what crimes migrants have committed in Poland in 2022. The National Police Headquarters prepared statistics specifically for the publication on crimes committed by foreigners in Poland. Thus, in total in 2022, 15 thousand crimes were committed by representatives of different nationalities; Ukrainians, as the largest group, as well as Belarusians and Georgians, were most often included in the statistics. Analysts add: there are about 1.5 million people with Ukrainian citizenship in Poland. That is, according to relative indicators, the number of Ukrainian offenders is 0.15% of all Ukrainians in Poland. The most common type of crime among foreigners, notes Rzeczpospolita, is driving while intoxicated. The second most popular crime is drug possession.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation.

Detector Media analysts have refuted a number of fakes and manipulations on the topic of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. For example, we analyzed a manipulation to increase thefts in Polish stores by a third, allegedly due to Ukrainian refugees. But they also explained another manipulation, according to which propagandists claimed that the attitude of many Poles towards Ukrainians had worsened.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the results of a survey from the statistical service of the European Union showed that the majority of German citizens are in favor of Ukrainian refugees being forcibly extradited. However, this is fake.

There are no such statistics on the Eurostat website, which the propagandists refer to. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. That is, information about the Germans’ support for the extradition of Ukrainian refugees is yet another propaganda fake. Another proof of the falsehood of the information is that this “survey” was not mentioned in any of the leading German media.

The goal of propagandists is to create the illusion that the world is tired of Ukrainians and Ukraine as a whole. Thus, Russian propaganda also seeks to demoralize Ukrainian refugees abroad, claiming that no one needs them and only creates problems where they come.

Read also: Ukrainians in Ireland are allegedly extradited to serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the results of a survey from the statistical service of the European Union showed that the majority of German citizens are in favor of Ukrainian refugees being forcibly extradited. However, this is a fake.

There are no such statistics on the Eurostat website, which the propagandists refer to. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. That is, information about the Germans’ support for the extradition of Ukrainian refugees is yet another propaganda fake. Another proof of the falsehood of the information is that this “survey” was not mentioned in any of the leading German media.

The goal of propagandists is to create the illusion that the world is tired of Ukrainians and Ukraine as a whole. Thus, Russian propaganda also seeks to demoralize Ukrainian refugees abroad, claiming that no one needs them and only creates problems where they come.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the man who carried out the shooting at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) allegedly turned out to be an ethnic Galician, an emigrant from Ukraine. According to propagandists, the Czech media are trying not to voice this fact, since it seems that too many serious crimes have already been committed by Ukrainians in the country. It's fake.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council worked on this case. They found out that the information about the shooter’s connection with Ukraine had already been denied by the head of the Czech Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vit Rakušan, who said at one of his briefings that “the shooter, Davyd Kozak, was a Czech from birth, who grew up in a Czech family... had no relations with Ukraine”.

Russian propagandists are trying to cultivate a biased attitude among foreigners towards Ukrainian refugees abroad by spreading fake information on this topic online. Like, “Ukrainians are to blame for all the world’s ills”. Previously, we refuted information that a shameful monument to Ukrainian refugees in the form of a gnome was allegedly erected in Wroclaw.

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.

Ukrainians in Europe began to receive messages inviting them to gather for protests in European cities and take up posters with the inscriptions: “Give people peace”, “We want peace in Europe”, “Important people”, “Ukraine is the most tired of all”, “We demand peace!” and things like that. The senders of such messages claim that the demonstration itself will last only 5-10 minutes, and during this time it will also be necessary to shoot a video. In addition, there is a prepared text for the rally, after reading which presumably on camera the performer will receive as much as 100 euros. All other protesters are promised 50 euros each or “payment for the road and delicious coffee”.

The text, which is supposed to be read by one of the protesters, contains unusual constructions for the Ukrainian language. For example, “in Ukraine” or “the Hungarian branch of a public association of Ukrainians”. In addition, this text mentions the “voice of reason” of Arestovych, who allegedly “suffers attacks” from Zelenskyi. However, it is worth noting that the former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine was distinguished by his defense of “good Russians” and destructive statements about Ukraine, its authorities and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, therefore, as a result, the SBU began to deal with him.

Among other messages of planned rallies, the following should be heard: “war for them (ed. – the military-political leadership of Ukraine) is unlimited power, and for the common people it is a deep demographic catastrophe, daily horrors and impoverishment in a foreign land” or “if it’s difficult now to talk about peace, first we will discuss a ceasefire!”.

Unknown people expect to gather 30-35 Ukrainians for such rallies. We urge one not to fall for such messages and to respect the Ukrainian military, who at the cost of their own lives are protecting the citizens of Ukraine from the Russian invasion. Previously, we analyzed disinformation about alleged payments to all Ukrainians in the amount of 6,600 hryvnia.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are disseminating information that in Poland, in Wroclaw, which is famous for its street gnomes, their collection has been replenished with a new sculpture - a male refugee with a Ukrainian passport and a suitcase. However, this is fake.

The specialists from the BezBrekhni (No Lies) project investigated this case. They found out that there are no official publications on the establishment of such a figurine in Wroclaw. However, in March 2023, gnomes connected with Ukraine were actually installed there - this is a refugee with a child in her arms and a suitcase, as well as a volunteer. Thus, the Poles expressed gratitude to those who help Ukrainian refugees after February 24, 2022.

Propagandists are trying to create the impression that Ukrainians are not welcome abroad and that no one needs them. That is why the Russians resorted to a fake with such a “shameful monument” in Wroclaw. Previously, we denied information that Poland had canceled payments for Ukrainian refugees from January 1, 2024.

Propaganda resources are disseminating information that supposedly Ukrainian refugees in Dresden (Germany) are being given canned cockroaches as humanitarian aid. As proof of their assertion, the Russians provide a video with such canned food in the hands of a “Ukrainian refugee”. However, this is a fake.

Journalists from the StopFake project drew attention to this case. They found that there was no information confirming the fact that Ukrainian refugees in Dresden or any other city received such canned food as humanitarian aid. Moreover, canned goods with the name like in the video are not available for sale in German or Austrian online stores at all. Such canned food can indeed be bought on large marketplaces, but not as a food product, but only as an “entertaining gift for Halloween”. Considering this, it can be argued that the video distributed by the network is fake.

Previously, some Kremlin-controlled media have already used the topic of eating insects as food in some Western countries for their own propaganda purposes, building a narrative about the decline of the West and the harm of anti-Russian sanctions. Detector Media denied the information that the alleged invasion of bedbugs in France is a consequence of anti-Russian sanctions.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels and other social networks are spreading fake information that Poland is allegedly canceling payments to Ukrainian refugees from January 1, 2024. They say that Poland was Ukraine’s lawyer in the European Union, but Zelenskyi quickly managed to turn a friend into an enemy. As proof of this decision, users add a screenshot of the news from November 17, 2023, allegedly from the official website of the Polish government.

After disseminating such information, StopFake decided to check whether the Polish government really made a similar decision and reported it on the official website. As it turned out, the information disseminated is not true.

Project specialists went to the corresponding website of the Polish government, from which they allegedly took a screenshot distributed by propagandists. There is a separate page for citizens of Ukraine, containing official information for refugees in Ukrainian. Among the news published there, there is no information that the Polish government has decided to cancel social payments for refugees from January 1. The remaining publications are still relevant, in which you can familiarize yourself with all existing assistance programs. While researching this site, they also found the same picture with which Russian propaganda created a fake screenshot. The news “Living and working in Poland – 2022” uses the same image as in the false reports spread by propagandists. In addition, in the edited “announcement”, Russian propaganda made a mistake: the word “terminates” in Ukrainian should have been written in another way. This error indicates that the information may be incorrect.

The StopFake analysts note that the Polish government has indeed publicly announced a possible reduction in assistance to Ukrainian refugees. In October 2023, a representative of the Polish government, Piotr Müller, in an interview with the PAP agency, said that the decisions determined by the law on assistance to Ukrainians would probably lose force in the first quarter of next year and expressed the hope that “there is simply no need to continue them”. However, as of now, the Polish government has not announced that from January 1 all payments to Ukrainian refugees will be stopped.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to quarrel between Poles and Ukrainians, as well as to arouse mistrust of Ukrainians not only in the Polish government, but also in the Ukrainian one. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes involving Poland. The large number of Russian propaganda fictions about this country is due, among other things, to the high level of support for Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that, according to the results of a sociological survey by Global Service and European Migration Support Bureau, a third of Ukrainian youth have migrated to Russia. In addition, the majority of Ukrainian refugees there allegedly recognized Russian aggression as “liberation”, and among the reasons for migration they named “better medicine” and “less unemployment” in Russia. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the companies supposedly conducting this survey did not exist, and the information about the survey itself was fictitious. The incorrect information also indicates that the name of the European Migration Support Bureau is misspelled (probably European instead of European). Structures with similar names that deal with refugee issues do exist (for example, the European Union Agency for Asylum and the European Asylum Support Office), but none of them published the data indicated.

In addition, the very fact of conducting such a study is questionable, since Russian media admit that the survey involved Ukrainians who “traveled to the territory of Crimea or former Ukrainian regions that later joined Russia”. This does not reflect the actual situation, since many refugees ended up in Russia due to the lack of alternative evacuation routes.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to justify Russia’s crimes by saying that it is allegedly ready to create a better life for Ukrainians, ignoring the problems of its citizens.

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

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

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

A story allegedly from the European media Euronews is being spread on social networks in the Russian segment. It talks about the so-called 34-year-old Ukrainian refugee Petro Bondarenko, who was recently detained in Germany for committing a crime. He, according to the conclusions of the authors of the fake message, added the number 8 to houses with numbers 148. And then he divided the resulting number with the symbol / - thus forming the Nazi slogan 14/88. It is not true.

The VoxCheck project analysts investigated this case and found out that the news story about the Ukrainian refugee was compiled. At the same time, this news was also not found on the official Euronews website or on their pages on social networks. German media also did not come out with similar news.

In addition, the probable plot consists of numerous cuts of various videos that are not related to each other. For example, fakers used fragments of videos from different seasons, and this can be seen in the changes in natural phenomena: in one fragment, the leaves of the trees are green, and people are walking in light clothes while another part of the video depicts a completely different time of year, where people are dressed in warm clothes, and the leaves are no longer there, although, hypothetically, journalists cover events for one period of time, namely the moment of the “detention” of a Ukrainian refugee. The story also showed a law regulating the ban on the display of Nazi symbols in Germany, although in fact the propagandists illustrated the Australian law.

The image of the so-called Ukrainian refugee was used from the website “We face painting”, which published the photo back in 2011. Obviously, this photo has nothing to do with Ukraine.

Finally, propagandists are trying to show that Ukrainian refugees are supposedly a total threat to the sovereignty and security of EU countries. Russian propaganda, first of all, seeks to demoralize Ukrainian refugees in the eyes of Europeans and pass them off as supporters of Nazi ideology who are ready to resort to vandalism and violation of laws for their own purposes. All this contributes to a decrease in assistance to Ukraine from EU countries; and also leads to the victimization of Ukrainian refugees - when they are the only ones to blame for all the troubles.

We recommend reading our previous cases on this topic as the Kremlin systematically speculates on this:

- the Poles allegedly declared that they “don’t want to see” Ukrainian refugees in their country; 

- how a Ukrainian refugee barista “showed off his Nazi inclinations” by seeming to paint Nazi symbols on his coffee. 

And in our weekly review of disinformation, we talked on how propagandists lied about the mobilization of Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

In the Ukrainian segment of Instagram, a video is being circulated with information that the Estonian Council allegedly provides financial assistance to children for winter clothes in the amount of $250. “Today, the Estonian Council provides assistance for winter clothes to all children in Ukraine who are under 10 years old (...) Or one can choose a box with clothes”. To receive it, you need to follow the link and fill out the form. It is not true.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Brekhunets (The Liar) project. The page that distributed the video on Instagram has more than 20 thousand subscribers, and the link, where one can supposedly find a form to fill out, leads to the “Kyi City” telegram channel, which one needs to subscribe to.

Moreover, the fact-checkers checked the official information resources of the Estonian Refugee Council and determined that there was no such message. So, information about cash benefits from international organizations should be found on the organization’s official pages on social networks or on the official website.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that the Poles allegedly no longer want to see Ukrainians in their country and therefore began to massively support anti-Ukrainian parties. Like, CNN even writes about this, talking about large-scale demonstrations in Polish cities such as Lublin. However, this is manipulation.

This case was brought to the attention of specialists from the StopFake project and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They analyzed the publication’s original article, which is called “Poland’s goodwill towards Ukraine is weakening. The far right party is seizing the opportunity”. In fact, it only covers one of the pre-election rallies of the anti-Ukrainian and Eurosceptic Confederation party in Lublin. This explains the rhetoric against Ukrainian refugees among the event participants. At the same time, CNN journalists' interlocutors are confident in Ukraine's victory and the need to continue to support it despite all problems. There are indeed no statements in the article that the Poles “no longer want to see Ukrainians in their country”.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to create a quarrel between Ukrainians and Poles, as well as influence their internal politics, causing a hostile attitude towards Ukrainian refugees. Detector Media has already written about how Russian propaganda manipulated the topics of internal Polish politics before and after the recent parliamentary elections.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that a rally of Ukrainian refugees took place in Spain, allegedly holding signs saying “Hands off military aid to Ukraine” and “F*ck Israel”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They checked the photo distributed by the propagandists through an online image search tool and found out that the real photo was taken at the Israeli Friends of Ukraine rally in support of Ukraine, which took place in the summer of 2022. In the original version, the protest participant holds a poster with the inscription “Russia is a terrorist country”, but there is no poster with the inscription about Israel at all.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees abroad and create artificial competition for receiving military assistance from the West. Detector Media wrote how Russian propaganda is also manipulating the topic of Israel’s war against Hamas.

This thesis was spread in pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that Poles are increasingly hostile towards Ukrainians, whom they do not want to see on Polish territory. The authors argue that anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland has increased and even political parties with such rhetoric are becoming increasingly popular among citizens. To support this position, publications refer to CNN material. This is manipulation.

The StopFake analysts investigated this case and determined that the journalistic material covered the events of the election campaign in Poland, namely the rally of the Confederation party in Lublin on the eve of the elections. It is a far-right political force that proclaims nationalist views, anti-migrant sentiments and radical Euroscepticism. Accordingly, the events and characters covered in the CNN report naturally express their attitude to a particular issue. These are sympathizers of the ultra-right party.

For example, a fifteen-year-old boy told media workers from an American television and radio company that he was helping organize the event because he was against LGBT people, against the European Union and against abortion. Or another hero of a mass event argued that “some Ukrainians feel too much at home”. It is not surprising that supporters of a party that expresses right-wing rhetoric relay it. That is, this is what CNN journalists showed. However, they did not incline or create their own judgments that the Poles “do not want to see” Ukrainian refugees. Media people clearly indicated whose rhetoric this was and whether it generally coincided with the position of the state. At the same time, propagandists did not provide complete information and background of the event. Using the rally of the far-right party, the manipulators legitimized their theses and extended their conclusions to the entire Polish population.

As for the thesis about the ubiquitous popularity of parties with anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, it is untrue. The same “Confederation” received the lowest result among parliamentary elections - 18 seats in the Seimas and 7.16% of the votes.

The Polish Center for Public Opinion Research recently conducted a study of support for Ukrainians. Thus, 65% of Poles are in favor of accepting Ukrainian refugees in Poland. In addition, 64% believe that Russian aggression poses a direct threat to the security of Poland. Consequently, the thesis about the lack of support for Ukrainian refugees among Poles is also untrue.

Russian propaganda is once again trying to show a “decline in support for Ukrainians” in EU countries and others that have accepted Ukrainian refugees. In particular, they often turn to the Poles, one of Ukraine’s closest neighbors and strategic partners. Thus, the authors want to sow discord among Ukrainians and Poles.

Read our latest cases on this topic: allegedly, in Poland they accuse Ukrainians of “manifestations of Nazism”; or an anti-Ukrainian flash mob allegedly took place, initiated by the Poles.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels claim that German cities are in debt because of “too much” aid for Ukrainian refugees. They say that local politicians emphasize that refugees “don’t want to go to work” because they receive a large amount of funds as part of social assistance. Propagandists cite statements by officials such as the Lord Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd Richard Arnold, the Minister for Migration of Baden-Württemberg Marion Gentjes and the President of the Baden-Württemberg District Council Joachim Walter. At various times they actually made similar statements, which were refuted by journalists from the regional public broadcaster SWR.

1. Ukrainian refugees receive 3,000 euros of net income per family from Germany

This is not true. According to SWR calculations, single parents or family members receive €502 per month, partners in the same family €451 each, children aged 14 to 17 €420, children aged 6–13 €348 and children under 6 – € 318. Therefore, a family of four with two children aged 12 and 14 will have a total benefit of 1,691 euros. But a single mother with two children under 6 years old will receive only 1,138 euros per month. The broadcaster's journalists note that this is not very good for German prices, given inflation. Moreover, of the 177,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Baden-Württemberg between March 2022 and September 2023, only 98,347 received assistance from the state. This refutes the fact that the poor economic situation in the region is caused solely by Ukrainian refugees.

Analyzing the statements of President Walter, journalists came to the conclusion that in order to overstate the amount of assistance to Ukrainian refugees in his statements, he is using an initiative that will come into force on January 1, 2024, according to which the amount of assistance will be increased by 50 euros per person, that is, by approximately 200 Euro more for one average family. But even after this, the increase in the benefit will not reach the mentioned 3,000–3,500 euros. In addition, Walter refers to the fact that refugees still have a lot of benefits, for example, for school children - school supplies or payment for housing. However, not everything is so simple with them either.

2. Employment centers pay for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees in Germany

This is true, but this solution does not have unanimous support in German society due to its economic feasibility. For example, the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt criticized the idea due to the fact that job centers spent too much money on renting apartments. According to a calculation made for the trade union by the Pestel Institute, employment centers will spend more than 20 billion euros on accommodation in 2023. Because of this, the overall rental price in Baden-Württemberg increased from 5.43 euros to 7.75 euros per square meter. Trade unions say the state should provide and build social housing, for example in the Austrian capital, so as not to destabilize the property market.

3. Ukrainians in Germany don’t want to work

This is a standard message of Russian propaganda, which is being picked up by German politicians this time. However, SWR journalists refuted these claims. In particular, they note that the majority of Ukrainian refugees in the region are women with children, who must often care for them independently. Accordingly, due to lack of time and the need to care for their families, they are unable to go to work.

In addition, in Germany there are still problems with the recognition of qualifications and professional training received in Ukraine. For example, SWR told the story of Ukrainian doctor Olha Soloviova, who was forced to work as a cleaner in Germany because her qualifications were not recognized. She currently works in an Austrian clinic. These restrictions are another obstacle for those refugees who have high qualifications and years of work experience and want to work in the EU, but cannot due to lack of recognition of all this during employment.

By spreading such messages, Russian propagandists want to once again discredit Ukrainian refugees and demotivate Europeans to support Ukraine. Detector Media has previously published a great investigation on what other harmful narratives about Ukrainian refugees are being spread by Russians.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social media claim that Ukrainian soldiers sent abroad for treatment and refugees contracted infections in Ukrainian hospitals and then spread these diseases to the EU. They say that these infections are resistant to most antibiotics, and this supposedly proves that the United States is testing bioweapons in Ukraine. In doing so, they refer to an article by the Financial Times.

The message was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project. They found out that this was not true. An October 2 Financial Times article titled “Ukrainian infections show rising threat of antibiotic resistance” stated that Russia's invasion of Ukraine back in 2014 contributed to the rise in drug-resistant infections in Western Europe. As the authors point out, this could be due to the toxicity of heavy metals in the balls, which caused injuries and wounds that could lead to infections, as well as the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The situation was also complicated by the fact that medical facilities in combat regions were often damaged, tests to determine the necessary antibiotic were largely lacking, and local residents forced to leave the region could carry these diseases. The article also pointed out that after the start of the full-scale invasion, due to the arrival of Ukrainian military and refugees in EU countries, there was indeed an increase in the number of drug-resistant infections. In particular, they explain this by the fact that in some regions the healthcare system was overloaded.

The VoxCheck experts once again note that there are no US biological laboratories in Ukraine, and no country is engaged in the production or testing of biological weapons here. They also found that antibiotic resistance is an international trend that occurs due to the limited number of effective drugs available and the low number of new drug developments. According to the publication, even states that spend a lot of money on financing the healthcare system cannot cope with this problem.

Propagandists spread this message to discredit Ukrainians and create artificial panic about their presence in Europe. They say that helping Ukrainians is dangerous. Detector Media also wrote about other messages and fakes with which Russia is trying to discredit both the Ukrainian military and refugees.

Such information is disseminated in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The authors of the messages refer to a story from the French TV channel CNews and write that in France, Ukrainian refugees are already being thrown out onto the streets to shelter illegal immigrants from Africa. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated that the story of the French TV channel was about a shelter in a school for migrants from Africa and was not about the eviction of Ukrainians. Previously, Ukrainian refugees actually lived in the school building, but by the time the migrants moved in, they had already left the shelter.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to create the illusion that Ukraine’s allies are tired of the war and no longer want to help Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake news that Ukrainian refugees are giving birth to children for sale.

Russian media, broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, are disseminating information that Ukrainian refugees are allegedly engaged in giving birth to children for sale in special bunkers in Switzerland. “Children are bought as goods by foreigners, and a Swiss company earns billions from this”, Russian propaganda writes and refers to the American podcast Redacted. It's fake.

The case was noticed by the checkers of the StopFake project. The American podcast Redacted, which Russian propagandists refer to, was created by the spouses Clayton and Natalie Morris, who are engaged in spreading conspiracy theories, myths about vaccination and Kremlin narratives regarding Ukraine. Applications about the birth of children in special bunkers are accompanied by a video where one can see bomb shelters with children, cots and medical personnel.

The fact-checker, using an image search, established that the footage used by the propaganda was filmed by the Ukrainian company BioTexCom, which deals with surrogacy. During the full-scale invasion, the company equipped a bomb shelter. However, there was no talk of “Swiss bunkers”. Moreover, surrogacy is prohibited in Switzerland.

In this way, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Switzerland, show that the event is profiting from Ukrainian refugees, and deal a reputational blow to the companies supporting them. Previously, Detector Media refuted the fake news that Ukrainian refugees in Germany are being urged to learn the vocabulary of cleaners in order to find work.

Such information is disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports describe how a Ukrainian refugee allegedly set fire to a DNA research center in California. The reason for this crime, as telegram anonymous people say, was dissatisfaction with the genetic test conducted the day before. It turned out that the man is supposedly only 7.9% ethnic Ukrainian. Video evidence is added to the publications - a story from the international television company Al Jazeera. It is not true.

Analysts of the StopFake project analyzed the case and found that the news story was compiled, but there was no such news on the official pages on social networks or on the official website. At the same time, the compiled story is distributed only in the Russian segment of social networks.

According to Russian propagandists, the Ukrainian approached the well-known 23andMe laboratory in the United States. And fact-checkers are confident that if such an incident really occurred, the American media would cover such information. But no such mentions were found in the English-language segment of social networks or Google. Experts also recorded several signs of video compilation. Among these, the video fragments used in the video actually reflect other events. So the footage actually shows the arson of a prison lobby in the United States, which occurred in June 2023. And just this story was published on the official pages of one of the American media.

By spreading this fake news, the authors seek to demonize Ukrainian refugees and allegedly show how Ukrainians despise everyone and commit crimes outside their state. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research.

But at the same time, the Kremlin is promoting the thesis of “nationalist refugees” who are ready to commit any crime for “Ukrainian blood”. After all, the very reason for the probable crime was the fact that the Ukrainian refugee was dissatisfied with the DNA test and, moreover, questioned the results. This is not the first time Moscow has turned to this interpretation of Ukrainians—aggressive, ultra-nationalist and valuing only “Ukrainian blood”. That is, they once again called Ukrainians “Nazis”.

So, read the cases where Russian propaganda instrumentalized the following issues:

Russian propagandists on anonymous telegram channels claim that Ukrainian refugee Oleksii Shynkarenko allegedly burned down a laboratory in the United States after learning that he was not 100% Ukrainian. Al Jazeera allegedly reported this in a separate video. It's fake.

In particular, this is indicated by the fact that there is no news about this story in either American or Ukrainian sources. Despite the visual aesthetic similar to Al Jazeera, there is no mention of such a story on the agency's official accounts of the video distributed or any mention of such a story. Moreover, at the request of “Oleksii Shynkarenko” there are no accounts of Ukrainian refugees in the United States. Major Russian media have not even written about this situation yet. All this indicates that, most likely, the story is fake.

With its help, Russia wants to discredit Ukrainian refugees and show them as ungrateful and uncivilized people. They say that if necessary, they are ready to destroy and break America and do not know how to behave in it, which means they do not show due respect.  Detector Media has repeatedly debunked other Russian fakes aimed at humiliating Ukrainian refugees.

In the chats of Ukrainians in Ireland, a “letter” from the Irish Ministry of Justice was distributed, which alleged requests for the extradition of Ukrainians to serve in the Armed Forces. According to the “letter”, its recipients were scheduled to appear in court for an “extradition hearing” in October. Failure to comply with the “instructions” “may result in an arrest warrant being issued”. These letters are fake.

It was reported by Facebook users and The Irish Times. They note that although the form resembles the real one in appearance, the address in the image of the “letter” is rather random, since no Ukrainians live behind it. In addition, the Irish Ministry of Justice stated that it had not received any extradition requests and had not sent any such letters. It also urged recipients to apply for a special phone number to detect the fake.

With its help, Russia wants to cause panic among Ukrainian refugees and support the narrative of the “failure of the counteroffensive”. They say that everything is so bad in Ukraine that it is forced to mobilize its refugees from abroad. Detector Media has already refuted the fake news about the “extradition” of Ukrainians from Poland.

Anonymous telegram channels disseminating pro-Russian rhetoric published a photo showing a brochure calling for Ukrainian refugees in Germany. In it, one can see certain vocabulary for searching for work before coming to the country. The “vocabulary” consists mostly of words related to cleaning. Under the publications, “Ukrainians” complain that the Germans allegedly do not even think about highly paid and skilled labor for refugees. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that there was no such advice on the website of the online platform Handbook Germany, whose logo was used by propagandists to create the fake news. In addition, on its Facebook page it is noted that all of their materials are available only in digital format: on their website or official social media accounts.

With the help of this fake, Russia wants to humiliate Ukrainian refugees and deal a reputational blow to the organizations that support them.  Detector Media has already written about how Russian propaganda is weaponizing refugees and their problems for its own purposes.

This information was disseminated by anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports note that Poland has decided to “get rid” of Ukrainian refugees, so they will be mobilized. They say that Ukraine is suffering huge losses in the counteroffensive, so it needs to somehow return people to the country.

This case was analyzed by specialists from the StopFake project, who determined that in fact, the “deportation of men liable for military service” is generally impossible, since there is no legal basis for it. Ukrainian diplomatic institutions cannot deport Ukrainians for mobilization, just as the EU authorities are not authorized to form any units from Ukrainians on their territories. That is, there is no legal mechanism or precedent for the mobilization of Ukrainians by EU members.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers can investigate and prove in court the facts of illegal border crossings under martial law. And for extradition from abroad, it will be necessary to prove the guilt of each person liable for military service according to the laws of the country of his stay in a local court.

The European Union is consolidated in its position that they will not deport anyone against their will. According to EU law, all Ukrainians who arrived in the region after the start of a full-scale invasion are protected by the Temporary Protection Directive.

Such information was disseminated by anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports note that in Poland they decided to “get rid” of Ukrainian refugees, so they will be mobilized. Like, this applies, first of all, to those evading to mobilize. It looks like they will be deported. The authors refer to the material of the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita. This is manipulation.

The material says that Poland forcibly returned those citizens of Ukraine who transported illegal immigrants to Europe. As for the evaders themselves, the material says that the extradition procedure for such persons may begin when Ukraine issues an international arrest warrant for each of them. And it is about possible scenarios from the Polish officials themselves. The authors of the propaganda publication distorted the meaning of the material. Moreover, in order for a person to be recognized as an evader, he needs to be handed over a draft notice. That is, one needs to find a person abroad and personally hand it over to him. From a practical point of view, this is difficult to implement.

And the “deportation of men liable for military service” is not possible at all, since there is no legal basis. Certainly. The Border Service of Ukraine can investigate crimes of illegal border crossing under martial law, and, for example, try to return a man liable for military service to Ukraine if he illegally crossed the border.

The EU is consolidated in its position that they do not deport anyone against their will. According to EU law, all Ukrainians who arrived there after the start of a full-scale invasion fall under the protection of the Temporary Protection Directive.

Information is spreading in the Kremlin media and the Russian segment of Facebook that the supposedly German media Deutsche Welle made a video about an anti-Ukrainian flash mob in Poland. Essentially, it is about the Poles who allegedly renamed Wi-Fi networks using offensive words for refugees from Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. There is no video about the anti-Ukrainian flash mob in Poland on the official website and social networks of the Deutsche Welle media. Fact-checkers did not find the video either in the Polish or in the English version of the site. Moreover, the Polish edition commented that they “are not the authors of this film”.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the people of Poland, saying that they have a bad attitude towards Ukrainian refugees. Russian propagandists are trying to stir up conflict between Poles and Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Poland and Lithuania approved a plan to annex the western part of Ukraine.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric and some users on social networks spread information that on August 24, Independence Day, 12 Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw allegedly beat Poles because they refused to shout Nazi slogans, namely “Glory to Ukraine”. This is a fake.

The case was studied by the fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. On the night of August 24-25, a skirmish really took place on the boulevards near the Vistula river, in which 13 people participated. The Warsaw Police Headquarters posted a message on the website in this regard. It says that the conflict involved, in particular, the citizens of Georgia, who were recognized as aggressors, and there were no people who had “identity cards of Ukrainian nationality”.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Ukrainian refugees and turn Polish citizens against Ukrainians. Like, they create problems in Europe. Recently, Detector Media denied a fake that Ukrainian refugees caused an outbreak of an infectious disease in Rzeszow, Poland.

Social networks and Russian media disseminate information that the outbreak of a dangerous legionellosis disease in the Polish city of Rzeszow is allegedly associated with Ukrainian refugees living in a local aid center. However, this is fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that this statement is unfounded, since it is not yet known what exactly became the source of the infection. The World Health Organization reports that there have been no cases of direct human-to-human transmission as of now. Poland's Internal Security Agency is investigating whether the outbreak could have been a sabotage. Since mid-August, an outbreak of legionellosis has been detected in Rzeszow, 100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, which has killed 8 people and infected more than 100. Its causative agent, legionella, infects lung tissue and leads to the development of a severe form of pneumonia.

By creating and spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees. Like, they are only the cause of problems in European countries. Detector Media has repeatedly written about how Russian propaganda humiliates them, in particular, as in a fake that Ukrainian refugees in Germany allegedly beat a Slovene because they confused the Slovenian flag with the Russian one.

Information is spreading on social networks that Ukrainian refugees in Germany allegedly beat a Slovene because he was holding the flag of Slovenia, which they confused with the Russian one. There is also another version of the event, according to which a German of Slovenian origin hung the flag of Slovenia near his house. A video with him got on the Internet, after which the Ukrainians allegedly beat him. At the same time, propagandists use a video that shows the logo of the European edition of Euronews. However, this is fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They could not find a single fact confirming that this event actually happened. In addition, there is not a single mention of such an incident in open sources and German media, as well as on Euronews itself. StopFake notes that this story was only spread by foreign propaganda resources and telegram channels.

By creating and spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees. Like, they are uneducated and ungrateful, because they attack everyone with flags that resemble the colors of a Russian. Detector Media has repeatedly written about how Russian propaganda humiliates Ukrainian refugees, in particular, as a manipulation that a Ukrainian refugee allegedly destroyed a monument to the Polish military.

This thesis was spread in social networks, in particular in the Russian segment of Facebook. Reports say Polish General Waldemar Skrzypczak allegedly claimed a “mass flight” of Ukrainians abroad. Like, they are fleeing because Zelenskyi cannot achieve peace with Russia and does not make concessions. The authors refer to the material of the Polish edition Wprost. This is manipulation.

StopFake fact-checkers took up this case, they explained that Waldemar Skrzypczak actually published his material in the Polish media with the title “How to end the war in Ukraine?”. In it, the Polish general reflected on possible options for ending the war. He also wrote about the problems of forced migration to the EU countries. However, the material does not contain the thesis at all that Ukrainians are migrating abroad because of Zelenskyi, who “will not come to an agreement with Russia in any way”. This is an invention of fake robs, distorting the context of the entire material. Moreover, in the text, the Polish general explained that the migration was caused by the war.

Propagandists spread this manipulation to show that Ukrainians are allegedly positive about cooperation with Russia and are waiting for “reconciliation”. Like, Zelensky’s policy does not suit the Ukrainians and they “run away”.

Such information was disseminated by anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports note that in Europe they decided to “get rid” of Ukrainian refugees, so they will allegedly be mobilized and subsequently sent to the front. The authors add, they say, this applies, first of all, to all men of military age. It looks like they will be deported. It is not true.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated this case and explained that the “deportation of men liable for military service” is not possible at all, since there is no legal basis. The point is that Ukrainian diplomatic institutions cannot deport Ukrainians for mobilization, just as structures in the EU are not authorized to form any units from Ukrainians on their territories. That is, no such mechanism simply exists.

In addition, experts added that the Border Guard Service of Ukraine can investigate crimes of illegal border crossing under martial law. And, for example, trying to return a man liable for military service to Ukraine if he illegally crossed the border.

The EU is consolidated in its position that they do not deport anyone against their will. According to EU law, all Ukrainians who arrived in the region after the start of a full-scale invasion fall under the protection of the Temporary Protection Directive.

By spreading such a fake, propagandists are trying to convince that there is no one left to fight in Ukraine and the country's leadership resorts to tricks and wants to mobilize Ukrainian refugees.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Zelenskyi allegedly deliberately ignores Ukrainian refugees during foreign visits and does not try to solve their problems. Like, Volodymyr Zelenskyi visits foreign countries only for self-promotion, forgetting about the Ukrainians and the war.

StopFake's fact-checkers analyzed this case and explained that Zelenskyi often addresses Ukrainians abroad, thanks other governments for asylum, and also repeatedly talks about the need for a strategy to return refugees home. The President himself makes trips abroad for tete-a-tete talks with allies, with whom he discusses the challenges of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Experts cited as an example the visit of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Poland, where during a meeting with the President and First Lady of Poland, Zelenskyi thanked the Poles for providing asylum. Fact-checkers explain that this is not an isolated case.

This message is beneficial to propagandists in order to discredit Zelenskyi and show as if he does not care about Ukrainians, but thinks only of himself. Thus, the authors seek to show the “indifference” of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to the Ukrainians.

Propagandists on anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that information has appeared on the website of the Finnish public broadcaster Yle that Finland wants to cancel social assistance for Ukrainian refugees, because it allegedly exceeds the payment for picking berries. Accordingly, since the Ukrainians do not agree with these conditions, it is necessary to introduce a system of assistance in exchange for employment. However, this is manipulation.

The authors of the message do not provide a link to the article containing such information, but only to the main Finnish-language page of the broadcaster. However, if one looks for news on the Yle website, in particular in the Ukrainian-language section, you can really find material related to the problem. However, it is not about plans to cancel aid. Moreover, its authors, on the contrary, note that Ukrainians would be happy to work on plantations for picking berries, however, according to the current Finnish legislation, such activity is not considered “sustainable income”, which may lead to a decrease in the amount of assistance. Accordingly, they have no choice but to go to a more stable job, so as not to lose help from the state. Therefore, Finnish companies have begun to hire more berry pickers from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Recent political transformations in Finland are also related to the migration legislation of the state. In particular, the new Finnish government is discussing a tougher approach to it. Ideas are being considered such as increasing the required period of permanent residence in Finland for obtaining citizenship, passing an exam in Finnish or Swedish for obtaining a permanent residence permit (now this is only necessary for obtaining citizenship) and, in particular, reducing the amount of social benefits for migrants. However, this does not apply only to Ukrainian refugees, but in general to all migrants in the state. These ideas have already caused outrage among them, which is why rallies were held in the country and a corresponding petition was created on Change.org.

Taking such news out of context, the propagandists once again want to show the Ukrainians as ungrateful, as well as devalue the help of European partners. They also want to cause panic among Ukrainian refugees by artificially inflating the scale of the problem. Detector Media has already written about other manipulations against Ukrainian refugees, in particular about a Ukrainian who allegedly destroyed a monument to Polish soldiers who fought against Nazism.

Propagandists of anonymous telegram channels spread information that one of the largest Polish news portals, Onet Wiadomości, published an article according to which allegedly 95% of Ukrainian refugees will not return home. Like, the publication predicts three scenarios for the development of the demographic situation in Ukraine in the near future, according to which 20-30 million people will remain in Ukraine. It's fake.

 Although the message authors add a link to the portal, it leads to the main page of the portal. In addition, when searching for this material on Onet Wiadomości, it is impossible to find it. Moreover, upon request in Polish “Ukrainians do not want to return home”, Google search engine shows only a number of articles from Polish publications on the topic of how much Ukrainians want to return to their country, which contradicts the main idea of the fake. If the mentioned article really existed, it would definitely be found in the Polish media space.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists continue to try to discredit Ukrainian refugees and create a false impression that they no longer want to support Ukraine abroad precisely because of their behavior, and Poland is the main “target” because it accepted the largest number of refugees. Detector Media wrote about other fakes related to Polish media, in particular, about the fake cover of Dziennik Wschodni.

Anonymous telegram channels that broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric as well as the Polish segment of Twitter distribute a photo of the destroyed monument with the caption that a Ukrainian destroyed it because of Soviet symbols. The obelisk itself was erected in honor of the Polish partisans who fought against Nazism. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the VoxVheck project drew attention to the case. They established that the monument was demolished on the basis of the decision of the Pomeranian governor Dariusz Drelich dated November 7, 2022. For the first time, the Polish publication Wizjalokalna.pl wrote about this and attached a document of the decision. The obelisk was erected at the site of the battle between Polish and Soviet partisans and German troops. The monument was demolished on the basis of the law “On the prohibition of propaganda of communism or another totalitarian system through the names of public buildings, structures and equipment” of 2017. The Institute of National Remembrance found that the obelisk symbolized the memory of communist partisans who were not part of the general Armed Forces of Poland, but were under Soviet command.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to sow discord between Ukraine and Poland, to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals. And thus reduce support for Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that the crime rate in Poland increased because of the Ukrainians.

A number of Ukrainian media, citing the Polish edition Rzeczpospolita, disseminate information that Poland is less willing to help refugees from Ukraine. This is manipulation.

The fact-checker of the InfoLight.UA project drew attention to the case. They examined articles from Rzeczpospolita and other Polish publications that contained publications of a “survey of public perception of Ukrainian refugees and migrants, conducted in late May - early June by the Research Laboratory of the University of Warsaw and the Academy of Economics and Humanities in Warsaw”. According to fact-checkers, the study has an unrepresentative sample, because only 584 people took part in it (in Ukraine, more than 1,000 people participate) aged 16-65 years, the survey was conducted using a mixed method. Also, the real number of respondents whose support for Ukraine has decreased is 26%. Only 85% of respondents believe that Poland should help Ukraine in the war with Russia - this is a rather big figure. According to the survey, “5% of respondents oppose the admission of refugees from Ukraine to Poland, and this percentage has not changed significantly since the beginning of the survey”.

Specialists draw attention to the fact that this study is called “Public perception of refugees from Ukraine, migrants and measures taken by the government of Mateusz Morawiecki”, and it has political and pre-election overtones. “Elections in Poland are in the fall and, obviously, this is artillery preparation”, fact-checkers note.

Propagandists of Polish social networks are spreading a video in which, according to its description, an alleged Ukrainian teenager beat up his Polish peer in a Polish school. Russian is heard in the video. Polish commentators have already accused Ukrainians of “dishonest attitude” towards Poles under posts with him. However, this is fake.

Analysts of the Demagog project drew attention to it. They found out that the original video was posted on telegram. According to the original post, the fight took place in a rural school in Turochak, Republic of Altai (Russia), over a dispute over the theft of a vape. 

Thus, propagandists want to turn the Poles against the Ukrainians and kindle artificial discord between them. Like, Ukrainian refugees are ungrateful and do not know how to behave in the countries where they migrated.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, in the Ukrainian segment of the telegram. The reports say that allegedly in connection with the blowing up of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP) by the Russians, the EU countries provide material assistance and provide housing for all refugees from Ukraine. Like, housing will be provided urgently. In the publication, the authors add links to telegram channels, which supposedly contain step-by-step instructions on how to get help in eight European countries. It is not true. 

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case, and determined that the heads of the EU countries did not make such statements. That is, it's just stuffing the authors of the messages. Probably, this is how telegram channel administrators seek to increase the number of subscribers by publishing false information. Also, fact-checkers were unable to find reports from European or Ukrainian officials about the provision of housing or other additional assistance to Ukrainian refugees in European countries. 

We recall that we have already analyzed several cases of the Russians blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. Among such cases, we have created a selection of propaganda messages in which Russians justified themselves and denied their crime. Also, analysts denied the message that the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant allegedly self-destructed.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the Poles seem to accuse the Ukrainian refugees of manifestations of Nazism. They say that anti-Ukrainian billboards have appeared in many Polish cities, and rallies against Poland's involvement in the war in Ukraine are increasingly taking place in Warsaw. The authors refer to the publication Myśl Polska. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and found that such theses are unfounded and have no evidence. As they explain, Myśl Polska, referred to by the pro-Russian media, consistently spreads pro-Kremlin rhetoric. For example, in their materials, the authors of Myśl Polska accuse the West, and not Russia, of “unleashing” a war in Ukraine. That is, the likely “material” about the anti-Ukrainian sentiment rally may include a number of fakes and manipulations. At the same time, fact-checkers add that the Polish media do not have any mention of billboards with anti-Ukrainian appeals or mass rallies against Ukraine. They are convinced that this is a stuffing of propagandists.

By spreading this fake, the authors seek to demonize Ukrainian refugees and show that Europe does not support Ukraine and Ukrainians in general. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU, in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees are dissatisfied with life in Europe and are generally surprised that they still need to earn money. The authors add that the refugees are gradually destroying the “sovereignty of European countries” because they do not want to work. As proof, they added a video from a TikTok, in which an alleged Ukrainian “refugee” complains about life in Europe. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and found that the author of this video actually shot a satirical video on her TikTok account, which has nothing to do with real life, since the blogger regularly shoots videos and sketches. At the same time, the propagandists used this video as ostensible evidence that Ukrainian refugees were “dissatisfied” with life in Europe and did not indicate that this video was of a humorous nature. That is, they defiled the meaning and wishful thinking. Moreover, as the fact-checkers explained, the blogger is Ukrainian, and she permanently resides in Ukraine, even after February 24. Analysts turned to Tiktoker for comment, and she confirmed the exclusively humorous nature of the video.

Despite the fact that the video turned out to be humorous, propagandists regularly spread fakes and manipulations regarding Ukrainian refugees. They portray the image of the Ukrainian refugee as being lazy and dissatisfied with everything. Allegedly, Europe should support the Ukrainians, because they strive for this. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU, in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation previously.

Anonymous telegram channels, where pro-Russian rhetoric is spread, say that in Poland Ukrainians are allegedly divided into “types”. They say that the first two “privileged” groups are Ukrainians who lived in Poland before the start of a full-scale invasion or who came to stay with relatives already living in Poland. And the third “type” is Ukrainians who had no previous contacts with the Poles. Allegedly, such a division is also taken into account during employment, so residents of Western Ukraine are given priority. It's fake.

In such reports, the propagandists refer to a comment by the Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Warsaw, Professor Maciej Duszczyk. However, his comment had a very different meaning. In particular, he commented on the results of a survey recently commissioned by two major Polish media - the radio station RMF FM and the newspaper Dziennik Prawny. The topic of the survey is assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainians. In particular, Professor Duszczyk mentioned to the aforementioned radio station that at the moment, according to the results of the survey, the two most popular types of assistance among Poles to Ukrainians are humanitarian and military. None of the original (Polish-language) publications on the subject and Duszczyk's comments mention any of the divisions that the propagandists talk about.

Thus, propagandists want to create the illusion that Poland despises Ukrainians, and does not help them. Like, the Poles mock the Ukrainians, so they can't be our friends. In addition, for the use of such fakes, propaganda wants to increase the fear of an “attack” by Poland or the gradual “polonization” of Ukraine, which Detector Media has already written about.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Estonian authorities are forcing Ukrainian refugees to join the local army, threatening deportation. Like, if the Ukrainian refugees do not stand up in defense of Estonia, they will be returned back to Ukraine. The authors allegedly refer to the statement of the Embassy of Ukraine in Estonia - this is not true.

The case was noticed by the experts of the StopFake project, who determined that Ukrainian refugees in Estonia are not mobilized or sent to the front. The propagandists simply came up with such information. Fact-checkers turned to the Ukrainian Embassy in Estonia for comment, where they were also told that the information about the mobilization of Ukrainian refugees into the Estonian army is not true. In addition, analysts checked a special website in Estonia created for Ukrainian refugees. Among the published information, they did not find any evidence of mobilization into the Estonian army.

By spreading such a fake, propagandists want to undermine the authority of Ukraine's brother countries. Allegedly, they really use the Ukrainians, for example, by mobilizing them into their own army. Thus, Russian propaganda demonizes Ukrainian partners and seeks to cause mistrust towards them.

We recall that earlier we refuted a fake, which also had the goal of defiling the vision of Ukrainian partners and exposing them with bad intentions. We are talking about the case that the Polish authorities allegedly would use Ukrainians as cheap labor in order to subsequently provide a good life for the Poles.

On April 13, a text appeared on the Facebook page of the Polish organization Kancelaria LEGA ARTIS, according to which “38% of Ukrainians who, under the cover of the “war” came to Poland and have “groundlessly granted them rights”, in particular to receive social assistance, they want to stay in the country and not return to Ukraine. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the Polish project Demagog drew attention to it. They note that in the text one can find doubts that the war in Ukraine is real, and the refugees are called ones who “have come in large numbers”. However, the war continues, and its effects are a large number of deaths and material losses. The term “come in large numbers” is part of a disinformation campaign that wants to show the migration of Ukrainians as a threat to the Poles. Demagog experts argue that such a narrative is part of a conspiracy theory called the “Big replacement theory”, according to which the influx of migrants is a conspiracy in which white Europeans should be replaced by migrants. Usually, Muslims appear in this theory, but in the Polish context, their role was given to Ukrainians.

The text also contains information about “unreasonably provided” funds in the framework of social payments for Ukrainian migrants. However, analysts have found that the concept of social payment is clearly defined in Polish law. According to it, a social benefit is a cash benefit provided to persons who are unfit for work due to age or disability (Article 37 of the Law on social assistance). This cash payment cannot exceed PLN 719. According to article 5 of the same law, citizens of Poland, as well as foreigners (not only Ukrainians) residing in the state, have the right to receive social assistance payments. According to Article 31 of the Law on assistance to citizens of Ukraine, Ukrainians who have received a PESEL identification number can receive a lump sum payment of PLN 300. Therefore, this payment is not regular.

In addition, in the text you can see the stereotype that the majority of Ukrainian refugees in Poland came from the western regions, so they allegedly do not need help. However, it is not like that. Project analysts interviewed people who are actively involved in the affairs of Ukrainian refugees in Poland and found out that most of them eventually came from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine.

Thus, the propagandists want to show that the Ukrainian refugees are supposedly swindlers and pose a threat to Poland as a whole. They say that Ukrainians in Poland are ungrateful for help, but actually help does not reach those in need.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular in the Polish segment of Facebook. Reports say that Ukrainians will be able to vote in the upcoming elections, because they have the corresponding PESEL document. The authors of the messages add that the result of the elections is predetermined, and that “real Poles” should no longer go to the elections. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Polish project Demagog took up the case, they explained that the presence of PESEL does not give people the right to participate in elections: both to choose and to be elected. Powszechny Elektroniczny System Ewidencji Ludności (PESEL), that is, the Universal Electronic Population Registration System, is an eleven-digit numeric character that identifies an individual. However, the possession of PESEL does not guarantee the citizenship of the country, and the person does not acquire it upon receipt of this document. And only citizens of Poland can vote in parliamentary or presidential elections.

A foreigner can obtain Polish citizenship after fulfilling a number of conditions, in particular, a certain period of continuous residence in Poland. And only under this condition, when a person acquires citizenship, he or she can vote. No other way exists.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that with the influx of Ukrainian refugees, the crime rate has risen significantly. Like, among the criminals in Poland there are many Ukrainian refugees. The authors of the messages refer to the research of the local analytical center UCE Research, as well as supposedly to the data of the Polish police. The authors argue that free entry into the European Union “became a good opportunity to realize their criminal intentions”. However, this is fake.

The case was noticed by experts from the StopFake project, they studied that from the reports published on the UCE Research platform, there is no information that the increase in crime in the country was due to the appearance of refugees from Ukraine.

Another source allegedly confirming the thesis about the increase in crime in Poland because of the Ukrainians is the police. However, the Polish police do not provide such data. Ukrainian refugees are mentioned in the annual reports only in the context of the fact that the tasks of the police officers were to protect the places where refugees were staying, the Polish police officers “led and helped organize a meeting for Ukrainians, organized numerous meetings with Ukrainians, and some of them provided them with their homes and helped them find themselves in a foreign country and in a new situation”. None of the police reports talk about the fault of Ukrainian refugees in the increase in the number of crimes in 2022.

One of the materials that really reveals the topic of crimes committed by foreigners in Poland is an article in the publication Rzeczpospolita, which analyzes what crimes were committed by migrants in Poland in 2022. The Main Directorate of the National Police has prepared statistics on crimes committed by foreigners in Poland especially for the publication. So, in total, in 2022, 15 thousand crimes were committed by representatives of different nationalities, most often Ukrainians, as the largest group, as well as Belarusians and Georgians, were included in the statistics. The most common type of crime among foreigners, notes Rzeczpospolita, is driving while intoxicated. In second place in popularity is possession of drugs.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU, in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation.

Analysts of Detector Media denied a number of fakes and manipulations on the topic of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. For example, we analyzed the manipulation of increasing thefts in Polish stores by a third allegedly because of Ukrainian refugees. And we also explained another manipulation, using which propagandists claimed that the attitude of many Poles towards Ukrainians had worsened.

Such information appeared in the Polish segment of social networks, in particular, on Twitter. Reports say that Poland's annual budget for helping the homeless in 2023 is PLN 5 million. Like, for Ukrainian refugees, Poland “spends” such an amount “in 5 minutes”. It is not true.

The case was investigated by the Polish fact-checkers of the Demagog project, who found that in 2023 the implementation of the government program “Overcoming homelessness” is PLN 5.5 million. However, these are not the only funds allocated in Poland to combat homelessness. The government program is an additional bonus, payments for organizations working in the field of social protection. This is not the general budget of the country. For example, in the budget of Gdansk for 2023, more than 11.7 million złotys are provided for “the development of a support system for homeless people and those at risk of being left without a home”. Moreover, this is only the local budget, significantly exceeding the amount indicated as stable (5 million) by the authors of the messages. 

By spreading such a fake, the authors of the messages seek to convince that Ukrainian refugees are treated better than Poles. Allegedly, Poland does not care about its inhabitants. Analysts of Detector Media denied a number of fakes and manipulations on the topic of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. For example, we refuted the manipulation of increasing the level of theft in Polish stores because of Ukrainians. We also explained another manipulation, saying that the attitude of many Poles towards Ukrainians has worsened.

Such information is disseminated in pro-Kremlin propaganda media and on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say last week Ukrainian refugees allegedly burned down a historic 400-year-old hotel in Midhurst, West Sussex, England. Like, the Ukrainians are criminals, and if it had not been for them, the building would have survived. It is not true.

The fire on North Street in Midhurst did indeed occur on March 16, and it did not only affect the Angel Inn, which the propagandists write about. Ukrainian refugees also really lived in a hotel. According to local authorities, 30 people were evacuated from the hotel due to the fire, including “several” Ukrainian refugees. However, claims that it was the Ukrainians who set the fire are unfounded.

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. They found out that local media wrote that the fire first started in the early morning in a nearby house on North Street, and only then spread to the roof of the nearby Angel Inn. “But not only this fact, but also the preliminary findings of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service do not confirm any involvement of Ukrainian refugees in the fire”. A spokesman for the fire service told the BBC: “Preliminary investigations indicate that there are no suspicious circumstances associated with this fire, but our investigation is ongoing”, the fact-checkers wrote.

This is not the first fake of Russian propaganda about “bad” Ukrainian refugees. For example, propagandists have already claimed that Ukrainians burned a forest in Germany. By spreading such fakes, propaganda wants to create for Ukrainian refugees the image of criminals who can, for example, set fire to the house they live in. This is how propagandists try to convince the audience that Ukrainians should not be supported. Read more about disinformation regarding Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the level of shoplifting has increased significantly in Poland. Like, it's all because of the Ukrainian refugees, who “neglect all the laws”. The authors of the messages refer to the material of the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, in which they allegedly investigated the issues of thefts involving Ukrainian refugees. This is manipulation.

The propagandists distorted the context of the entire material, because it was about the general trend of thefts in Poland. According to the data of the Police Headquarters, published by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, in 2022 the number of shoplifting increased by 31.1%. Journalists explain that people steal mainly basic food products from small shops. They also stressed that organized crime groups are predominantly responsible for these thefts. At the same time, there was no mention of “Ukrainian refugees”. Although the material itself is titled “Poles are stealing goods from shops more and more”, the journalists investigated the general issue of thefts without appealing to specific people or age groups.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the issue of Ukrainian refugees abroad. Thus, they are trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, which is a cultural and economic threat to the EU in order to reduce support for Ukraine and Ukrainians. We wrote about this in our own investigation.

We recall that Detector Media previously also analyzed a manipulation in which propagandists claimed that, allegedly because of the Russian language, the attitude of many Poles towards Ukrainians worsened.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, in the German and Russian TikTok segments. Reports say Ukrainian refugees who have recently confirmed their status will be given 500 “greeting” euros. Like, this is an initiative of the Bundestag, which recently adopted a resolution and issue funds to Ukrainians “from the pockets of the Germans”.

The German group of fact-checkers Correctiv decided to check the information and contact the official representation in the Bundestag for a comment. The Bundestag denied such information and stressed that Ukrainian refugees do not receive any additional payments, including “greeting” money. The Bundestag also stressed that they are not creating a procedure for receiving cash payments; such a bill has not been submitted to parliament.

The Russian media disseminate information that due to the Ukrainians who left Ukraine because of Russian aggression, the use of the Russian language in Germany has allegedly increased. It is allegedly evidenced by the recently released data from the Destatis, Federal statistical office. It is not true.

The studies cited by the Russian media were conducted in 2021, that is, even before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, the document states that the study does not reflect the possible consequences of changes in the German population due to Russian aggression, since only 2021 data was analyzed. Russian propaganda does not provide any explanation of how exactly the Ukrainian refugees influenced the use of different languages in Germany.

As StopFake explains, propagandists cite survey results showing that 80% of the German population only speak German at home, 15% also use one or more additional languages, and 5% do not use German at all in their families. The study showed that families who are not native German speakers use Turkish (15%), Russian (13%), Arabic (10%), Polish (7%) and English (6%) in everyday life. Similar data for 2022 is still being processed, they have not been published anywhere.

Російська пропаганда систематично маніпулює мовним питанням як в Україні, так і за кордоном. У такий спосіб вони намагаються розколоти суспільство за етно-національними ознаками. Раніше пропагандисти стверджували, що нібито через російську мову ставлення багатьох поляків до українців погіршилося.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the language issue, both in Ukraine and abroad. Thus, they are trying to split the society along ethno-national lines. Earlier, propagandists claimed that, allegedly because of the Russian language, the attitude of many Poles towards Ukrainians worsened.

This thesis was spread in social networks and in the media of the Polish segment. Reports say that Poles' attitude towards Ukrainians has worsened. Like, the majority of Ukrainians speak Russian and boast of expensive cars, which is typical for the “Russian world”. Therefore, the Poles allegedly feel hostility towards certain categories of Ukrainian refugees and say with confidence that the attitude has indeed changed for the worse. Later, the material was picked up by users and the media of the Ukrainian segment. The authors of the original article for Rzeczpospolita refer to a likely study conducted by the University of Warsaw, which allegedly refers to the deterioration of attitudes, and cite the words of the President of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, which allegedly confirm these studies. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project, who found that there was absolutely nothing about the “Russian world” or expensive cars in the study. The quote taken by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita for their article belongs to the President of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland Myroslav Skorka. That is, this quote belongs to one person, although an official representing the interests of both Poles and Ukrainians, but this was not in the study and the quote does not represent its results. In the material itself, they are talking about the deterioration of the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians, which was noted by Rzeczpospolita at the beginning of the article: “Many Poles are changing their attitude towards them [ed. Ukrainians] for the worse, research shows”.

According to the study, in January 2023, 80% of respondents had a positive attitude towards refugees from Ukraine. 8% of respondents perceived Ukrainians negatively, and 12% - presumably neutrally. When asked if the attitude towards refugees from Ukraine has changed over the past 6 months, that is, since June 2022, a quarter of Poles surveyed (25%) answered yes. Accordingly, for 75% the attitude towards Ukrainians has not changed. These 25% of respondents answered that the attitude has changed, without specifying how. That is why of the one quarter of those surveyed who further answered that their attitude had changed, 68% said that the attitude had changed in a negative direction. However, this is not representative, because in general nothing has changed for 75% of the respondents.

So, Rzeczpospolita journalists manipulated the data and used a quote from the President of the Union of Ukrainians as justification for their thesis, although according to the study, 75% of Poles have not changed their attitude towards Ukrainians.

Such a message is distributed in anonymous telegram channels. They say that many Ukrainians who were forced to move abroad fleeing away from the war do not want to return home and plan to stay forever in the EU countries. Propagandists cite various data as “evidence”. For example, allegedly Ukrainian migrants in Poland, primarily those who do not live in state aid centers for refugees, are guaranteed to receive a payment equal to 200 euros. That is why, according to propagandists, Ukrainian refugees will not want to return to Ukraine, where the economy is already teetering on the brink.

The authors of such reports deliberately miss the root cause of Ukrainian migration, namely Russian aggression, without naming it. In addition, the provision of payments for Ukrainian refugees in Poland does not depend on whether the person lives at the state aid center. Although the practice of guaranteed issuance of social benefits for Ukrainian refugees is widespread in Poland, these payments do not reach the level of 200 euros and are one-time.  

Moreover, practice shows that Ukrainians, despite all the difficulties, are ready to return home and see their future in Ukraine. According to a survey by the Rating sociological group, 85% of Ukrainians have such intentions.

Russian propaganda spread such messages to demoralize Ukrainians and cause panic, as well as to create the illusion that Ukrainians really left only for a better life. Read more about the messages of Russian disinformation related to Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.

Russian propaganda in Lithuania is spreading a fake that due to the number of refugees in the country, the level of criminal offenses is growing. In general, the majority of refugees in Lithuania from Ukraine are criminals, representatives of organized crime. But this is fake.

Data on the number of crimes in Lithuania is provided by the Delfi publication: in 2021, the police recorded 42,525 cases, and in 2022 the number of criminal offenses increased to 45,710. At the same time, such fluctuations have nothing to do with war or refugees since in 2020, when there was neither war in Ukraine nor refugees in Lithuania, the Lithuanian police recorded even more crimes than in 2022 - 46,306 cases.

The article, which blamed Ukrainian refugees for the rise in crime, was published in the Russian-language edition of Baltnews, owned by the Russian state agency “MIA Siohodni” (MIA Today), which includes, among others, propaganda resources Sputnik, RT and Ukraina.ru.

Since the first days of the war, Russian propaganda has been trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU, in order to reduce support for Ukraine and Ukrainians. Read more about it in the Detector Media investigation.

This was stated by a Russian propagandist in one of the TV programs. According to her, from the territory of Ukraine, where the Russian army entered, orphans and children with disabilities were massively taken to Europe, who were without caregivers and disappeared without a trace in the hundreds. Like, Ukrainian children disappeared in Poland, in the UK, in the Netherlands, where in particular 170 Ukrainian teenagers disappeared in the spring and allegedly they most likely became victims of transplantologists or pedophiles. The propagandist refers to information from dutchnews.nl. 

StopFake journalists found a publication on dutchnews.nl, which became a primary source for Russian propagandists. In the publication of DutchNews, referring to the news of the Dutch TV channel NOS, they are not talking about the disappearance of 170 teenagers from Ukraine.

Russian propagandists significantly distorted the reports of the Dutch media, which discussed the issue of registering children from Ukraine who arrived in the country unaccompanied by their parents.

Some of the children received their guardians, many minors arrived in the country accompanied by distant relatives, adult sisters, brothers, etc. The publication says that human rights organizations insist on mandatory registration and provision of guardians for such children, since refugee children from Ukraine without registration and guardians can become victims of violence, abuse and exploitation. However, none of their reports refers to the mass disappearance of minors from Ukraine in the EU.

According to Russian propaganda, Ukraine does not protect children and condemns them to organ trafficking during the evacuation. Like, Russia is not an aggressor, it wants to save Ukrainian children from the crimes of the Ukrainian authorities and “evacuate” to the territory of Russia, where it is safer than in Ukraine and Europe. Thus, Russia justifies the war with Ukraine and the forced removal of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories in an unknown direction and without the possibility for relatives and guardians to get in touch with them.

Reports are circulating on social networks that allegedly the German Bundestag has urgently adopted a decision according to which Ukrainian refugees will receive a “welcoming” bonus of 500 euros at Caritas offices. Such assistance is allegedly funded by German taxes. The video gained thousands of views and caused discontent among the Germans. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Correctiv project asked for clarification from the office of Caritas and the Bundestag and received confirmation that the video was fake. The Caritas Association does not pay or offer any “welcoming” payments. The Bundestag did not make such a decision; moreover, there was not even such a project. The fact-checker also notes that the primary source of the video is an account from which false information about financial assistance to Ukrainian refugees was also previously shared.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes to discredit Ukrainian refugees. In particular, fakes were circulated earlier in Germany, allegedly social services pay for the services of a hairdresser instead of Ukrainian refugees; as if Ukrainians go to Germany, draw up social benefits and immediately return home; and as if Ukrainians resell items received in Germany as humanitarian aid.

A video is circulating online in which an elderly woman allegedly complains to the Polish authorities that she was “robbed” by Ukrainian refugees, whom she settled in her apartment. In different versions of the story, either the woman’s children or the city authorities persuaded the 73-year-old Polish woman to give shelter to a Ukrainian family. It seems that the Ukrainians robbed a woman, smashed the apartment, ran into debt for housing and disappeared. The victim allegedly vainly demands compensation from the authorities. It is not true.

The video has nothing to do with Ukraine. StopFake fact-checkers found out that this video first appeared online on April 24, 2018. An elderly woman in the video complains that she was not provided with the promised services - the replacement of all equipment with the Internet and television. The video was probably filmed at the customer service office of the company "Vectra", which provides telecommunications services in Poland.

Kremlin information resources are distributing a publication stating that supposedly Ukrainian women who have gone abroad refuse to provide sexual services to African Americans and Asians. They seem to be showing racism.

According to StopFake, the publication referred to by the Russian media does not exist. A photo-edited screenshot of a Vision Times publication published on March 24 is being circulated online. It talks about the high risks of sexual exploitation of Ukrainian women who were forced to move to the EU after a full-scale Russian invasion. The propagandists changed the title of the article “War in Ukraine puts refugee women at risk of human trafficking and sex maniacs” to “Ukrainian refugee women involved in sex work refuse to sleep with blacks and people of color: the new face of European racism”. They also changed the author and the release date of the article.

Russia systematically discredits Ukrainian refugees. Read more about gender disinformation in the Detector Media study.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation reports that three propaganda videos have already appeared in the media space of Europe in two weeks. They urge Ukrainians to return home in different languages. Allegedly, the authors of this video are citizens of European countries. Numerous errors indicate that the video is fake, including messed up languages, countries, flags, etc.

As the Center notes, the purpose of the video is to create a false image of Ukraine and its citizens in the European information space to discredit Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO.

Such information was disseminated in Russian telegram channels. Like, the girlfriend of the Ukrainian refugee told in the video that after his death he became a donor for four Poles.

The woman in the video does not say what kind of person he was, because of which he fell into a coma, whether he was a refugee, and she does not say that his organs were sold. She simply confirmed that the Ukrainian became the donor of four people in Poland.

In Poland, organ transplantation is provided on the principle of tacit consent. Illegal transplantation of human organs in Poland is punishable by imprisonment for a period of 6 months to 5 years.

People professionally engaged in such activities face up to 10 years in prison. It is worth noting that in the spring in Poland, a Ukrainian, who had suffered from heart failure for a long time, had a donor heart transplanted. Then the National Movement "For Transplantation" noted that this was the first donor heart in Poland, which was transplanted by a Ukrainian woman. Earlier, StopFake refuted the fake that allegedly donated blood for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is already being taken from schoolchildren in the Cherkasy region, and that Ukrainians will be “allowed for organs” without their consent.

The Russian media are spreading another fake about Ukrainian refugees who were supposedly forcibly evicted from their home in Krakow. But, as StopFake found out, there is no evidence or mention of such an incident - except for the words of a witness referred to by the Russian media. They also distribute a video that seems to show that Ukrainian refugees had to be expelled from their apartment with a crane.

As fact-checkers write, a video about how the police got through the window in the center of Krakow appeared on the network on October 8, 2021, and there is no relation to the war in Ukraine. There is also no mention of any case of forced eviction of Ukrainians either in the local media, or in the police of Krakow, or in the Polish segment of social networks.

Such information is disseminated by Russian propaganda media. Reports say that over the past six months, the number of HIV-infected people has increased significantly in Poland. In the texts, the propagandists refer to the Polish Ministry of Health. Like, the ministry said that the situation with HIV in the country worsened because of Ukrainian refugees. Allegedly, it was they who brought the infection into the country and spread it there. However, this is fake. As StopFake fact-checkers write, in fact, the Ministry of Health of Poland explained that the number of recorded cases of the disease in the country could increase due to the arrival of Ukrainians, among whom there are also HIV-infected. They fit into the overall statistics, and are offered advice and treatment. The fact that in Poland the incidence of HIV infection has significantly increased due to the “influx of refugees” has not been claimed by anyone. Previously, the fake about Ukrainians spreading HIV concerned Estonia. Russian propaganda systematically spreads lies about Ukrainian refugees abroad in order to change public opinion both about the refugees themselves and about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, in particular, is based on differences in people's values. For example, propaganda calls Ukrainians Nazis (in the sense of radical xenophobes) or claims that Ukrainians are not ready to work to provide for themselves, but only live off European taxes. Read more about the disinformation that Russian propaganda is spreading about Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.In the texts, the propagandists refer to the Polish Ministry of Health. Like, the ministry said that the situation with HIV in the country worsened because of Ukrainian refugees. Allegedly, it was they who brought the infection into the country and spread it there. However, this is fake. As StopFake fact-checkers write, in fact, the Ministry of Health of Poland explained that the number of recorded cases of the disease in the country could increase due to the arrival of Ukrainians, among whom there are also HIV-infected. They fit into the overall statistics, and are offered advice and treatment. The fact that in Poland the incidence of HIV infection has significantly increased due to the “influx of refugees” has not been claimed by anyone. Previously, the fake about Ukrainians spreading HIV concerned Estonia. Russian propaganda systematically spreads lies about Ukrainian refugees abroad in order to change public opinion both about the refugees themselves and about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, in particular, is based on differences in people's values. For example, propaganda calls Ukrainians Nazis (in the sense of radical xenophobes) or claims that Ukrainians are not ready to work to provide for themselves, but only live off European taxes. Read more about the disinformation that Russian propaganda is spreading about Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.

This was reported on the website of the Belarusian Border Committee. It is not true. A fake about the mass migration of Ukrainians to Belarus was released by Stanislav Zharyn, authorized representative of the Polish government on protecting the information space of the country.

According to him, “the graph reflects the falsified number of Ukrainian refugees who left for Belarus. According to the information on the migration movement, more than 60,000 Ukrainians arrived in Belarus, including almost 40,000 who had to go through Poland”.

Zharyn noted that Belarusian propaganda hints that Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression are seeking asylum in Belarus, perceiving this country as the safer one than the EU countries.

A photo of the famous football player Lionel Messi is circulating on social networks. In the photo, he allegedly holds a piece of paper with the text "Zelenskyi idi ..." (Zelenskyi go..). In the comments, they write that at the opening of the World Cup, Messi voiced his opinion on Ukrainian refugees: “I'm tired of watching this meaningless war! Zelenskyi, take your people and kick them out of Europe, we know the truth!” It is not true.

According to the fact-checkers of the MythDetector project, the photo of Lionel Messi has been altered by software. In the original photo, taken in 2014, Messi was holding a piece of paper with "Fuerza Luca" words written on it, when he was encouraging a 9-year-old fan who was suffering from cancer. Also, in open sources there are no calls by Messi to Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Such information is spread on social networks and Russian propaganda media. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees in Germany have opened a second-hand shop there and are selling items that were given to them as humanitarian aid. As evidence, propagandists publish a video filmed by two women, whose voices are heard off-screen.

In the video, they discuss the opening of the Ukrainian second-hand store Sonnechko (The sun) “in the city center”, but do not specify which one. However, this is fake. Fact-checkers from StopFake drew attention to the information about the allegedly second-hand humanitarian aid. According to them, Ukrainians who have opened a second-hand store in Germany are selling things that they officially purchased in the UK. The clothes sold have nothing to do with the German government and any humanitarian and charitable organizations in this country.

However, Russian propaganda needs such a fake to once again discredit Ukrainian refugees and nourish the narrative that they are destroying Europe, cashing in on the assistance provided to them by the governments of partner countries.

The Russian media and social networks are spreading information that allegedly Italy has tightened its policy towards Ukrainian refugees. In support of this, a video from an Italian TV news story is being distributed about how the police massively evict Ukrainian refugees who refused to voluntarily leave the hotel. This is manipulation.

The video of the Italian TV channel tells about the situation with Ukrainian refugees, but it is taken out of context. They are not talking about any "harder conditions". Moreover, Ukrainian refugees in Italy were given separate housing instead of a hotel. That is why the authorities asked the Ukrainians to leave the hotel for separate apartments. However, some Ukrainians did not want to move to new housing, since it is located in another settlement. Because of the move, you need to look for work and school again, to change language courses and so on. Also, some refugees are being treated at a local hospital. That is, it was about the fact that Ukrainian refugees, for certain reasons, do not want to move to another city, and not move out of the hotel.

Fraudsters have created a website that pretends to be a resource that allegedly helps Ukrainians affected by the war. Under Facebook posts, bots leave comments like: "We created a project that directly connects donors with individual Ukrainians or Ukrainian refugees who apply for financial assistance" and add a link to a fraudulent site. Instead of helping, this resource actually collects user data.

As noted by the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project, fraudulent sites basically do not have data about the project team, distribution of duties, responsibility and reporting. Also, there are usually no contacts, only the opportunity to leave your own ones. Although there is a mention of a Facebook page on the site, there is no link to it. There are no reviews from those who have already received help, although scammers usually add fake reviews.

In order to allegedly receive financial assistance, you need to create an account on the Binance cryptocurrency platform. Next, you need to shoot a video up to a minute and send your wallet number to Binance. It is surprising that scammers do not ask for passport details to make sure that it is Ukrainians who are applying for help. It is likely that in the future, scammers will use video recording to deceive facial identification technologies and access to personal data.

The Binance platform has indeed previously participated in a financial assistance project for refugees from Ukraine. However, only those living abroad could receive assistance. Now this project is closed, and it is impossible to get help.

Now the fraudulent site is blocked, but you may see what this resource looked like through the web archive. Despite the constant blocking of such fraudulent resources, new ones are constantly appearing.

Such news is spread on social networks and propaganda media. Reports say British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is allegedly planning to cut aid to Ukraine and its refugees. Propagandists refer to the British edition of the Daily Mail, which allegedly wrote that because of the budget deficit in the country a high-ranking official plans to cut aid. However, this is not true.

According to experts from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation, UK assistance to Ukraine is still ongoing. In particular, the sponsorship scheme "House for Ukrainians" is functioning. If the number of refugees increases, the country may make changes to the program, but they are not going to stop it.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels write that Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk allegedly said this. In fact, the propagandists distorted the words of Iryna Vereshchuk addressed to the refugees. She asked Ukrainians to stay abroad until spring. Vereshchuk voiced such a request regarding the destruction of critical infrastructure due to Russian missile strikes and increased load on the power system due to the heating season. Propagandists manipulate the fact that Vereshchuk's words allegedly contradict Volodymyr Zelenskyy's message about restoring infrastructure. The messages also add the theses that European countries have already been "quite exhausted" because of the aid to Ukraine, the accommodation of refugees, and the financial crisis. These messages add to enhance the effect of manipulation. So, the West is primarily thinking about dealing with its problems, not Ukraine.

Such information is spread by anonymous Telegram channels controlled by the FSB.

Allegedly, people believed Zelenskyy and moved to the controlled territory of Ukraine, hoping that they would be given housing, work, and compensation for the loss of property. Months have passed, but the issue didn't get off the ground.

At the same time, housing is already being built and distributed in Mariupol, and in Ukraine, they have not been able to build a single residential building for people during this time. It is not true.

Ukraine's state and international partners are trying their best to provide housing for forced migrants, provide preferential loans for the purchase of real estate at 3% per annum and motivate entrepreneurs to provide them with jobs. For example, modular towns for refugees were opened in Lviv, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions, followed by Chernivtsi and Rivne regions.

In territorial communities in safe regions of Ukraine, local people rebuild old houses and give them to resettlers for free and indefinite use. From October 1, the Cabinet of Ministers expands the possibilities of resettlement of internally displaced people, in particular, the amount of compensation for people who provided temporary housing to internally displaced people within the framework of the "Shelter" program is doubled. Homeowners will now receive 900 hryvnias instead of 450 for each such person per month.

The State Youth Credit Fund regularly buys apartments for homeless people. In several regions, plots of land are set aside for the construction of housing for displaced persons. You can already stand in line for apartments. In addition, during martial law in Ukraine, those employers who employ migrants are to be paid UAH 6,500 for each employed person.

Employers can spend these funds on the wages of such employees. Everything is not as smooth as we would like with the arrangement of the displaced persons. Every month, their number grows because the Russian army continues wiping out entire streets and cities in East and South Ukraine.

In July, 6.6 million displaced people were registered in Ukraine and each of them has to start life from scratch due to Russian aggression in their homeland. And the fact that these people were left homeless one day is not the fault of the President's Office, the main blame lies with the whole of Russia. 

In various messengers and social networks, a story about a Ukrainian refugee who allegedly refused to pay for the services of a hairdresser and manicure in the amount of about 200 euros is spread to a foreign audience. It seems that the social security service should have paid the bill instead. The police allegedly called on this occasion after a short phone call confirmed that Ukrainian refugees have such privileges. This story is fake.

As the German fact-checkers of the CORRECTIVE project found out, similar stories were spread about two different cities. Local police have denied reports of calls. The Ministry of Social Affairs of the federal state of Saxony said that such compensation is not provided and is legally impossible. Since June 1, Ukrainians have been able to receive basic social security in Germany, but it does not cover visits to the hairdresser. Social assistance is the same for everyone and Ukrainians do not have any advantages compared to citizens of other countries.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes that Ukrainian refugees have privileges compared to the help of citizens of other countries. The purpose of such fakes is to create a negative attitude towards Ukrainians abroad and reduce assistance. Previously, fakes were spread that the low-income in Poland were denied free food because of Ukrainian refugees.

Pro-Kremlin publications spread the statements of German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock that support for Ukraine is supposedly more important than the opinions of Germans and she does not care what German voters think about it.

As fact-checkers from Stop Fake noted, Annalena Burbock’s quote was taken out of context, and its meaning was distorted. The head of the German Foreign Ministry did not say that the support of Ukraine is more important for her than her own voters.

Burbock emphasized that the task of European politicians now is the maximum social support for their citizens due to the increase in energy prices this winter, but also unconditional solidarity with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

“We remain in solidarity with the people of our country, just as we stand side by side with everyone in Ukraine”, concluded Annalena Burbock.

This information was disseminated by Russian media and Telegram channels with reference to the German edition of Die Welt. Ukrainians who seek asylum in Germany are not only putting a catastrophic strain on the education system, but are also “behaving arrogantly” and “not following the rules.” This is evidenced by the comments under the publication on the Die Welt website. Allegedly, in the comments under the publication they write that Ukrainians who seek asylum in Germany not only create a catastrophic burden on the education system, but also “behave boldly” and “do not follow the rules.”

In fact, propagandists have significantly distorted the meaning of the article in Die Welt "Good chances for the integration of Ukrainian children - but the lack of teachers becomes dangerous," Stop Fake fact-checkers report. The author of the material, Kevin Chulina, writes that Ukrainian children have every chance of successfully integrating into German society, but the lack of teachers that existed even before the war could become an obstacle in learning the German language.

According to Deutsche Welle, Germany has been experiencing a crisis in the educational system for more than 10 years, including a shortage of teachers.

In addition, Russian propaganda regularly uses the opportunity to influence judgments by presenting individual comments as a general opinion on some issue. In this case, the propagandists applied the same method. Under the publication of Die Welt, you can find individual comments that speak negatively about Ukrainian schoolchildren. However, these individual comments cannot be considered to reflect the true situation.

Anonymous Telegram channels and Russian media are spreading the news that allegedly the six largest European countries have not made new "war promises" to Ukraine for the first time since the beginning of the "special operation". They said that military aid could weaken precisely when Kyiv announced a counteroffensive. Allegedly, this is stated in an article by Politico.

As StopFake writes, the Politico article does not contain any information that European countries have abandoned their promises. The article deals with two problems: the reduction of weapons stocks at the moment in those countries that have actively helped Ukraine since the beginning of the war, as well as the delay in the supply of weapons from Germany and France. The article emphasizes that Germany and France should better fulfill their promises and help more actively.

German fact-checkers of Correctiv found out that Unser Mitteleuropa (Our Central Europe) published a false article alleging that the director of the Economic Security Bureau, Vadym Melnyk, admitted that "Ukraine is selling military aid" to the West and "mass appropriation of Western funds." It seems that he said this in an interview with the Ukraine 24 channel.

Neither the Correctiv publication nor the editors of the Media Detector could find Melnyk's interview with the Ukraine-24 channel of July 5, where he stated this. Also, no other sources contain such a statement by Melnyk. The article in the German edition is, in fact, a literal translation of the news of the Russian media that was massively distributed on July 6. It was in them that Melnyk's statement was quoted and noted that he told the Ukraine-24 channel about this, and there is no link to the interview in both Russian and German media.

False information is spreading on Facebook that supposedly Ukrainian orphans were secretly taken to Turkey without the permission of relatives or guardians, where they are now in the Larisa Beach Club hotel. The author of the post offered to come to the hotel with "gifts" - sweets or fruits. "Satanists from Britain paying for orphans to stay in a hotel will see that the people know about the children and therefore will be afraid to do something bad to them." The Georgian publication Myth Detector drew attention to the post.

The editors turned to the hotel administration and found out that Ukrainian children do live in the hotel, but not by themselves, but with teachers and guardians. At the moment, there are 1,000 children and 500 adults in two hotels of the chain - and they can live in hotels until the end of the war thanks to the Childhood Without War charity program. This program is supported by the Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey and the Ukrainian Consulate in Antaliia at the expense of large Ukrainian companies that finance the stay of children, especially orphans and children in difficult circumstances.

The Russian media are spreading another manipulation about refugees - this time they write that the British have decided when they will kick Ukrainians out of their homes. As always, the Russians are manipulating the data of the survey conducted by the National Statistical Office of Great Britain. StopFake drew attention to the manipulation.

The purpose of the survey was to find out the portrait of people who took part in the Homes for Ukraine program, as well as to establish the period during which they are ready to provide housing to refugees and under what conditions.

“There were differences in how long the current sponsors wanted the long term appointment arrangement, with 19% intending to provide accommodation for the originally agreed period of six months, while just under a quarter (23%) intended to provide accommodation for more than 12 months', write the authors of the study.

In addition, the survey showed that of those planning to provide housing for a period of 6 to 12 months, 70% said that further monthly payments of 350 pounds sterling encourage them to make Ukrainians leave longer. 21% of program participants noted that their willingness to help Ukrainians is influenced by the rising cost of living. But it does not follow from the data of this survey that the Ukrainian refugees are being “expelled”, or that the British are tired of the “Ukrainian refugees”. On the contrary, almost half of the respondents propose to provide housing for refugees for a period longer than originally planned. And the British authorities, for their part, are working to expand and extend assistance to the British participating in the program so that they continue to host Ukrainians. There are currently 100,000 Ukrainians in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine program.

Such information is spread by Russian media and anonymous Telegram channels. They said that this shows that Russia is unfairly accused of "unthinkable crimes against Ukrainian refugees", and that now "another of the main myths of Ukrainian propaganda" has been allegedly refuted by the "dry statistics" of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It does not.

As StopFake writes, in fact, the Russian agitprop "forgot" to mention that, unlike other countries, data on Ukrainian refugees residing in Russia was provided with a caveat. Indeed, according to UN data, as of August 2, Russia has the largest number of Ukrainian refugees - 1,968,127 people. But the Office notes that "the figure is an estimate, as potential further movements or returns cannot be taken into account at this time." That is, data on the number of refugees from Ukraine who requested temporary asylum in Russia and the number of refugees who then re-crossed the border to return to Ukraine are not submitted to the UN. Therefore, the exact number of Ukrainians in Russia is unknown.

In violation of the Geneva Convention on the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War, Russia carries out forced deportations, and Ukrainians have to pass through so-called "filtration" camps. Children are taken to Russia and are deliberately separated from their parents. According to the deputy head of the US mission to the OSCE, Courtney Austrian, at least 18 infiltration camps were discovered in Russia on both sides of the Ukrainian-Russian border, which Russia had prepared even before the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, some of the "refugees" ended up in Russia against their will.

This is reported by the Russian media with reference to the CNN story. He said that the report was a "miscalculation of the Western media", which "suddenly admitted" that "what is happening in Ukraine". This is manipulation.

The Russian media used the CNN story, distorting its essence. As the StopFake fact-checkers write, it is actually about people who are forcibly returning to the territories occupied by Russia for various reasons. At the same time, the Russians do not allow Ukrainians who, on the contrary, would like to leave the occupation. Journalists also say that traffic from the occupied territories was blocked on the day of the shooting. According to CNN, 6,000 people were stuck on the Russian side, only 76 were able to pass through the checkpoint. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine also confirmed that the movement at the Kamianske checkpoint is mostly due to the occupation, but on that day the Russians blocked Ukrainians from leaving. Currently, this is the only way to get to the occupied territories, traffic on other roads is blocked for various reasons. Russian mass media do not talk about it.

People who entered the territory occupied by Russia said that they did not want to leave their relatives there. However, pro-Kremlin media made their own "conclusions". In their opinion, these people finally decided to leave Ukraine. This is allegedly indicated by the large number of things they carry with them. Some of the cars in the plot do carry a large number of personal belongings. However, most of them are not. This is visible in the general footage present in the CNN story. Therefore, the conclusion that everyone returns to the occupied territory for permanent residence is an exaggeration. The CNN journalist does not draw such conclusions but notes that those who want to stay on the Russian side may not admit it. The stories of the heroes of the plot also do not contain grounds for such conclusions.

This was reported by the Russian media and the official account of the Russian Embassy in Spain. Allegedly, in one of the centers for refugees, Ukrainians were forbidden to hang their national flag. This is evidenced by the photos, which allegedly show graffiti with the inscription "no Ukrainian flags" on the wall of the building next to the center. Pro-Russian telegram channels spread these messages in the Ukrainian infospace. This is a fake.

Graffiti photos are another photo montage. This was pointed out by Twitter users in the comments under the publication of the account of the Russian Embassy in Spain. Twitter users geolocated the location on the photos. The building in the photo is actually in Benalmadena, it belongs to the EpicGym gym. The owners of the hall confirmed on August 5 that such an inscription was never on the wall and provided a video of the facade of the building - it does not contain any graffiti. An analysis of photos circulating online indicates that the "graffiti" was painted over the gym's logo - the edge of the "graffiti" features the letter "E", which corresponds to the first letter of the gym's name, "EpicGym". On social networks, "EpicGym" published a message in which they called the fakes "disgusting and unacceptable" and emphasized that the information on the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Spain is not true. The owners also reported that the people involved in their business do not support Russia in the war going on in Ukraine.

StopFake fact-checkers verified the published photos using the Forensics image verification tool. The check showed a different level of compression at the location of the graffiti - this may indicate that the image has been edited.

Russian propaganda presented the Facebook post of Ukrainian activist Ihor Isayev as a general opinion of all Ukrainians, which, of course, was spread by the pro-Kremlin media.

An article appeared on the Wyborcza. pl website with the title "Almost every third resident of Wroclaw is Ukrainian. And there are more and more of them." The article discussed a study by the Polish Metropolises Union, which showed that Wroclaw is the second Polish city after Warsaw in which the largest number of Ukrainians live. Ihor Isayev reacted to the article with a Facebook post (at the same time, the Russian agitprop claimed that these were comments on the publication, it is also false - ed.), that "the law on national minorities allows the introduction of an auxiliary language (as well as bilingual signs) in the commune if there is at least 20% of minority representatives. We don't have an interpretation of emigrants' amount, although the law does not explicitly say so. Nevertheless, in large Polish cities, we can already fight for the Ukrainian language to become the second state language."

In general, there is no mention of any demands from the Ukrainian refugees. Moreover, it is legally impossible. Polish is the only official language in the Republic of Poland. This is stipulated in the Constitution, Article 27. Read more.

Some Russian media spread a video showing a large-scale fire in Spain with captions stating that Ukrainian refugees were allegedly the cause of it. Ukrainians allegedly wanted to burn the Russian flag, but they set the forest on fire. It is not true.

StopFake fact-checkers found the original video. It is indeed footage of a fire that has been raging in the Spanish provinces for several weeks. The announcer says that there is a possibility of deliberate arson. But there is no mention in the story that it was the Ukrainians who caused the fire. The archive also contains the original video with the news feed at the bottom of the screen. In fact, the credits reported the arrest of a taxi driver for assaulting a passenger and driving while intoxicated. Therefore, the information about the participation of Ukrainians in the arson was added deliberately. Probably to discredit Ukrainians who seek refuge in Spain because of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Photos of two men with Nazi tattoos allegedly depicting Ukrainian refugees in Rijeka (Croatia) are spread on social media. In some posts, the photo serves as a justification for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, it is a fake.

Such information is spread on social networks, adding an alleged fight video. In the messages to the video, they add that Polish women recently fought with Ukrainian refugees. However, it is not true. According to VoxCheck, a reverse TinEye search shows that the video appeared online in 2016 on the Polish website wykop.pl.

According to several Polish media, the fight took place at the beginning of July in the Polish resort town of Władysławowo and gained wide publicity. It recorded the participation of three girls and several men who tried to separate them. The exact cause of the fight is unknown. In the comments under the video, it is noted that such cases are often associated with excessive alcohol consumption and frequently occur at summer parties.

There is no mention of the nationality of the participants, so there is no reason to talk about a conflict between Poles and refugees from Ukraine either. It is not the first time Russian propaganda has spread fakes about refugees from Ukraine in various states that accepted them because of the war. In this way, the propaganda seeks to discredit the refugees from Ukraine themselves and to create the appearance that the attitude towards Ukrainians is deteriorating in the countries that receive them.

Such information is distributed in the Georgian segment of social networks in Russian. For example, during registration in Poland, Ukrainian refugees fill out a questionnaire where they are forced to write that Stepan Bandera is a terrorist. The messages are accompanied by an alleged photo of the questionnaire and claim that if a person does not recognize Bandera as a terrorist, he will not receive the special identification number in Poland.

In fact, the information about Ukrainian refugees in Poland receiving an identification number and signing a statement that Stepan Bandera is a terrorist, and Ukrainian nationalists are responsible for the Volyn tragedy is fake.

According to fact-checkers from Myth Detector, the document published on social networks is fabricated, and the authentic version of the document is available on the official website of the Polish government. In the original version of the questionnaire, there are no questions about Bandera and the Volyn tragedy. 

Russian propaganda media and social networks spread this thesis. The reports say that in Norway, they allegedly declared that Ukrainian refugees "have to survive at the expense of sex work."

Kremlin media refer to the Norwegian television company NRK. However, such statements are gross manipulation. As StopFake writes, the Russian mass media made a manipulative generalization based on the third-party opinions of several women standing in line for food at a volunteer center in Norway.

The Norwegian media did not write about it as a dominant trend among Ukrainian refugees or as confirmed cases of sex work "for survival." At the same time, international organizations point out that Russia's war in Ukraine has increased the risk of human trafficking when vulnerable groups of people become victims, particularly refugees.

Russian propaganda media and anonymous Telegram channels write about this. The British allegedly are beginning to "see through" the chaos Ukrainians are creating at airports and have introduced fines for plagiarism of 5,000 pounds.

The reports add that allegedly blue-yellow posters were specially installed to inform and guarantee to draw the attention of Ukrainians. It is a fake.

Airports in Great Britain do not conduct an information campaign to warn Ukrainians about fines for violating the rules. StopFake fact-checkers checked these "warning" posters and found a video showing a completely different text of such posters. In fact, they inform Ukrainians in three languages ​​about how to get to the aid stations at the airport. The text on the banner was edited in a photo editor.

The British government has issued a special handbook for Ukrainian refugees. It does not contain any information about special fines for Ukrainians of 5,000 pounds (about 220,000 hryvnias) for breaking the rules of conduct.

In this way, Russian propaganda is again trying to discredit Ukrainian refugees, to accuse them of being ungrateful to foreign citizens who help. 

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.

Russian media spread information that Ukrainian refugees allegedly staged a protest and blocked the road in Italy, which caused dissatisfaction among local motorists, which is why the fight began. In the video published by Russian propagandists, drivers push protesters in yellow vests off the road, take away posters and throw them behind roadblocks.

In fact, Ukrainians had nothing to do with this action, and local eco-activists organized it from Extinction Rebellion. According to StopFake, this video was published by Italian and British media a month before Russian media distributed it. "Activists of the socio-political movement Extinction Rebellion fight non-violently against climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Climate activists usually block bridges or highways during protests, as they did in Italy on June 14. This time Extinction Rebellion activists blocked the Great Ring Road of Rome (Grande Raccordo Annulare di Roma). It became the cause of fighting. The outraged drivers began to beat the protesters in response," the fact-checkers said and added that the Italian mass media and law enforcement officers did not find any facts proving Extinction Rebellion's connection with Ukraine.    

Social networks and Russian websites spread information that the administration of the Memorial of the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany has offered Ukrainian refugees to live on its territory. They claim that the Sachsenhausen concentration camp museum provided on its Facebook and Instagram pages to house Ukrainian refugees in a "specially built temporary hotel."

The administration of the Sachsenhausen Memorial denied such information and stated that it never proposed to place Ukrainian refugees on the territory of the former concentration camp. Photos of barracks with the words "Welcome Home" against the background of the Ukrainian flag are a deliberately altered version of a picture previously published on a German tourist site. The Brandenburg Memorial Foundation's press service said everything points to the scheme of the Russian digital propaganda war. The management of Sachsenhausen Memorial has already reported this incident to the police. More details.

Unknown persons sent letters to Transcarpathian mass media, supposedly from the Society of Hungarian Culture of Transcarpathia and the Gabor Bethlen Foundation, which stated that "the Hungarian government has decided to provide material assistance to Transcarpathian Hungarians and their families who were forcibly mobilized into the Ukrainian army." This fake is aimed at worsening relations between Ukraine and Hungary.

As InfoPost.Media writes that this message's key elements were the national component and emphasis on "forced" mobilization. Vasyl Brenzovych, head of the Transcarpathia Hungarian Culture Association, called this letter a provocation. The Society also denied sending similar letters to the media: "The provocative information was sent from an electronic mailbox, which is partially similar to the official electronic mailbox of the public organization "Society of Hungarian Culture of Transcarpathia," but registered on a different domain name on the Internet."

The media and social networks spread the news that almost 50% of Ukrainian refugees want to stay in Poland. The news was spread concerning the expert's statement and survey data, but this information was distorted, and incorrect conclusions were drawn.

In fact, as StopFake writes, a survey conducted by the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of War Research in Ukraine, conducted from April 15 to May 10 among Ukrainian refugees in Poland shows that only 17% of respondents plan to stay there forever; 14% said that they still want to work in Poland, and then they will return home with earnings, and 3% plan to obtain Polish citizenship. Another survey (from 4Service) shows that 89% of respondents plan to return home after the war's end; 3% do not plan to return at all; another 4% hesitate but are inclined to stay in Europe; 4% - undecided. At the same time, 67% of Ukrainians assume they may stay abroad if the war drags on. In addition, Natalya Zaytseva-Chipak, director of the Ukrainian public opinion research center "Sotsioinform," was twisted: she said that 50% of Poland wanted to return to Ukraine. However, she did not conclude that the other half plans to stay there - the media has already added that.

It was reported on the News of Russia telegram channel. A video is attached to the post with a comment that illustrates "how Ukrainian refugees live and what they do." Allegedly, the Ukrainians destroyed the dormitory where they were sheltered and stole household appliances and food products. But it is not so.

The video shows a refugee hostel in Bamberg, Germany. However, Ukrainians did not live there. Moreover, neither the managers of the institution nor the local police knows about cases of vandalism or theft related to Ukrainian refugees. According to German fact-checkers, two people are speaking in Russian on the one-minute video and filming the condition of the mutilated apartment. However, the video does not mention that Ukrainian refugees staged the pogrom. Russian propaganda spreads such messages to turn citizens of other countries against Ukrainians, such as it is not worth helping Ukrainian refugees; they are ungrateful.

Russian propaganda spread such disinformation. They said that Kyiv granted Poland the request to provide Ukrainian passports to citizens of Ukraine. It does not.

The statement contradicts the norms of Ukrainian legislation, which clearly defines the list of state institutions that have the right to issue documents. In fact, it is a pilot project, thanks to which foreign divisions of the State Migration Service of Ukraine (SMS) can give documents to citizens of Ukraine outside the country. The first branch of the Dokument state enterprise was indeed opened in Warsaw. From August, Ukrainians can issue an ID card and a foreign passport. SMS reports that the Polish government has nothing to do with the new foreign project. In addition, they plan to open such centers in other countries; the list is agreed upon with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

It is not the first time that Russian propaganda has spread information that Poland threatens the subjectivity of Ukraine or plans to occupy part of Ukrainian territories. This way, propagandists try to discredit the Polish government and the Polish. More details.

Similar messages are spreading on social networks that allegedly Ukrainian refugees created a massive swastika on an area in the suburbs of Brandenburg. The reports refer to German journalist Julian Röpcke and Bild newspaper. But it is manipulation. According to the German newspaper Bild, their reporter Julian Röpcke noticed a swastika with an area of ​​about 360 square meters during a flight over Brandenburg and reported it to the local police. The police suspect a resident who, according to neighbors, has repeatedly hung the Reich flag in the window of his house to create the prohibited symbol. The German law enforcement officers do not have any information that Ukrainians were involved in creating the swastika. As StopFake writes, the message about the involvement of Ukrainians in this situation is deliberately spread by Russian propaganda to discredit Ukrainian refugees in Germany. Previously, fakes were spread that Ukrainian refugees, trying to burn the Russian flag, caused a fire in the house of a German family that sheltered them.

Russian propaganda media spread such information. In their reports, they refer to the Polish mass media, claiming that Ukrainian refugees come to Poland only for financial gain and perceive it as a "cash cow." However, the Kremlin media in their texts regard only one article in the Polish press — Myśl Polska. It is said that Ukrainians allegedly came from peaceful regions to receive help. "Millions of refugees from Ukraine are just people who want to use Poland as a cash cow," writes Myśl Polska, adding that Poland is allegedly even forced to limit access to medical services for its citizens to ensure the "maintenance" requests of Ukrainians. However, it is not true.

As the fact-checkers from StopFake write, the publication also claims that many resources allegedly go to "numerous interventions with the removal of children from drunken Ukrainian mothers." According to the author, such violations have become almost massive, but the local mass media do not write about it because "censorship works properly" in Poland. Such information is not confirmed in other Polish media and official sources. However, such material in the Polish mass media served as an excuse for Russian propaganda to discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians. StopFake writes that the financial component is not the most crucial reason Ukrainians go to Poland. Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Poland after February 24 are entitled to a one-time allowance of 300 zlotys ($66) and a monthly child allowance of 500 zlotys ($110). The average salary in Ukraine in December 2021 was $641, 9 times more than the allowance in Poland. The minimum fixed wage in Ukraine is $233. It is almost four times more than the aid for which, according to Russian and some pro-Russian Polish media, Ukrainians go to Poland. Ukrainian refugees are looking for a safe environment in Poland, which, unfortunately, is not currently available in Ukraine due to the Russian military aggression. More details.    

Ukrainian refugees who fled due to the large-scale war unleashed by Russia and, besides found refuge in European countries, are haunted by Russian propagandists. On July 2, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and mass media exploded with many reports: "Great Britain, Belgium, Slovakia, Poland are tired of Ukrainians and will drive forced migrants out into the street."

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev, compared Ukrainian refugees and Poland to a crisis in marital relations: "It seems that the stormy romance between Europeans and Ukrainians is coming to an end. They no longer want them; they are tired of them. Crazy Poles remembered their crazy nationalism. And now they are shouting to almost four million Ukrainians who have settled in their country that they are in Poland." He believes that "fading feelings should not be rekindled by any promises of a future slow and unequal marriage (mythical accession to the EU)" and that Ukrainians should "for their own happiness to break this marriage union forever."

Anonymous channels on Telegram shared a video with a woman who called to throw Ukrainians out of Poland with their bare hands because, they say, they got a swelled head. In other materials in the Russian media, it is described that Ukrainians in Europe "look at bread as garbage" and "demand luxury." Moreover, Europeans and Britons are outraged by the drunkenness and rudeness of Ukrainian refugees. And they must emphasize that from July 1, the Polish government will no longer pay aid to Ukrainian refugees.

Fact-checkers from Mythdetector reported that from July 1, aid would stop only for those Ukrainian refugees who have lived in Poland for 120 days; the aid payment will continue for the rest of the refugees. The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, the Government Commissioner for Refugee Affairs, Pavlo Schefernaker, noted that four months after the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Polish government moved to a new stage of helping refugees. He said that among Ukrainian refugees, about 1.2 million people received PESEL (identification number), of which more than 500,000 are currently of working age. The Polish government will help them to adapt and work. According to Schafernaker, more than half of the non-disabled refugees have already started working.

According to UN data, as of June 28, 4,312,612 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As part of the assistance from Poland, a regulation came into force on March 16, 2022, according to which the Polish government will help residents who provide housing and food to Ukrainian refugees at the rate of 40 zlotys per day per adult. Aid is valid for 120 days.

Social networks and Russian websites spread information that "Ukrainian militants disrupted the humanitarian corridor from the bomb shelters of the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk."

Russia said it would open a humanitarian corridor for civilians from Sievierodonetsk to the occupied territory on June 15, but only if the remaining Ukrainian military surrendered. Ukraine rejected this condition. Russia constantly disrupts the evacuation of the civilian population, either by offering impossible conditions to the Ukrainian side or by not stopping shelling during the declared evacuation.

"News" under this title was published by Russian and Belarusian publications concerning the mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis. Allegedly, he stated that the hotels in the capital may soon stop accepting Ukrainian refugees for free and that on July 1, the agreement between the Latvian government and representatives of the hotel business may terminate. On June 15, Martins Stakis gave an interview to Latvian Television (LTV) and spoke about Ukrainian refugees.

He said the state should provide more compensation for hosting refugees in hotels. Otherwise, they will no longer provide these services, and refugees will have to find new accommodation.

Such an assumption in the stream of Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov written in a telegram by a militant of the self-proclaimed "DPR" Vladlen Tatarsky (Maksym Fomin), who now calls himself a military correspondent. He noted that she was "exchanged for our underground in Kyiv."

On June 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address that paramedic Yuliia Paievska (Taira), whom the Russians had captured in mid-March in Mariupol, had been released from captivity.

Yuliia "Taira" Paievska is a volunteer paramedic who saved the lives of military and civilians in Donbas for eight years.

Taira's husband Vadym and daughter Anna-Sofia lost touch with her on March 14, 2022. Since then, nothing has been known about the paramedic except the fakes spread by Russian propaganda. Taira has the title of People's Hero of Ukraine, President of the Aikido Federation "Mutokukai Ukraine," in 2013, with the beginning of the Revolution of Dignity, she became a doctor on the Maidan. She taught tactical medicine in the projects "People's Reserve" and "Protection of Patriots."

Later, Yuliia Paievska organized and headed the volunteer medical evacuation unit "Angels of Taira," which was based near Mariupol. From 2014 to 2018, she was a paramedic volunteer. From 2018 to 2020, she served under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in eastern Ukraine and headed the evacuation department of the 61st Mobile Hospital in Mariupol. Then she was demobilized.

The Russian occupiers are spreading information that children born after February 24 and orphans in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts will automatically receive Russian citizenship. At the same time, refer to the words of the so-called "deputy head of the Kherson CMA" Kyrylo Stremousov. Ukrainian officials refuted fake. "We do not recognize these documents, no matter what happens. If he [the child] is born in Kherson, he will be a citizen of Ukraine. And after the end of hostilities will receive a document, a Ukrainian birth certificate," - said the legal chairman of the Kherson regional for the sake of Oleksandr Samoylenko. He calls such ideas of the occupiers' populism and propaganda. "How to document this? All these children [orphans] have birth certificates. Will they try to give them birth certificates, where the place of birth is recorded - the Kherson region of the Russian Federation? But there is no such thing... None of the so-called documents will have legal force," - the official noted. It will be recalled that Russia is trying to issue its passports to adult citizens in the occupied territories. In particular, the propaganda produces fakes about the number of issued Russian passports, calling the "sky-high" numbers.