Propagandists are disseminating information on men of military age having a limit on cash withdrawals from an ATM in the amount of 100 hryvnia per day. They say that in order to withdraw more, it is necessary to update the data in the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support. However, this is fake.

StopFake specialists drew attention to it. They found out that the National Bank of Ukraine did indeed establish certain restrictions on cash withdrawals, but these restrictions apply to all citizens and amount to no more than 100 thousand hryvnia per day. Also, depending on the bank, there are certain additional restrictions on withdrawing cash from an ATM. For example, in PrivatBank one can withdraw no more than 20 thousand hryvnia at a time, and to receive a larger amount one needs to repeat the operation no earlier than three hours later. There was no statement regarding the issuance of cash to men of military age. This is not the case in the new law on mobilization, adopted on April 16.

Russian propaganda created this fake in order to provoke panic among citizens, disrupt mobilization and violate trust in government by creating artificial cash demand. In this way, propagandists try to create negative emotions and tension. Detector Media has already repeatedly refuted other Russian fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Russian propaganda resources are disseminating information that in Lviv, 100 people with cancer, including many children, were allegedly unable to undergo radiation due to the detention of medical physicists by the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine  reported that this information is false. The Lviv Oncology Center itself explained that two specialists from the medical institution were actually called by the Territorial center of recruitment and social support to clarify the registration data. However, the center continued to operate as usual. Both center employees have already returned to their duties.

With this fake, the Russian continues to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine, besides speculating on the sensitive topic of cancer. Previously, we refuted information that Ukrainian pharmacies allegedly do not sell medications to men without a Territorial center of recruitment and social support reference.

Kremlin media state that territorial recruitment centers announced free evacuation from Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, and then workers handed out draft notices to men leaving these cities. In the message, the authors attach a screenshot with evacuation vehicles and a phone number - 050 444 1005.

VoxCheck specialists analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that the number in the screenshot belongs to the Good Deed charity organization. The organization is engaged in free evacuation of people from front-line territories (Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions, etc.) to Dnipro. The photo shows cars with the name of the organization. Cars with the same stickers appeared in videos published on Good Deed’s social media pages.

That is, a charitable organization organizes the evacuation process and there is no talk of “handing out” draft notices; this is an invention of propagandists.

Propagandists, through pro-Russian telegram channels and accounts on the social network X (formerly Twitter), are distributing a video in which Catherine Himmler, the granddaughter of the brother of one of the most influential leaders of Nazi Germany, Heinrich Himmler, allegedly calls on Ukrainian young people not to return to Ukraine. Like, she advises “not to hand over Ukrainians to the bloody dictator Zelenskyi”. But this is not true.

In fact, Himmler made no such statement. The video was edited using archival chronicles from the time of the Third Reich, echoing footage of a meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Germany Dmytro Kuleba and Annalena Berbock, as well as other German politicians. Katherine Himmler responded to the Agency's editor by email, confirming that she had not said what propagandists had attributed to her.

On April 16, the President of Ukraine signed the law on mobilization and military service, which talks about strengthening sanctions against military service evaders, as well as some changes in military registration. On April 23, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced a decision to limit the provision of consular services abroad to Ukrainians of military age. Commenting on this decision on the social network X, he noted that “soon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide updated explanations on the procedure for obtaining consular services within the framework of the law for men of mobilization age in foreign diplomatic institutions”. Taking advantage of this situation, Russian propaganda is trying to spread panic and discredit the government. Detector Media also refuted other Russian stories on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine.

Propagandists are spreading information that after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a new law on mobilization in Ukraine, the number of people looking for notaries to draw up wills has suddenly increased. Advocates point to Google Trends statistics for searches for “notary to draw up a will”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They note that Google Trends is a service that helps one understand what topics the audience is interested in based on the number of search queries on Google. However, checking the statistics on the request of a notary to draw up a will in Ukraine over the last 7 days did not show enough data to display statistics. This means that during this period of time, users did not make such a request often enough. In addition, the service’s charts show that over the past year, interest in the topic of wills in Ukraine has remained stable without sudden increases after the signing of the law on mobilization.

This law provides for some restrictions for those liable for military service, but Russian propaganda is trying to manipulate this issue, spreading panic among the population.  Detector Media also refuted other Russian inventions under this law.

Social networks in the Russian segment are disseminating information that the Ukrainian bank Monobank has sent out a warning to users about limiting a number of financial transactions for “evaders” - that is, individuals who may evade mobilization.

As “proof”, the fake robs attached a screenshot from the phone that allegedly received such a message.

This case was investigated by StopFake specialists, who determined that the Ukrainian bank Monobank did not send clients notifications about restrictions for “evaders”.

Moreover, in a comment to StopFake, bank representatives denied sending such messages. In addition, the text of the message itself was compiled with numerous errors and inaccuracies.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that 41 schools will be closed in the Sumy region in 2025, allegedly due to lack of funding. Propagandists also claim that in the region, by order of the head of the Sumy Regional State Administration, the administration staff was increased by seven people to carry out mobilization.

This is actually fake. In the case of schools, it is not about closing, but about reorganizing educational institutions with fewer than 45 students. This will happen in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which was approved in March 2024 - from September 1, 2025, the state educational subvention will not be allocated to schools with fewer than 45 students.

In the Sumy region today, 41 institutions have less than 45 students, and many of these institutions have 37, 36 and 30 students, that is, there are 1-3 children in a class. This was announced by the director of the Department of Education and Science of the Sumy Regional State Administration Victoria Hrobova.

The staff of the Regional State Administration was increased in order to improve its structure. This has nothing to do with the organization of mobilization. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

Read also: Ukraine is allegedly preparing to mobilize school teachers

Pro-Russian sources are spreading information about the death of a military man from Konotop, Dmytro Oleksandrovych Boiko. Propagandists claim that the guy was supposedly only 16 years old - to confirm this, they provide a screenshot from an unknown database of personal data of Ukrainian citizens. The publications accuse the Ukrainian military of concealing the real age of the young man, since the obituaries indicate a completely different date of birth – July 28,2005. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the deceased warrior was actually 18 years old, as local media reported. This was confirmed by Konotop Lyceum No. 9, which the deceased fighter graduated from. According to the lyceum management, the guy’s date of birth is indeed July 28, 2005, and he graduated from school (full 11 grades) two years ago. However, another Dmytro Oleksandrovych Boiko, born on February 16, 2008, lives in Konotop. The guy plays football in the youth sports school in the city of Konotop. In one of the recordings of a football match between the teams of Konotop and Shostka, he scores the third goal, and one can see that the young man looks completely different from the deceased soldier. Consequently, another message about minors serving in the Ukrainian army turned out to be fake.

This news fits into the Kremlin’s narrative about children and teenagers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in order to disrupt the mobilization process in Ukraine. Detector Media has already refuted other Russian fabrications on this topic.

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 spread information on social networks and Russian public pages that Ukrainians are ready to live even in the Chornobyl zone just to save their lives. “Enterprising Ukrainians began to make minimal repairs and sell “safe houses near Prypiat”. Among the main advantages is the absence of a shopping center. The price of pleasure is $6,500”, social network users report, distributing in their publications a video announcing the “sale of a house near Prypiat”. A male voice in the video talks about the plot and the house for sale, and on the video itself there are the inscriptions “Safe house near Prypiat”, “No shopping center”, “Renovated, clean, comfortable, stove heating”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that in fact this announcement concerns the sale of a house in the village of Krasnianka, Vinnytsia region and has nothing to do with either the Chornobyl exclusion zone or attempts by potential buyers to avoid mobilization in Ukraine.

They found the real video, distributed on social networks and Russian media, on the Ukrainian YouTube channel “It’s easy to move to a village”. The channel was created in December 2022 and is dedicated to reviews of private houses for sale located in rural areas. The mentioned video is located in the YouTube Shorts section of the channel and has received more than 19 thousand views to date.

It is interesting that both the voice-over of the presenter, the background music, the detailed information about the property, and the photographs of the house and yard completely coincide with the fake advertisement about “selling a house near Chornobyl”. This makes it obvious that we are talking about the same ad. However, at the beginning of the original video, the presenter states that the house is located in the village of Krasnianka, Tyvrovskyi district, Vinnytsia region. In the fake publications, this information was cut out using video editing programs and, for greater reliability, text was added to the video itself, confirming that the house is located near Prypiat. There is no text in the actual ad in the video. In addition, the price of the house was changed in the fake ad. According to the authors of the fake, a plot of land near Prypiat costs $6,500, but in the original video the price is listed as $2,500. This was done, obviously, in order to show: Ukrainians are ready to give up considerable sums of money just to get away from Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

The Chornobyl exclusion zone is located in the north of the Kyiv region. It was formed as a result of radioactive contamination of the territory after the accident at the 4th power unit of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986. Its area is 36545 hectares. Consequently, the sale of houses near Prypiat is prohibited in Ukraine, and information about this is another fake of Russian propaganda with the aim of discrediting the mobilization campaign in Ukraine. The original video was deliberately altered to create a false narrative that Ukrainians are willing to live even in the exclusion zone just to avoid Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

“Ukrainian women are actively preparing to evade mobilization”, with this title, propagandists are massively distributing a video on social networks in which a woman puts on an artificial belly to simulate pregnancy. “These life hacks are already very popular. Everything was done properly - men in wigs, and women with artificial bellies”, write users distributing this video. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that, despite the inscriptions in Ukrainian “pov: heard about the mobilization of women” and “Register, girls!”, this video is distributed exclusively by pro-Russian groups and Z-channels on Telegram. There is no evidence that this video is popular among Ukrainian women.

StopFake journalists were able to investigate that this video first appeared online even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in June 2021 on the YouTube channel “Nadiia Korobeinykova”. There are obviously no inscriptions “pov: I heard about the mobilization of women!” and “Register, girls!”. The description of the original video notes that this video is a brief instruction on how to “make your own” artificial belly to simulate pregnancy. Using the phone number indicated in the description, StopFake journalists were able to find more detailed information about this profile on YouTube.

This phone number is also listed in the contacts of the Facebook page used for promotional orders of artificial bellies to simulate pregnancy. Having looked through their publications, journalists were unable to find a single one advertising artificial bellies as a means of evading mobilization. The website indicated in the page description states that artificial bellies for simulating pregnancy are suitable for clothing stores, themed photo and video shoots, for couples who seek help from surrogacy or decide to adopt a child.

Reports that Ukrainian women are learning to make artificial bellies to “evade mobilization” are not realistic. The fact is that in Ukraine women can only mobilize voluntarily. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said at the final press conference in December 2023 that there would be no mobilization of women in the country during martial law. Now military registration applies only to those women who have received education in medical and pharmaceutical specialties, but they can serve only of their own free will.

Propagandists spread such fake news to discredit the mobilization in Ukraine and cause panic among the local population. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian fabrications about mobilization in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists, on behalf of Alina Bondarchuk, deputy head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, claim that Ukrainian military prisoners are being used as part of the “Evader” flash mob.

In fact, Alina Bondarchuk did not make a corresponding statement. They write about this in the Center itself. There is no information with similar content on her official Facebook page, where the correspondence was allegedly taken from. In addition, the official profile of the Deputy Head of the Center has a different name and a different photo.

Such fakes are being spread as part of Russia’s large-scale information campaign called “Evader” in order to discredit the work of the Center, which, in particular, is counteracting this information campaign. Discrediting mobilization, sowing discord among Ukrainian society, and undermining Ukraine’s ability to defend itself are the main goals of this IPSO.

The Russian media write that in Ukraine they want to mobilize Ukrainian teachers. The fake robs substantiated this thesis with photographs of basic military training, which soldiers of the 107th Troops Brigade allegedly conducted specifically for teachers. It's a lie.

VoxCheck analysts explained that the photo distributed by propagandists depicted voluntary training in basic preparation of citizens for national resistance. According to the law, school teachers are not mobilized in Ukraine.

According to Article 23 of the Law “On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization”, employees of general education institutions, among others, have the right to a deferment, provided that they work at least 0.75 times the salary. In the new mobilization law, this provision also remains unchanged.

The Russians launched a large-scale information campaign aimed at romanticizing evasion of mobilization and the evaders themselves. Videos have systematically begun to appear on TikTok and other social networks in which supposedly Ukrainian men film themselves abroad on vacation and call themselves “evaders”. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Such content quickly gains views and comments from the audience - approving and critical, but discussions under these videos only propel them into trends. “Folk” songs have even been created for such videos, the lyrics of which always contain the main message – praise of the evaders, the GUR adds.

The following things indicate a targeted Russian information campaign:

the synchronicity of the appearance of numerous songs and videos “heroizing” men who refuse to stand up in defense of their own country;

anonymity of video authors;

promotion of this content by organized groups of bots.

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andrii Kovalenko, commented on the situation: “The pseudo-flash mob with the hashtag evader is another hostile IPSO. This is a classic technology of splitting society, which uses the same principle as the technology of splitting by language, only in this case the enemy incites hatred, leveling the constitutional obligation”.

Discrediting mobilization, sowing discord among Ukrainian society, and undermining Ukraine’s ability to defend itself are the main goals of this IPSO.

Read also: “Defending the Fatherland is a punishment”, “the party of draft dodgers would defeat the Servant of the People”. Theses of Russian propaganda on mobilization in Ukraine are in the MediaSapiens section.

Russian propaganda media add that in Ukraine they are supposedly going to make not only men, but also all women aged 18 to 60 years old, liable for military service. According to Russian propaganda, the basis for this has already been prepared in the law on the electronic register of military personnel signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

“In the near future, the borders will be closed to women in Ukraine”, Kremlin resources write.

The case was studied by StopFake analysts, who said that Law No. 10062 does not talk about establishing military service for women, or including them in the register of those liable for military service.

The law itself is called “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding improving the procedure for processing and using data in state registers for military registration and acquiring the status of a war veteran during martial law”, that is, first of all, the purpose of the law is to simplify the mechanism for granting a military operations participant status.

Kremlin media and social media users began spreading false information that a disabled man in Ukraine named Yevhen Khaimov died several days after “forced mobilization”. These messages included a photograph of the deceased and details about his death.

StopFake found out that Yevhen Khaimov actually died, but joined the Ukrainian Defense Forces back in March 2022 and defended the country of death on January 26, 2024 in the Donetsk region. His wife Maryna filed a petition to award him the title of “Hero of Ukraine (posthumously)”. Neither relatives nor officials reported that Khaimov had a disability.

Fakes about mobilization in Ukraine have intensified against the backdrop of news about the preparation for voting of bills concerning changes in the rules for attracting military personnel to serve in the army. Recently, the Disinformation Chronicles refuted fake news that police officers are detaining men and handing them over to employees of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers.

Thus, the allegations of “forced mobilization” and the death of a disabled man a few days later are untrue. Russian propaganda used the real death of a military man to spread disinformation.

Fakes about mobilization in Ukraine have intensified against the backdrop of news about the preparation for voting of bills concerning changes in the rules for attracting military personnel to serve in the army. Recently, the Disinformation Chronicles refuted the fake news that police officers are detaining men and handing them over to employees of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers, for which a pensioner received a draft notice, and also that in Ukraine they are allegedly calling for families to mobilize into the Armed Forces.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that students of the Kyiv Military Lyceum named after Ivan Bohun have become recruits of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will be involved in hostilities.

However, this information is not true. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

The Kyiv Military Lyceum named after Ivan Bohun is a secondary educational institution in which teenagers aged 13-17 years study, that is grades 8-11. Lyceum students undergo military training, but they are not involved in the actions of the Defense Forces, because this is contrary to the current legislation of Ukraine. Contract service is only possible upon reaching 18 years of age.

This fake story about the “mobilization of Ukrainian teenagers” is part of the Russian campaign to disrupt mobilization in Ukraine. Previously, we have repeatedly refuted information that Zelenskyi allegedly mobilizes minors.

Pro-Russian propagandists are spreading information that the Odesa territorial recruitment center is allegedly requiring schoolchildren to register at the polling stations in order to send them to the army.

However, this information has been manipulated, write experts on the VoxCheck project. According to Ukrainian legislation, young men in the year they turn 17 must be assigned to conscription stations. This postscript does not mean that they will be mobilized.

The original message on the Facebook page of the Odesa Territorial center of recruitment and social support, to which propagandists refer, actually says that at the recruiting stations in the region, registration of young men born in 2007 continues, and those of them who received draft notices for registration must appear at the Territorial center of recruitment and social support. However, this is a legal procedure for registering pre-conscripts, which existed even before the full-scale invasion. According to it, every year during January - March, pre-conscription conscripts who turn 17 in the year of registration are assigned to conscription stations. That is, the Territorial center of recruitment and social support acts in accordance with the law. In particular, registration with the Territorial center of recruitment and social support is carried out in order to determine the conscription resources available in the state.

In addition, it should be understood that a draft notice for registration and a draft notice for mobilization are of two different types and they are issued to different categories of the population. Registration to a recruiting station does not mean mobilization. Men from 18 to 25 years old can be mobilized if they are liable for military service, that is, they served in the army, served in a military department at a university, or studied at a higher military educational institution. In addition, conscripts can voluntarily join the army by concluding a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The rest of the men are subject to mobilization from the age of 25.

Previously, we refuted information about the alleged mobilization of 1000 students of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Russian propagandists are distributing a video about the everyday life of two young Ukrainians: one is relaxing, having fun with girls, drinking alcohol and drugs, while the other is fighting.

Russian propaganda is trying to undermine the authority of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as sow discord in Ukrainian society. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

The authors of the video staged “two realities” of Ukrainians, deliberately manipulating sensitive topics for the Ukrainian people in order to attract attention and provoke conflict. However, Russian propagandists ignore the fact that Ukrainians enlist in the military not for popularity and “luxury conditions”, but to protect their country and future.

This manipulative video appeared against the backdrop of public discussions of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”. More materials on this topic can be found here.

Propagandists are spreading information that ticks are not exterminated in the Poltava region because most of the workers have been mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There is also allegedly a problem with the provision of medical care - tick tests and treatment of Lyme disease (borreliosis) are practically not carried out in the region. However, this is a fake.

Specialists of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that there is no reason to claim that the increase in morbidity is related to the mobilization of workers. The problem with the treatment of parks and squares depends on the local authorities and can be solved through agreements with contracting organizations. Even in conditions of full-scale war, tests and treatment of Lyme disease, which is one of the infectious diseases transmitted by ticks, are carried out.

In the Poltava region, there is indeed an increase in cases of Lyme disease, but this is an all-Ukrainian trend. In 2023, almost 5,000 cases of Lyme disease were registered in Ukraine - approximately 12 cases per 100,000 population. Incidence in the Poltava region (36.97 per 100,000 population) is the highest in Ukraine. In 2023, 497 cases of Lyme disease were reported in the region, compared to 367 cases in 2022. In 2022, 3,875 cases were recorded in the country (9.3 cases per 100,000 population).

Also, in the Poltava region, areas where there are natural foci of diseases transmitted by ticks have been identified. Insects that carry the causative agent of Lyme disease are found in every district of the region. Tick-borne viral encephalitis is less common. Myrhorod and Poltava districts, as well as the city of Poltava, are risk areas. Ticks can also transmit other diseases, but not all of them are carriers of pathogens.

It is important to see the doctor and take a prophylactic course of antibiotics if you develop symptoms of Lyme disease. Vaccination is the best protection, especially for those who are often outdoors.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine. Detector Media wrote what other fakes Russian propaganda invented for this.

Russian telegram channels are distributing a photo of a “document” from the Taras Shevchenko national university of Kyiv on “exemption from training of 1000 students in connection with their conscription for military service during mobilization”. In addition, the relevant document states that the reason for such an order was an appeal from representatives of the SBU, as well as the Shevchenko district territorial center of procurement and social support.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council undertook to analyze this information. They found out that in fact the photo of the “document” is just another photoshop of Russian propagandists.

Firstly, the execution of the document does not meet the legal requirements for the execution of organizational and administrative documents.

Secondly, the numbering of the order does not correspond to the numbering that is used to register orders of the National National Institution, which are posted in the public domain.

After all, the fictitious document contains many spelling errors, which also indicate its falsity.

This fake appeared as part of a large-scale propaganda campaign to discredit mobilization in Ukraine. Propagandists speculate on a sensitive topic for many Ukrainians and resort to such fabrications that are intended to demoralize, mislead and intimidate society. Previously, we refuted information that Zelenskyi allegedly mobilizes minors.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that Kyiv has allegedly begun to prepare young men for confrontation with Russian troops during the upcoming defense in the Sumy direction. According to propagandists, “young men will have to form partisan movements and begin sabotage”. In addition, Russian propaganda says that Kyiv has allegedly already begun to use such a detachment in one of the directions. And as a result, a sixteen-year-old Ukrainian medic of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 67th DUK Mechanized Infantry Brigade with the call sign “Troy” allegedly died.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council denied this information. In fact, the statement about the training of “young Ukrainian partisans” to fight the Russians is an invention of Russian propagandists that does not correspond to reality. There is also fake information about the death of a Ukrainian combat medic precisely as a result of the partisan movement again. Unfortunately, Anastasia Marianchuk with the call sign “Troy” actually died on March 18, 2024, but from enemy shelling, and not because she joined one of the so-called “detachments”. In addition, she was not 16, but 22 years old.

This fake nourishes the propaganda narrative that Nazism rules in Ukraine, so the country needs to be “denazified”. However, this is only one of the justifications for unprovoked Russian aggression. In the end, propagandists seek to demonize both the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, since they have allegedly already begun to involve children in physical confrontation with Russia. Previously, we refuted the information that in Kyiv they allegedly distribute “propaganda” to women, elderly people and children so that they could be mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian resources disseminate information that during his visit to Kyiv on March 18, 2024, American Senator Lindsey Graham insisted on the mobilization of Ukrainians who are not even 25 years old. In asserting this, Russian propagandists refer to an article by The Washington Post.

In fact, this information is distorted, write the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Russian propagandists have twisted Graham's words, which originally appeared in The Washington Post: “I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27. You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27.” That is, the American senator did not call on Ukraine to mobilize those who are not even 25. He only said that in such an existential war it is not necessary to wait until the age of 27 (current conscription age).

This is not the first time that propagandists have had difficulty translating Graham's statements. For example, in May 2023, Russian propaganda attributed to the senator the words that supposedly “the deaths of Russians are the result of a successful investment of money by the American authorities”. However, these words turned out to be nothing more than manipulation.

Russian propagandists claim that Ukraine intends to mobilize three million childless women. “It seems that Ukraine has taken the path of self-destruction”, comments Russian propaganda, manipulating new material from TEXTY.org.ua, where journalists are trying to calculate the country’s mobilization reserve. “War until the last Ukrainian. The only hope is that Russia will win faster than a drug addict can destroy the entire country”, say social media users. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that at the moment there are no plans for large-scale mobilization of women in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said at a conference in December 2023 that there would be no mobilization of women in the country during martial law. Military registration of women applies only to persons who have received education in medical and pharmaceutical specialties, but they can serve only at their own request. The analysis of TEXTY journalists also does not indicate the plans of the Ukrainian authorities to mobilize women.

Russian propaganda systematically uses the topic of mobilization in Ukraine to spread disinformation, convincing that the Ukrainian authorities intend to “fight until the last Ukrainian”, and due to large losses they are already recruiting women, pensioners and minors into the army. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted such fakes.

Propagandists in anonymous telegram channels are spreading another “shock news”: allegedly in the Odesa region, a Territorial center of procurement and social support car tried to catch up and stop a minibus, which led to a fatal accident for four people. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the propagandists took information about an accident that actually occurred in the Dnipropetrovsk region and came up with information about the Territorial center of procurement and social support car.

This story is being spread in the context of Russia’s disinformation narrative that the mobilization throughout Ukraine is accompanied by constant violations of human rights, Ukrainians are refusing to serve en masse, and the government is ready to “force everyone to serve” in order to continue the war. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes within this narrative.

In mid-March 2024, Russian propagandists spread information that Ukraine was allegedly not releasing citizens of African countries and was “forcibly” mobilizing them for military operations. Like, this was reported by the American television channel ABC News, where a Congolese citizen allegedly claimed that he was offered to fight for Ukraine. However, this is manipulation.

After disseminating this information, StopFake decided to check whether a Congolese citizen really complained to an American TV channel that he was not being allowed out of Ukraine and was being “forced” to mobilize for military action. They found out that the news was false.

In the video distributed by Russian propaganda, the foreigner cannot be heard complaining that he is not allowed to leave Ukraine. At the beginning of the video, the voice of a TV presenter talks about a person from the Congo who claims that he was the target of discrimination when trying to board an evacuation train. What follows is the direct language of a foreigner who says that he was offered to fight for Ukraine. After his comment, the video ends. It is impossible to draw conclusions about why he was not released from the country and whether they really tried to “forcibly” mobilize him.

In this regard, StopFake tried to find this news on the American ABC News channel and reconsider whether there was perhaps additional context that could help understand this situation better. The video shows that the Congolese citizen's name is Pira Diantuadi. We managed to find an article about this man on the ABC News website. It turned out that it was published in the spring of 2022 and was dedicated to foreign refugees trying to leave Ukraine after the full-scale Russian invasion. The authors of the material tried to figure out whether there was discrimination on racial grounds during the evacuation from the country. In particular, Diantuadi complained that, despite promising to put only “women and children” on the evacuation train, he saw Ukrainian men being put on the evacuation train. The material is accompanied by an insert where Diantuadi talks about the proposal to fight for Ukraine, which the propagandists took advantage of. However, the material does not contain any conclusions that Ukraine tried to deliberately not let foreigners out of the country and “forcibly” mobilize them.

The ABC News article also noted that the interview with the Congolese citizen was conducted in Poland. The inscriptions in Polish in the background of the video confirm this. That is, the foreigner still managed to leave Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian invasion. Therefore, Russian propaganda tried to use the story of the “travel ban” and “forced” mobilization of foreign citizens in a new way, publishing an old video of a person in order to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of citizens of the countries of the South.

It should be added that according to Ukrainian legislation, foreigners cannot be mobilized. As the head of the personnel department of the headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Roman Horbach, explained in a comment to ArmyInform, a foreigner can only want this himself.

“According to the law, foreigners can be drafted into the Defense Forces. But they are not called up for mobilization, but are accepted for military service voluntarily under a contract in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, said Roman Horbach.

An alleged screenshot of a message from Volodymyr Zelenskyi on X (former Twitter) is being circulated online, in which he allegedly made a statement in English: “I will sign a decree that will require all Western countries to deport Ukrainian men living there back to Ukraine”. It is not true.

VoxCheck analysts investigated this case and found out that it was satirical news. The X page from which the message was distributed is a parody and does not belong to Zelenskyi. On the real Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s X page,  there is no such message.

In addition, the colors of the verification checkmarks for X are different in both accounts. Thus, since 2022, the accounts of politicians and government agencies have a gray check mark; Zelenskyi’s account has it in exactly this color. In the fake screenshot, it is blue, which is the color of the checkmark that users who have an X Premium subscription may have.

Photos of an anti-tank ditch are being circulated online; according to the authors of the publications, it was dug on the western borders of Ukraine. “This was done on the orders of dictator Zelenskyi so that Ukrainians would not run away to free democratic countries”, they comment on the message. However, this is a lie.

Analysts from the StopFake project took on the case and found that the photo actually shows an anti-tank ditch located in the Donbas and Luhansk regions. The photo of the ditch also shows military journalist Vlad Voloshyn; he published this photo on his Facebook on March 3, 2024. His message says that the photo was taken in March 2024 in one of the “hot destinations in Donbas”.

Moreover, he wrote that the ditch was built many years ago - and he saw it with his own eyes in 2016. That is, the construction does not in any way affect the western borders of Ukraine, because it is a propaganda fiction.

Read on Censor.NET: Ukraine “dug” a ditch on the border with Moldova to stop the flight of men from mobilization.

A video is being circulated on social networks in the Russian segment in which a so-called Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received gratitude from the Ministry of Defense for his “active civic position and assistance to the army” - and in addition, he was “handed” a draft notice to the nearest Territorial center of recruitment and social support. In the messages, the authors of the fake conclude that in Ukraine you “shouldn’t” trust anyone, because they still want to mobilize a volunteer who decided to help of his own free will. However, just like the gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, the draft notice is fake.

The case was analyzed by VoxCheck specialists, who explained that the gratitude and the agenda do not comply with state design standards and contain various errors. For example, with regard to gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, in the special order “On departmental incentive awards” they give an example of a sketch of a “certificate”. It is different from the one in the fake video.

Moreover, in the text of gratitude itself there are many errors: in words “Vasylenko”, “heating means”, etc.

The situation with the draft notice is the same: instead of the current name of Kropyvnytskyi, the fake document used the old one - Kirovohrad. They also wrote a military commissariat, although there should be a territorial center for recruitment and social support.

That is, Russian propagandists wanted to show that in Ukraine they “use” people for their own purposes, for example, for widespread mobilization. In the message, the Kremlin’s minions convinced that the volunteer was doing something useful, helping the army, but the “evil Ukrainian authorities” decided to mobilize him anyway.

However, according to the law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization” and Article 23 of the legislative initiative, the status of a volunteer does not fall under the category of persons who may be exempt from mobilization. First of all, volunteer activity is a voluntary, socially oriented, non-profit activity that is performed by volunteers by providing volunteer assistance. In theory, a Ukrainian volunteer can be mobilized or served with a draft notice if there are specific grounds for this.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that people of retirement age are being mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To prove this, they refer to correspondence “between grandmother and granddaughter on Telegram”. The grandmother seems to be complaining that they brought her a draft notice to mobilize.

The VoxCheck project specialists looked into this information and found out that it was a fake.

Firstly, the mobilization of women in Ukraine is voluntary. Moreover, pensioners are not mobilized in Ukraine. During martial law in Ukraine, citizens liable for military service between the ages of 18 and 60 who are capable of performing military duties may be conscripted. At the same time, senior officers can, if they wish, serve in the army up to 65 years of age.

Secondly, the grandmother’s age exceeds the mobilization age limit. On the agenda in the correspondence one can see that the woman’s year of birth is 1950, so as of November 2023, the date of publication of the news, the woman was 72 or 73 years old. In addition, since 2014, not a single woman has been forcibly mobilized - Ukrainian women voluntarily joined the ranks of the Defense Forces.

So the correspondence on Telegram could have been forged. The words “grandchildren” in audio messages on Telegram sound in the Russian manner and with incorrect accents, in particular, in the words “creatures” and “come out”. Such correspondence can be created between any two people, whatever one wants to call them, and pass it off as a dialogue between relatives. The photo of the draft notice in the correspondence is of poor quality, so it is impossible to confirm the authenticity of the document.

• Read also: Dead man allegedly received a draft notice

Russian media and social network users are disseminating information that Ukraine has allegedly announced the formation of a women's battalion Snow White in the Chernihiv region. They say it will consist of girls from 16 to 30 years old. Such publications are accompanied by comments that in Ukraine there are not enough people to fight, so women are sent en masse to the front. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that in reality this was not about creating a women's battalion. Russian propagandists took photographs from a real event - training in the basics of using small arms, which was carried out by military personnel of the regional directorate of forces of the North territorial defense forces  for the local population of the Chernihiv region - and presented it in a completely different, false context. These trainings were indeed conducted by the 119th Troops Brigade, but not a single recruitment, as propagandists write about it, was carried out during the exercises. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare the population for national resistance, which includes the basics of tactical medicine, the rules of handling weapons and engineering training.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to arouse distrust of the Ukrainian population in the government and discredit the mobilization. Detector Media has previously refuted fakes about the mobilization process in Ukraine.

The social network TikTok is distributing a video in which a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly died during hostilities received a draft notice from the Territorial center of recruitment and social support. The video with the relevant documents was allegedly recorded by the close family of the deceased woman.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security claims that the video is fake and created by the Russians. This is evidenced by several factors.

Firstly, from the pronunciation one can hear that the Ukrainian language is foreign to a person, he makes a huge number of mistakes and has a specific accent.

Secondly, one senses inept acting – the woman is clearly overacting with negative emotions.

Thirdly, the draft notice states that the military man is an “ordinary” one, but there is no such rank in the Armed Forces of Ukraine; in Ukraine it is a “soldier”.

Fourth, the “documents” date back to May and June 2022, but the video appeared online on February 23, 2024—on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

It should be noted that in Ukraine there were indeed cases when people who had already died received draft notices. However, they are not associated with the “arbitrariness of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support”, as propagandists claim, but with a certain confusion in the databases. For example, the district administration may not have informed the Territorial center of recruitment and social support about the death of a person, which is why it was on the agenda list.

This fake appeared as part of a large-scale propaganda campaign to discredit mobilization in Ukraine. Propagandists speculate on a sensitive topic for many Ukrainians and resort to such fabrications that are intended to demoralize, mislead and intimidate society. Previously, we refuted the information that Silpo’s receipts allegedly issued draft notices.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that a female serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine born in 2006 died at the front. That is, at the time of her death she was not even 18 years old. As evidence, Russian propaganda uses a photo of the supposedly military badge of the “deceased woman”.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes that the badge in the photo is fake. Personal badges indicate the last name, first name and patronymic of the serviceman, his blood type, Rh factor, as well as a personal number assigned in accordance with his registration number. In addition, the name of the formation in which the soldier is serving is indicated on the badge. However, they never indicate the date of birth, much less the date of death, as on the “token” distributed by propagandists.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda seeks first of all to demonize Zelenskyi. Moreover, such rhetoric by Russians aims to cast doubt on the advisability of Ukraine to defend itself, because supposedly “the youngest are already going into battle”. After all, in Ukraine teenagers are not mobilized, and only citizens over the age of 18 are liable for military service.

• Read also: The first teenager from an orphanage mobilized into the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly died in the war

Propagandists are distributing a video on anonymous telegram channels where a Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received a gratitude letter and a draft notice to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense. However, this is fake.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the sample of a gratitude letter is clearly regulated, but the gratitude letter on the video has a completely different design and does not contain the necessary information about the order of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. In addition, the text of the gratitude letter  contains grammatical, spelling, punctuation and lexical errors, and there is no official seal on it.

Also, the draft notice in the video is drawn up with errors: it has an incorrect template and application number, the photo also lacks a draft notice number, the outdated name of the city is used, and also it contains grammatical errors and does not have a seal.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine.  Detector Media has previously refuted other Russian fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are disseminating information that the 119th separate territorial defense brigade in the Chernihiv region has allegedly begun recruiting into its ranks “girls aged 16 to 30 who will be deployed in frontline positions”. Claiming this, propagandists refer to a message from the official page of the 119th separate territorial defense brigade on the social network Facebook.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this. The mentioned message talks about conducting classes with the civilian population, in particular, on the rules of handling weapons. It does not talk about recruiting girls to the 119th separate territorial defense brigade.

With this fake, Russian propaganda nourishes the message that “women, children and pensioners are about to be mobilized into the army”. However, according to the legislation of Ukraine, under martial law, men from 18 to 60 years old are considered liable for military service. In addition, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated on December 19, 2023 that he would not sign the law on conscription of women. Previously, we denied information that the Russian military allegedly captured a pregnant Ukrainian serviceman.

Such information is distributed by pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, the military wanted to take revenge on the “military commissar” (an employee of the Territorial center of procurement and social support), who forcibly mobilized him more than a year ago. The man allegedly remembered the identity of the one who sent him to his death, and all this time he lived with the goal of killing him. Returning home, the soldier allegedly tracked down an employee of the Territorial center of procurement and social support, but hesitated to blow him up with a grenade and was detained on the spot.

In fact, this information is not true. On February 20, 2024, a man in military uniform who threatened to detonate a grenade was actually detained at the Pryvoz market in Odesa. However, there is no confirmed information on the Internet that in this way he wanted to take revenge on the representative of the Territorial center of procurement and social support, who allegedly sent him to the front. This is nothing but an invention of Russian propaganda.

Thus, Russia once again discredits the mobilization process in Ukraine and uses this fake to nourish the message that “mobilized men will sooner or later start tracking down and killing Territorial centers of procurement and social support workers who sent them to the front”.

Let us remind you that there are no military commissariats in Ukraine anymore, so it is incorrect to use this phrase. They were renamed into Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

• Read also: An employee of the Territorial center of procurement and social support allegedly called the wife of a soldier a “katsap woman”.

A video is being circulated online where several women in military uniform claim that they were sent to fight near Avdiivka because of the decision of the Zelenskyi regime. They say that the reason for this is Zelenskyi’s desire to create a “picture” for the Munich Security Forum. However, the video is most likely staged.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. Firstly, the women in the video are unlikely to actually be military personnel - makeup, long hair and manicure usually interfere with the performance of combat missions. Also, they do not have the equipment that is necessary during the battle. In addition, there are no identifying marks on their uniforms.

Secondly, in the video the Ukrainian language of the woman trying to speak it is noticeably “broken”. This may indicate that she is not a native speaker.

Thirdly, the video appeared for the first time on a TikTok profile, which was probably created specifically for the distribution of this video. This is the only message on this page that indicates its inorganic appearance. The video is being circulated exclusively by pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels and pro-Russian groups on Facebook, but even users of these channels express doubts about its authenticity.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the Ukrainian government and Zelenskyi personally, especially against the backdrop of active public discussion of possible changes in the mobilization process. Detector Media has already written about other Russian inventions regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

In the Russian segment of social networks, they are spreading the claim that Mykhailo Fedorov announced the issuance of draft notices in Diia. The publications refer to Mr. Fedorov’s interview with the business publication Forbes Ukraine. When asked why it is impossible to enter a military ID in Diia, he replied that “theoretically it can be done”. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found that in the interview itself, the minister said that they most likely do not plan to enter the military ID into the application. But in general and in theory this is technically possible. Mykhailo Fedorov explained that they are working on the military ID project separately - it is about an information system based on the Ministry of Defense.

Subsequently, the press service of the Ministry of Digital Development clarified and said that there would be no military ID or draft notices in the Diia application. That is, no one announced anything; these are speculations of Russian propagandists.

Information is being spread online that the Ministry of Defense has launched a campaign to recruit women into the army: “serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine helped me lose weight, contact the nearest Territorial center of procurement and social support, you deserve to be the best!”, says this video. At the same time, the video itself was allegedly published on the “TikTok account” of the Ministry of Defense. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck specialists analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that the video was fake and compiled from any footage. Moreover, the video does not serve as a video campaign for recruiting women into the army. After all, the Ministry of Defense doesn’t even have a TikTok account. The video about weight loss was also not found on other social networks of the ministry.

In general, only doctors and pharmacists must register with the military from October 1, 2023; however, military registration does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on travel abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.

Pro-Russian resources write that Ukraine needs to mobilize women and children. In asserting this, they refer to the head of the Special Staff of Ukraine in the Bundeswehr, General Christian Freuding, who allegedly made a corresponding statement. They say this can be explained by the large losses at the front on the Ukrainian side.

In fact, this information is distorted. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. In an interview with the German broadcaster RND, General Freuding did talk about the need to mobilize more conscripts to replenish the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but he did not say anything about “mobilizing women and children”.

In addition, during a press conference on December 19, 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated that he would not sign the law on the mobilization of women.

Russian propaganda is once again speculating on the topic of mobilization, which is sensitive for Ukrainians. It should be noted that this spread of misinformation occurred against the backdrop of public discussions on the mobilization bill. More materials on this topic can be found here.

Anonymous telegrams claim that Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recorded cases in which the Ukrainian Security Service recruited female sex workers to “increase the pace of mobilization”. The point is that in this way the SBU “caught” men. As evidence, the messages add a video from a human rights organization.

The VoxCheck analysts took up this case and found that the human rights organization did not issue such a statement. For example, no such publications were found on the pages of Human Rights Watch social networks. As for the video itself, its design differs from those published by HRW. That is, it is most likely that the video design was compiled, it was presented only for the organization’s video. And some fragments of the video itself can be found in the public domain.

Read also: Greek Catholic believers were allegedly “freed” from mobilization.

Information is being spread online that Ukraine plans to ban the sale of push-button mobile phones. Several Russian resources published messages on this topic. They say that Ukrainians are now massively buying push-button mobile phones so as not to receive electronic draft notices through the Diia application.

However, this information is false. There are no bills on the Verkhovna Rada website banning the sale of push-button mobile phones, deputies did not declare their intention to submit a corresponding bill, and the Ukrainian media did not write about it. This was reported by fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project.

There are similar messages online related to feature phones. In particular, users sell collectible or push-button phones for spare parts. However, such advertisements do not indicate mass demand for them.

Propagandists spread this misinformation, citing another fake about allegedly sending draft notices in the Diia application. However, the distribution of them in this application was repeatedly denied by the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov. “There will never be any draft notices”, he assured on December 24, 2023.

Information is actively spreading online that the Ukrainian Oschadbank has begun to block the accounts of draft evaders - residents. Users share a screenshot of their phone, which shows what appears to be an SMS message from Oschadbank saying: “Your card is blocked due to failure to appear at the Territorial center of procurement and social support. You can find out more information at the Territorial center of procurement and social support where you are registered”. The image initially began circulating on anonymous Telegram channels and pro-Russian Facebook groups. However, this is fake.

The StopFake specialists contacted the press service of the State Oschadbank of Ukraine Joint Stock Company to find out whether Oschadbank really sends such messages to clients who did not appear at the territorial picking centers. Press service representative Leonid Ziabrev replied that this information was not true - Oschadbank does not send out such announcements. At the moment, blocking the accounts of draft evaders is impossible, since there are no legal grounds for this. However, in early February, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Yehor Chernev said on a telethon that work is now underway on a new bill on mobilization, which may include measures of an “administrative and economic nature” to evade. However, administrative and criminal penalties are provided for violation of the procedure.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine, causing panic among the population and distrust in the actions of the government. Detector Media also wrote about other Russian fakes on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine. 

Propagandists on social networks and Russian public pages are massively disseminating information that 700 prosecutors in Ukraine received the status of combatants during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of social network users publish almost the same text and, as an illustration, use a screenshot from the Censor.NET page on the social network X. It, dated January 30, 2024, contains information about the recent mobilization bill. So, the authors of the publications believe that these two “news” are interconnected. In the texts of almost all publications on this topic, the following quote appears: “700 prosecutors received the status of a participant in combat operations? How? They have been booked from mobilization, after all. Rebus. How did 700 prosecutors, sitting in their offices and having reservations, receive the status? Ahhh, exactly. Slaves do not have to ask questions”. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that this information was untrue and had nothing to do with Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine or changes in the Ukrainian mobilization bill. The latter was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on January 30 this year and sent for consideration to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian parliament has not yet voted for the discussed bill No. 10449, even in the first reading. Despite this, Russian propaganda is spreading a lot of false information about possible new mobilization rules in Ukraine. The information about “700 prosecutors” is also erroneous.

In fact, the first information that “700 prosecutors received combat status” appeared in March 2016, long before the full-scale invasion. Then we were talking about the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas (ATO). However, this information was also not confirmed then. Ukrainian media mentioned only one prosecutor, Hryshchuk, who actually defended the Donetsk airport; there was no such information about the other 699 civil servants. In the screenshot from 2016, only the property of some Ukrainian prosecutors could be seen, but there was no indication that they had a participant in combat operations status. Moreover, the round number 700 raises many questions, and the authors of the publications do not provide actual evidence of their words. Later, this topic began to be raised again in 2019 with complaints against the then newly elected President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

They are trying to tie the story about “700 prosecutors” to the modern context of Ukraine and the new draft law on mobilization, which is being actively discussed by society. Such publications cause many reactions, reposts and emotional comments about the present on the battlefield, corruption in Ukraine, “corrupt power” and ineffective defense enterprises. All this indicates that this news is another Russian manipulation technique with the aim of internally destabilizing Ukraine. Detector Media has already refuted other mobilization manipulations in Ukraine.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing photos of a letter allegedly from the SBU to the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany with a demand to provide information about all adult men participating in the rallies for further sending their data to the ​​Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

After verifying the letter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Center for Countering Disinformation reported that this “document” was fake. The text of the letter contains signs of Photoshop; there is no electronic signature on the “document”, as well as errors in the formatting of the letter. In addition, the letter allegedly from the SBU was written on the letterhead of the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany, and this does not comply with the rules for organizing office work.

By spreading such fakes, Russian propagandists are trying to sow panic among Ukrainians abroad, in particular in Germany. It should be noted that this spread of misinformation occurred against the backdrop of a new version of the Mobilization Bill.

• Read also: In Ukraine they allegedly call on people to mobilize into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with their entire families.

Russian Telegram channels are distributing a screenshot of the message attributing it to one of the users of the Diia application. The message states that the specified person must appear at the Zhytomyr Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support at the specified time and date. The electronic draft notices allegedly came from the head of this center, Serhii Martyshchenko. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. The Zhytomyr Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support denied information about such agendas in Diia.

First, screenshots of these visible electronic draft notices appeared on the telegram channel “TRUKHA” (a Russian resource with a similar name to the Ukrainian one) on December 26, 2023. However, the Zhytomyr Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support reject information about the draft notices in Diia and confirmed that this is another fake of Russian origin.

Several flaws indicate editing of this image. For example, the “urgent email” text in the second screenshot is in bold, which is not the case in the first. There is also an extra space between the “No.” and the numbers, as well as “electronic draft notice No. 0273” and the main text. The agenda must also have the signature of the manager, who is not in the screenshot. Errors in the arrangement of words, in particular in the phrase “Zhytomyr, Serhii Paradzhanov (Baranov) st., 4” also indicates editing.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, responsible for the development of Diia, previously emphasized that draft notices would not be sent through the application. Additionally, the redesign of the Diia application, unveiled at the Diia Summit on December 19, 2023, eliminated the Messages section, as shown in the fake screenshot. Users who have updated the application can find “Messages” in the general “Menu” tab.

This fake is a new attempt by the Russian side to introduce hostile sentiments into Ukrainian society. Detector Media has previously refuted Russian fakes about mobilization.

On social networks, propagandists are distributing an alleged photograph of a receipt from the Silpo supermarket with the message: “You have just received a draft notice. You have 48 hours to show up at the nearest Territorial center of procurement and social support”. It is stated that when paying by card, the buyer’s personal data may appear on the receipt, and in case of failure to appear at the Territorial center of procurement and social support, the person will face trial and blocking of the bank card. However, this is not true, and the photo of the receipt has been changed.

This was found out by specialists from the VoxCheck project. The stated blocking of bank cards for failure to appear at the Territorial center of procurement and social support is untrue. The primary source of this information is probably the telegram channel “Dnipro on the Agenda”, which disseminates satirical news about Ukraine. And the photo of the receipt used for this joke has been circulating online since at least 2020. It shows that the phrase about the Territorial center of procurement and social support was added, in particular, behind a font that differs from that used on the check.

In addition, VoxCheck checked their own receipt from the Silpo supermarket and confirmed that personal data did not appear on it when purchasing there, and neither did the draft notices.

Propagandists spread such fake news to cause panic among the population. They say that now it is impossible to go shopping without the permission of the Territorial center of procurement and social support. Detector Media also refuted other Russian fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that a resident of Kharkiv allegedly killed a Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee because he sent his son to the front without a medical examination and a conclusion of the Military and medical commission of Ukraine. The guy was allegedly detained and immediately mobilized, despite the fact that he suffered from asthma. This allegedly happened “in front of the mobilized father”, so he decided to get even with the Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee by throwing his body on the railway tracks to simulate suicide.

The “news” being circulated is distorted and inaccurate. This is stated by the Center for Countering Disinformation and Information Security. In fact, the conflict occurred between two civilians in the village of Dubivka, Kharkiv region, after drinking alcohol, the Kharkiv region police reported. A domestic dispute arose between the 70-year-old suspect and his 57-year-old friend, which did not end simply with words. One of the men grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the other man several times in the neck. The victim died on the spot.

The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office established that the suspect took the body of the murdered man to the railway station and dumped the corpse on the track to make the version of the alleged “friend commit suicide” more credible. However, the railway workers discovered the body and reported it to law enforcement agencies. There is no official confirmation that the deceased was a serviceman, an employee of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support, or had any connection at all with the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

This fake by the Russians is another manifestation of discrediting the mobilization process in Ukraine. They say that Ukrainians are now killing the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers because they exceed their authority - this is another confirmation of this. Previously, we have already refuted the information that the Ukrainian military commissar was allegedly killed while serving draft notices.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reports a new tactic for cybercriminals. Attackers specifically accompany the dangerous file with text containing general phrases that may seem familiar to business correspondence:

“Hello, I am sending documents at your request. Please provide the incoming correspondence registration number.

Sincerely,

Mobilization department.”

The names from which the letters come are ostentatiously invented, for example, Konotopenko Radyvoi Ratyborovych. The signature “mobilization department” can confuse and force one to click on the file.

Here are tips from the Center on how to protect yourself from cybercriminals:

- under no circumstances open files received from unknown addresses;

- install an antivirus and keep it activated;

- make backup copies of important documents and files to restore them in case of loss.

Pro-Kremlin media are introducing information that all exits from the city have begun to be blocked in Kyiv. According to anonymous sources, traffic across the Dnipro along the bridge to Vyshhorod and the South Bridge has allegedly been blocked. This happens because “Ukrainians do not want to serve in the army”, so the city authorities decided to increase the recruitment of people into the army in this way. It's fake.

The VoxCheck specialists were able to analyze the case and explained that in Kyiv they do not block exits from the city. Now the main bridge to Vyshhorod is under repair and instead of it a pontoon crossing has been in operation since January 17, 2024. That is, movement was not limited, but the method of movement was simply changed due to repair work. And the South Bridge has also been closed to private cars since June 22, 2022.

Pro-Kremlin resources continue to promote the topic of mobilization, hinting at the decline of the military, the lack of personnel, that Ukraine needs to “resort” to radical decisions and mobilize women. Anonymous telegrams accuse Ukraine of being a “military meat grinder”, explaining that now it will be impossible to escape a “grave”: neither for children, nor for elderly people or women.

In the Ukrainian segment of TikTok they are distributing a video in which they say that a state of war is not specifically declared in Ukraine, because then deputies and civil servants would be fired, and subsequently those fit for military service would be mobilized.

The VoxCheck analysts explained this stuff: “state of war” is rather a diplomatic term and characterizes the process of a state’s foreign policy in the world. While “martial law” describes the country’s domestic political agenda. And in order to be in a “state of war”  there are no mandatory official documents that would confirm this. For example, the UN Resolution On Aggression in 1974 writes that an invasion or attack by the armed forces of a state on the territory of another country, bombing or blockade of ports is qualified as an act of aggression - in international law, an act of aggression is considered a “primary” or “mother” crime. To briefly explain, if Russia had not attacked (had not committed aggression; had not used the armed forces of its state against the sovereignty of another state), then Ukraine would not have had to defend itself from Moscow’s crimes.

Moreover, politician and diplomat Andrii Shevchenko, in a commentary for Detector Media, explained that there is a war going on in Ukraine and this is understandable without announcements. And he added that international law is not focused on words or statements, but on actions (Russia carried out a large-scale military attack on Ukraine). Therefore, from the point of view of international law, what is happening is an obvious war and a violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine.

And as for the general mobilization, it occurs precisely during the period of “martial law”, or more precisely at the moment this state is declared. And according to the law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”, people’s deputies, in particular, have a deferment from conscription for military service during mobilization.

In the social networks of the Russian segment, they are distributing a story from TSN, where they say that due to the adopted amendments to the law “On mobilization reparation and mobilization”, women who “have not given birth before the age of 25” must register with the military. Moreover, the so-called story said that the Verkhovna Rada seemed to have expanded the list of specialties for women who would be required to register with the military. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts worked on this case and explained that the plot was primarily compiled. After all, the recording itself was created using artificial intelligence technologies. However, earlier there were indeed discussions around the bill on recruiting, mobilization and service: then MP Mariana Bezuhla, known for her scandalous messages on social networks about Valerii Zaluzhnyi and calls for his dismissal, published possible legislative norms on her Facebook. They stated, in particular, that women fit for military service were registered as liable for military service. At the same time, during martial law, women are recruited to combat positions only voluntarily.

However, during a big press conference on December 19, 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyi  said that he would not sign a bill with clauses on the mobilization of women. But even in these legislative innovations there was not a single clause about “women who did not give birth before the age of 25”. This is simply a fiction of Russian propaganda. The mobilization bill is being finalized; it had previously been submitted to Parliament - without changes to the mobilization of women - but was subsequently withdrawn for revision.

In general, only doctors and pharmacists must register with the military from October 1, 2023; however, military registration does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on travel abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media are disseminating information that despite the fact that the mobilization bill has not yet been adopted, women are already being sent to the front, especially those aged fifty. They say that most often nurses are mobilized, who, according to the authors of messages on this topic, then work in front-line hospitals, and sometimes are even used as attack aircraft. Propagandists claim that the supply situation for mobilized women is dire and therefore hold online fundraisers to meet their needs. The authors allegedly attached a screenshot of a message about such a collection. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They discovered that the photograph in the post, presented as evidence of the forced deployment of nurses to assault teams, was in fact of volunteers. They produce equipment for the military, without reference to gender.

In addition, Bill No. 10378 does not mandate the mobilization of all women. In the bill “On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine to improve certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service”, which the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on December 25, there are no ideas about mandatory mobilization for all women. Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Roman Kostenko said that the Ministry of Defense proposed making registration mandatory for all women, but the majority of deputies rejected this idea. “90% of our committee is also against returning to this issue... I think that this issue will be resolved when a comprehensive plan for mobilization in Ukraine is developed, and we will not return to it again”, Kostenko said.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, expressed a similar opinion, arguing that women can only be mobilized with their consent. Even President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that he would not sign a law providing for the general mobilization of women.

On January 11, the Cabinet of Ministers withdrew the bill on mobilization for consideration. So, women with related military specialties can register for military service at their own request. At the same time, women with medical and pharmaceutical education must register with the military by the end of 2026. Although theoretically they could be called up for military service or involved in defense work (currently no such cases have been recorded), the information that nurses are being forced into assault teams is unfounded.

The screenshot attached to the message shows the name of the author - Nataliia Lychman. She is the leader of the Crazy Needles volunteer group, which makes camouflage nets, suits, first aid kits, pillows and balaclavas for the military. Lychman actually posted these posts on January 12th. In one of the distributed screenshots, she reports that the detachment is sending equipment to the 56th brigade, and in another she asks to donate money to purchase fabric. There is no mention on her page that the equipment is intended specifically for women.

On January 13, a video appeared on Lychman’s page where military personnel (only men are visible in the video) are walking in camouflage suits made by the detachment. Also, videos of gratitude for the help were recorded by servicemen from other units, usually men. There are women stormtroopers in Ukraine, but they are all volunteers.

Another screenshot shows women in camouflage suits, but these are Crazy Needles volunteers, not military personnel. Members of this detachment can be recognized from previously posted photographs. This photo was also used by a representative of the Pishchanski People charity foundation, indicating that these were Crazy Needles volunteers.

Propagandists spread such fake news to cause anxiety and panic among the population. Like, everything is so bad that we have to mobilize women. It also deepens mistrust of Ukrainian government institutions and officials.

A video is being distributed on social networks where the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi allegedly says that he created a petition to “mobilize” people’s deputies. And also in the video, as he added, if by January 5, 2024 the petition does not gather a sufficient number of votes, Valerii Zaluzhnyi will supposedly “resign from office”. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts looked into this stuff and explained that the video was compiled. The audio recording itself with the words about the creation of the petition was created using artificial intelligence, and then superimposed on an existing video of Zaluzhnyi. Also, on the website of the Office of the President or the Verkhovna Rada there are no petitions created by Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Using a special tool called AI Speech Classifier, experts were able to find out that with a 98% probability the audio recording was created using AI technologies.

Among other things, we recommend reading in more detail about the use of artificial intelligence technologies, in particular deepfake ones in spreading the pro-Kremlin agenda.

In the Russian segment of social networks, information is being spread that Ukraine wants to “cancel” the foreign passports of its citizens who are abroad. “There is no point in making new passports for survivors. Because Zelenskyi’s dictatorship simply cancels them”, the publications claim. It's fake.

The VoxCheck analysts sorted out this stuffing, explaining that the information is not true, because in official sources there is no mention of the cancellation of valid ID cards or international passports. As experts explained, for the first time such information was heard online against the backdrop of bill No. 10378 on mobilization submitted to the Verkhovna Rada. It provides that Ukrainian men from 18 to 60 years of age who are abroad will be able to apply for a passport, in particular a foreign one, and for other consular services at diplomatic institutions of Ukraine, only if they have military registration documents - a military ID, temporary certificate of military service or registration certificate.

But on January 11, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers officially withdrew the bill to improve mobilization; it was removed from consideration. However, even in the withdrawn bill and other official sources there is no mention of the cancellation of valid passports of Ukrainian citizens or international passports. There is also no information that citizens located abroad will be prohibited from receiving or continuing the validity of such documents. After all, the same bill dealt only with the procedure for obtaining consular services.

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.

Propagandists broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks and the media are distributing a video that allegedly depicts the murder of a Ukrainian recruiting officer while delivering a draft notice. They say that this footage was “shared by the National Police of Ukraine”. They add that this can be considered “the beginning of the civil war in Ukraine”. It's fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the video being distributed did not indicate where this incident occurred, which the territorial center of recruitment and social support was being referred to, or when it happened. Such propaganda methods are used specifically to make it more difficult to identify the video and verify its authenticity. Also, the video itself is of very low quality, trimmed (consisting of 2 seconds) - this method is also often used to make it impossible to prove the falsity of the message.

The StopFake specialists also checked the official communication channels of the National Police in recent days and found neither the publication of this video nor information about the murder of a territorial center of recruitment and social support representative. This also indicates that the information being disseminated is fake.

Shortly after the appearance of this dubious video, the National Police published a refutation explaining what exactly it indicated forgery: “the published fragment of the video does not reflect signs characteristic of a shot from a firearm; the inscriptions on the vest of the person in the video are illegible, probably written in foreign letters, and employees of the territorial center of recruitment and social support, while on duty, wear camouflage clothing and without reflective vests; The “watermark” on the video is a fake of the Ukraine National Police mark and does not correspond to how the official video is marked. In addition, the National Police noted that they had not received any reports of the murder or injury of a territorial center of recruitment and social support employee.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to show that public outrage in Ukraine supposedly goes beyond limits. Russian propaganda often uses the topic of mobilization in Ukraine to create fakes and manipulations. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted them.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that in Ukraine, representatives of the patrol police have begun to detain men to hand them over to the Territorial center of recruitment and social support employees. As proof of this, a video of patrol officers knocking a man down is being circulated online. Such mobilization takes place in Ivano-Frankivsk.

This information is not true. The mentioned video recorded how law enforcement officers detained a man who was on the roadway and actually violated traffic rules by obstructing the passage of traffic. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, which verified this information with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In addition, the man in the video is 69 years old, which makes it impossible for him to mobilize, as propagandists write about. The police detained the offender and took him to the department, where they compiled administrative materials against him, but did not hand him over to the Territorial center of recruitment and social support employees.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine. More rebuttals from the Detector Media on the topic of mobilization can be found here.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that in Rivne, residents of a house on Stepan Bandera Street will allegedly not be served by utility workers due to the fact that many citizens from this street did not appear to the military registration and enlistment office. “Announcements” with such information were apparently placed on the entrance doors of one of the Rivne high-rise buildings. In the text of the “announcements”, its authors refer to the Laws of Ukraine “On Social Services” and “On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization”.

In fact, the information from the so-called “announcements” is fake. This was reported by the fact-checkers from the “No Lies” project. The Law of Ukraine “On Social Services” does not concern the maintenance of residential buildings by utility companies, but determines the needs of the population for social services. It is also not associated with mobilization. The Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”, which the creators of the fake refer to, also contains no such restrictions for men who evade conscription.

The Rivne regional administration itself has already refuted the information about the “announcement” and pointed out another discrepancy: Hrybnyk Street, where they are asked to “appear at the military registration and enlistment office”, does not exist in Rivne.

Russian propaganda speculates on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine, creating similar fakes. By playing on the sensitive topic of the availability of electricity and gas for Ukrainians, which became such as a result of the start of massive Russian shelling of critical infrastructure in the fall of 2022, propagandists are sowing fear, uncertainty and doubts in society.

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 telegram channels are disseminating information that supposedly the Kyiv city authorities are closing all exits from the city in order to begin en masse conscription of all men. As proof, propagandists are disseminating messages from the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in the Kyiv region about the closure of the bridge across the canal in Vyshhorod.

The information disseminated online is untrue, as reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. The publication of the Service states that the closure of the bridge is indeed connected with the start of its major repairs across the canal on the P-69 road Kyiv - Vyshhorod - Desna - Chernihiv. Traffic for all types of vehicles there will be blocked. However, during the period of major repairs, a pontoon crossing will operate, providing transport links for residents of the left bank part of the district and neighboring regions. That is, the opportunity to leave Kyiv, as well as enter the city, will be possible.

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, one of the spans of the bridge on the P-69 road Kyiv - Vyshhorod - Desna - Chernihiv was destroyed, so now the bridge is not able to withstand traffic loads and needs immediate repairs.

In this case, propagandists misinform Ukrainian society, in particular men, in order to intimidate and demoralize citizens, saying that now “one won’t even leave the city, not to mention the country”. In addition, with this fake, Russian propaganda fuels its narrative that a policy of “mobilization” of ordinary Ukrainians is allegedly taking place in Ukraine.

On hostile resources that broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric, they spread the message that men from “pro-Russian regions” are now being massively mobilized in Ukraine. They say that the most severe mobilization is taking place in Odesa, but the west of Ukraine is “not touched”.

“With Odesa everything is simple. There are too many people in the city who have a bad attitude towards the authorities and are neutral towards the Russian Federation, advocating an end to the war and further life anyway under some kind of flag (they once lived under the Soviet one, then under the Ukrainian one, and before under the imperial one, and that’s okay) . Based on this, it is necessary to increase the number of deaths among residents of such regions in order to increase aggression against everything Russian. This tactic is not new, Poroshenko has already implemented it”, said one of the anonymous telegram channels disseminating pro-Russian narratives.

This is manipulation. First of all, such messages are intended to impose the misconception that the lion's share of the population of Odesa supports Russia and is critical of the current Ukrainian government. This is also a typical method of indoctrination and dividing Ukrainians into classes: they say that Ukrainians of the “first class” (Ukrainians from the West part) are less likely to be drafted into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while the “lower classes” are used as consumables.

Black PR postcard “Three varieties of Ukrainians”, 2004. Source “Movement Honest”

Such rhetoric aims to sow division in society, to provoke suspicion and hatred of residents of some regions to others, since there is no accurate data on the distribution of those mobilized by region. General statistics with a clear number of mobilized in each region are not published in open sources. However, back in 2022, the head of the personnel department of the headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine argued that there are big mobilization plans in the western regions, since more citizens live there.

Previously, Russian propaganda distributed fake infographics that showed the percentage of mobilized citizens by region, where the Odesa region was in the lead.

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.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating information that Diia, the online government service, has begun selling tickets to the commercial show Evening Kvartal (“Evening Quarter”). Propagandists claim that in this way the state is promoting business, in the creation of which the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi is involved. “Proof” of such information is a screenshot from the phone, which shows that the Diia mobile application offers the user to buy tickets, also at a discount.

This case was analyzed by the fact-checkers from the StopFake project and they found out that the information was not true. There is only one service in the official Diia app that could potentially offer a concert ticket purchasing feature: Entertainment. However, you can only watch TV, listen to the radio or play the game Drone Army. There is no “buy tickets” option there. It was also not possible to find the corresponding service on the official website of the Diia and the online service’s Facebook page.

In addition, specialists from StopFake contacted the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, which is responsible for Diia, with an information request whether Diia really offered users to buy tickets for the Evening Kvartal concert. The press service of the Ministry responded that it was “undoubtedly fake”.

This information dump is intended to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi, as well as the online public service service Diia, which allegedly cannot be considered trustworthy under these conditions. Moreover, according to Russian propaganda, such a “service” as selling tickets through Diia allegedly appeared in addition to another “service” of the mobile application - sending out draft notices for those liable for military service. However, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly denied information about “draft notices in Diia”. 

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.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing a photo of an “announcement” allegedly posted in one of the Kyiv hospitals. It says that from the beginning of 2024 it seems impossible to get to a doctor “without a military ID”. The “announcement” refers to the so-called Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 147 of December 26, 2023. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found out that such a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers simply does not exist. There are only three documents on the government portal for the specified period (26.12.2023). However, they in no way relate to the procedure for visiting medical institutions. Moreover, only those liable for military service have a military ID. That is, this is a person who has served in the military, has a military education, or has reached 27 years of age. In other cases - if the man has not reached the specified age, and also without military service or education, is a conscript and has a registration certificate. At the same time, after 60 years of age, men no longer become liable for military service - they are removed from the register. That is, it is illogical to demand a military ID from men during an appointment with a therapist, because everyone has such a document. Therefore, the announcement photos were most likely compiled using image editors.

But according to the director of the Department of Health of the Ternopil Military District, Olha Yarmolenko, for planned care (long-term treatment or planned surgery), military registration documents, including a military ID, may be requested from men of military age. The VoxCheck specialists add: according to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of December 30, 2022, this is necessary for the timely maintenance of military records.

Moreover, men do not need a military ID to sign a declaration with a family doctor. All one needs is a passport, identification code and telephone number.

This information is disseminated by pro-Russian resources. They say that in the Kyiv region, in Bila Tserkva, during the presentation of a draft notice to a young man, a dispute arose between him and representatives of the the Territorial center of procurement and social support, as a result of which the guy was allegedly beaten so much that he needed hospitalization. Over time, he allegedly died in the hospital. However, this is fake.

The police department and the Territorial center of procurement and social support  of Bila Tserkva have already published official refutations of this information, fact-checkers from the “No Lies” project report. No one knows the witnesses from the ambulance workers who allegedly responded to the call, or the relatives of the deceased. In addition, on December 29, 2023, the person who was the original source of the fake news, which was subsequently picked up by propagandists, was exposed and recorded an apology video.

Russian propaganda continues to systematically discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine. It happens that Ukrainians themselves help propagandists with this, as, for example, in this case. More refutations on the topic of mobilization can be found here.

Telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric disseminate information that pregnant women are being “mobilized” in Ukraine. At the same time, they refer to “material from a foreign journalist” in support of their theses. It is not true.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found out that the author of the material was not a “foreign journalist” at all, but was in fact a Russian propagandist. Accordingly, the content of the “journalistic text” is untrue and deceitful. Moreover, the material itself was published in the Bangladeshi edition of Weekly Blitz. As experts explained, the editor-in-chief of this publication worked as the chief correspondent of the Kremlin TASS agency in Bangladesh.

At the same time, the text of the Russian propagandist is filled with Kremlin narratives regarding Ukraine: both about the mobilization of women; or about the hated “Kyiv regime” and the “collective West”.

Russian propaganda is once again speculating on the topic of “mobilization of women”.  But only doctors and pharmacists must register with the military from October 1, 2023; however, military registration does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on travel abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.

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

Propaganda resources write that all the new checkpoints and engineering barriers installed in Kyiv are used to distribute draft notices. However, this is a fake.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Security analyzed this case. They found out that, according to official data from the head of the capital’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Serhii Popka, in different areas of the capital from December 25 to 28, 2023, the Defense Forces, together with the National Police and other units, are practicing training to increase the level of skills, interaction and combat effectiveness of all structures. These exercises involve the deployment of temporary checkpoints, the installation of restrictive signs, and elements of engineering barriers. There is also testing of vehicles, documents, checkpoint security elements, and certain demonstration, search and counter-sabotage activities.

Popko noted the systemic need for such training to identify shortcomings, correct mistakes and better prepare to protect the city and its residents from potential threats.

Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine by spreading fake news of this kind. The spread of the fake news about the distribution of draft notices at temporary checkpoints in Kyiv occurs against the backdrop of the Bill of December 25, 2023 to improve certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service. More materials on the topic of mobilization can be found here.

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.

In the pro-Russian segment of social networks, information is being spread that Chernihiv has come up with a “working scheme” for mobilization. They say that advertisements offering help to people in difficult situations indicate the telephone number of the Chernihiv Regional Military Office. However, this is fake.

The fact-checkers from Ukrinform analyzed this information. Currently, territorial recruitment and social support centers are functioning in Ukraine, which have completely replaced the military registration and enlistment offices, which are allegedly mentioned in the “ads”.​​

In a comment to Ukrinform, representatives of the Chernihiv regional  territorial recruitment and social support centers emphasized that their institution was the first center of the country. “On December 28, 2018, order No. 1 of the institution was officially signed. This date, accordingly, is the day of the founding of the Chernihiv  regional territorial recruitment and social support centers together with the city and district territorial recruitment and social support centers of the entire region”, the center reported. In addition, the phone number provided by the propagandists is also not valid. The current telephone number of the Chernihiv Regional territorial recruitment and social support centers can be found on their official Facebook page.

Russian propaganda seeks to discredit the mobilization process, so it creates fake news on this topic. Previously, we refuted information that in Ukraine they allegedly call on people to mobilize into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with their entire families.

Kremlin media and social network users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric began to spread false information that a Ukrainian military man was allegedly sent to the front in Avdiivka for filming a video in TikTok, and there he allegedly died instantly. In such messages, Russian propaganda adds his humorous video about “cleaning the general’s garage”, next to information about the death of a certain “Valerii Tarashchuk”. However, this is fake.

After disseminating such information, StopFake decided to check whether it was true that the military man was sent to the front because of a video on TikTok and whether he really died there. As it turned out, the information disseminated is not true.

The StopFake specialists began searching for the deceased “Tarashchuk Valerii” using his photograph. The search tool on social networks Search4faces displayed the inactive profile of “Stiopa Ihonin” on VK. Using this name, we managed to find his active pages on Instagram and Facebook with the image of the “deceased” Valeryii Tarashchuk. There are links on Instagram to Tiktok, where they found the video that Russian propaganda used.

The StopFake specialists contacted the user for a comment - whether he really belongs to the video distributed by Russian propaganda and whether he was really sent to Avdiivka because of his TikTok. The author of the video, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Stepan Ihonin, confirmed that this is his video, but the description that Russian propaganda provides him is fake. “I was shocked when my friends showed me this news. Everything that is written there is complete nonsense; I have not cleaned the garages of any generals. No one was looking for me and no one sent me to Avdiivka”,  said the military man. They also asked Ihonin about the inscription “I thought I was going to Avdiivka, but I went to clean the general’s garage” from the distributed video. The military man said that he did not make such an inscription. On his Tiktok profile, this video is without any captions and was published long before propagandists began to spread it.

They spread such fabrications to create a false image of Ukraine as a state that restricts the rights and freedoms of its citizens, as well as strictly censoring its media space. Moreover, propagandists resort to this to intimidate Ukrainians. They say that now they can be mobilized for humorous TikTok. Detector Media has repeatedly written about other Russian stories on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists are distributing a photo of an advertising billboard showing a military man and woman in uniform, presumably in a combat zone. The billboard also features two slogans in the foreground: “together at home, together at the front” and “a military family is a special family”. That is, a man and a woman are allegedly calling on Ukrainians to mobilize into the army as families, and not alone. Russians claim that similar advertising appeared in Sumy. However, this is another fake.

The Center for Countering Information decided to contact the Sumy city military administration to confirm or deny this information. As it turned out, billboards with such content do not exist in the city or even its region - this is an invention of Russian propaganda. In addition, the photo taken by the Russians to spread this fake was taken back in 2021. It depicts married couples who began defending Ukraine back in 2016 as part of the 16th separate motorized infantry battalion.

The purpose of spreading disinformation of this type is to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine. Moreover, these lies nourish the propaganda narrative that “the war will continue until the last Ukrainian”. Under the #mobilization tag, read more materials on this topic from Detector Media.

On social networks in the Russian segment, a screenshot of an alleged correspondence between an ex-officer of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, and an Instagram user is being circulated - and she allegedly wrote that “women should serve in the army”. It's fake.

The case was analyzed by VoxCheck analysts, who explained that on her pages on social networks, namely on X (formerly Twitter), Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spokesperson Sarah Ashton-Cirillo reported that she did not correspond with the user about the mobilization of women and did not make such statements. She also noted that the Department of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces reported this fake.

Thus, propagandists are trying to convince that the Ukrainian leadership is allegedly resorting to “total mobilization” and is trying to “lure” people into the army by any means.

In Ukraine, only doctors and pharmacists must register with the military from October 1, 2023. But registration with the military does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on traveling abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.

Read also: information messages from the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly “hint” that women will soon be mobilized.

Users of social networks and media figures spreading pro-Russian rhetoric began to spread false information that in Ukraine a man without a leg was allegedly declared fit for military service. A photograph of the temporary certificate of the person liable for military service with the corresponding decision is used as “evidence”. They say that even with one leg, a Ukrainian was recognized not as disabled, but as “limitedly functional”. The fake document notes that the man was “recognized” fit for service with a diagnosis of “amputation stump of the right lower limb above the level of the upper third of the leg”. Such a document, apparently, was allegedly signed by the head of the Desnianskyi regional territorial center for recruitment and social support in Kyiv, Dmytro  Klabukov.

After disseminating such information, StopFake decided to check whether a man with such a diagnosis could really be considered fit for military service. As it turned out, this information is not true.

Firstly, the order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine “On approval of the Regulations on military medical examination in the Armed Forces of Ukraine” contains a clear list of diseases, conditions and physical disabilities that determine the degree of suitability for military service. Article 63 of this list also contains a diagnosis that propaganda added to the fake document - “unilateral amputation stump of the lower limb above the level of the upper third of the lower leg”. With such a diagnosis, as noted in the Ministry of Defense document, a person is considered “unfit for military service with exclusion from military registration”. According to information as of December 11, 2023, this order is in effect.

Secondly, in the widespread “document” there is an incorrect wording regarding suitability or unsuitability for military service - “Fit for military service. Limited functionality”. The fact is that the said order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stipulates that after a medical examination of conscripts, one of the decisions must be made: whether they are fit for military service; temporarily unfit for military service, needs treatment in...; requires referral for additional medical examination and repeated medical examination; unfit for military service in peacetime, limited suitability under martial law; unfit for military service with exclusion from military registration. If a person had health problems and was fit for military service, he would be written “limitedly fit under martial law”, not “fit for military service. Limited functionality”.

Thirdly, since the circulated photograph shows that the document was signed by the head of the regional territorial center for recruitment and social support and joint venture in Kyiv, StopFake decided to contact them for a comment on whether such a document was really signed there. The representative of the institution replied that this document looked like a fake. In particular, he drew attention to paragraph No. 7, which states fitness for military service for health reasons. It is in this paragraph that the diagnosis with which the man, as they claim, was considered fit, is indicated. In addition, the  territorial center for recruitment and social support representative added that, based on the information in the photograph distributed by propagandists, the man should have been excluded from the lists of those liable for military service “as a convicted person”  (based on the information in paragraph No. 8 of the document being distributed. - ed.).

Such fakes are spread to discredit the government and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as to cause panic among the population. They say that everyone is being drafted into the army because everything is bad at the front. Detector Media also wrote about other inventions of Russians on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine.

This was revealed by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Propaganda messages say that the commandant of the Lviv region, Taras Hren, allegedly asked the leadership of the Ivan Franko Lviv National University to provide information about all male students. And a photo of the corresponding “document” is added to the messages.

However, the Lviv Regional Military Administration explained that the commandant of the Lviv region or not a single unit of the Lviv Regional Military Administration sent such letters to higher educational institutions. So the document is fake.

Pro-Kremlin media are distributing a number of photographs with so-called propaganda leaflets, which are allegedly distributed in Kyiv to women, elderly people and children - thus calling for them to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “Don’t ask questions - join the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, “Don’t sign up for a manicure, better sign up for the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, “Do you want to see your grandchildren in NATO?” - as in such propaganda. However, this is not true.

The fact-checkers at the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council analyzed the photographs and found out that such propaganda was fake and could not have been distributed by representatives of the Territorial centers for recruitment and social support or other military authorities. This is just Russian propaganda, because no one is mobilizing older people, children or women into the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

According to experts, such leaflets were not distributed on the territory of Kyiv or other Ukrainian regions from the official representation of the military leadership.

Previously, we documented a similar case, as if in Ukraine they were allegedly distributing propaganda to older people so that they would mobilize into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated on social networks in the Russian segment. The reports say that Ukrainian women are allegedly “lured” into the army with beautiful pictures - and as proof they cite a probable screenshot of correspondence between the public organization “Ukrainian Valkiria” and a user of Instagram. In the correspondence, the organization invites the woman to come to the training ground to take “some good photos” to promote women’s service in the Defense Forces. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts took up this case and turned to the Civil Defense for comment on refuting the information. They were told that the screenshot of the correspondence had nothing to do with their activities, because the organization conducts voluntary training for women in self-defense.

Thus, propagandists are trying to convince that the Ukrainian leadership is allegedly resorting to “total mobilization” and is trying to “lure” people into the army by any means.

Read also: information messages from the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly “hint” that women will soon be mobilized.

Propagandists are disseminating information that the first mobilized teenager from an orphanage died during the fighting. In these messages they refer to statements by the “director of the orphanage” Olesia Chykel. Together with them, they used a real photo of the deceased Ukrainian soldier. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the picture shows a native of the village of Oselia, Yavoriv district, Lviv region, 26-year-old Volodymyr Sachala. On December 2, information about the death of a Ukrainian serviceman and an obituary dedicated to him appeared on the official page of the Yavoriv City Council on Facebook. It was these photos that the propagandists used. In addition, there is no evidence in the original publication of the Yavoriv City Council that the Ukrainian defender is a minor child of an orphanage who was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Official information notes that after graduating from the Ivano-Frankivsk School in 2017, Volodymyr Sachala joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Over time, he was demobilized and returned to civilian life. In January 2023, Volodymyr again joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and served with the 24th Mechanized Infantry Brigade named after King Danylo. At the end of November, Volodymyr Sachala received injuries incompatible with life as a result of Russian mortar attacks. On December 4, the deceased defender was taken home.

In a comment for StopFake, Olesia Chykel, whom propaganda media called the “director of the orphanage”, also categorically denied the Russian reports. According to her, she is the administrator of a patriotic Ukrainian group on Facebook, where on December 2 she posted an official message from the Yavoriv City Council about the death of fighter Volodymyr Sachala. Russian media immediately picked up the post, but cut off the text of the message and came up with information about the “deceased orphanage resident”.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to reinforce the myth of Ukraine as a powerless state. They say everything is so bad at the front that children have to fight. However, in reality there is no mobilization of minors in Ukraine. Detector Media has already repeatedly refuted the fabrications of Russian agitprop on the topic of mobilization.

Social media users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric are circulating a video showing a huge line of cars to enter the Ukrainian ski resort of Bukovel. They add comments where they are surprised why the territorial recruitment centers - a military command body that ensures the organization of military service and mobilization - does not check car drivers. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that the video in question actually dates back to 2021, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had yet occurred. So, the video has nothing to do with the realities of martial law, which was declared in Ukraine on February 24, 2022: the territorial recruitment center representatives could not be among the queue of cars to enter Bukovel. The mentioned video first appeared on the TikTok social network. It was published by user Oksana Panchak (nickname – @zozuliaksenya). Her post indicates that the video was filmed in 2021. This video was used by the page “Website of Yaremche and Vorokhta - the main news and events of the Carpathian region” on Meta’s social networks to advertise the start of the winter season in Bukovel. The corresponding publication appeared on the page on December 2. However, the post states that the video was taken from the archive for illustration purposes. Further in the comments, the authors of the publication once again emphasize that the video recording was made in 2021.

Such a massive dissemination of a video from Bukovel with almost identical captions regarding the territorial recruitment centers and the conditional division of society into those at war and “for whom there is no war”, probably indicates a new disinformation campaign to split Ukrainian society. Recently, Russia has intensified information pressure and the dissemination of false information, which could undermine the trust of Ukrainians in the political and military leadership of the country, as well as divide society, including on the issue of mobilization. Detector Media  has repeatedly refuted other stories on this topic.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports cite a video excerpt of a service woman allegedly saying “indirectly” that all women in Ukraine will soon be mobilized.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated this case and explained that the video did not contain any “hints” or information that women would soon be mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After all, propagandists interpreted the video of the fighting in their own way and put forward such a thesis. However, it is baseless and unfounded - no legislative initiatives that would regulate mobilization “everywhere” simply exist in Ukraine.

Using a reverse search, experts found the video that the anonymous telegram people referred to in their messages: it was published on the telegram channel of the airborne assault troops. It talked about Iryna Tokarchuk, a doctor at the medical center of the airborne assault troops. She voluntarily joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; in the video she did not call for joining the army, but only explained her position on why she went to serve: “The war is not in the East or the South, it is in our country. If I close my eyes, nothing will change, the war will not disappear. So I choose to walk with my eyes open”.

However, there is no basis for interpreting the words of the doctor as indicating the impending mobilization of women. She only expressed her motivation for voluntarily joining the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In general, doctors and pharmacists must indeed register with the military from October 1, 2023, but registration with the military does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on traveling abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.

Among other things, we recommend reading another of our documented cases, in which propagandists claimed that Ukrainian doctors and pharmaceutical workers were supposedly “escaping” from Ukraine en masse through the so-called mobilization.

Anonymous telegram channels are distributing a video that allegedly shows a draft notice  that came through the Diia government services portal. The authors add that the Ukrainian leadership “never keeps its promises”, because they previously assured that draft notices  would not be sent through the application. The messages claimed that the actions and words of Ukrainian officials could hardly be “trusted”. It's a lie.

Analysts from the VoxCheck project undertook to analyze the case, explaining that draft notices are not received in Ukraine because of Diia. At the same time, the image of the agenda itself shows signs of editing. For example, the draft notice indicates the first and patronymic, but does not indicate the last name. It is also written that the recipient needs to appear “at the military commissariat”. But, according to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 23, 2022, the commissariats were reformatted into territorial recruitment and social support centers.

At the same time, the image indicates: the data in the agenda was allegedly updated in October 2023. So, the photograph of the “draft notice” has been compiled. Analysts emphasize that during the video the hero did not touch the screen with his fingers - so, most likely, the Kremlin’s minions used a formatted photo and passed it off as the Diia interface.

By the way, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov stated that agendas will not be sent through Diia. The service does not contain any military registration services or notifications.

Pro-Kremlin media are distributing photos of propaganda leaflets that are allegedly being distributed to elderly people in Ukraine. “You have already lived your life - go to the front”, “Age is only in your head - join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, they say in such “propaganda”. The authors of the messages add that employees of territorial recruitment and social support centers allegedly force people to leave their data in order to later be forcibly mobilized. And they add that a case of forced mobilization of an elderly person has allegedly already been recorded in Kyiv. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers at the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council recorded this case and explained that such propaganda was fake and could not have been distributed by representatives of the territorial recruitment and social support centers or other military command bodies. During general mobilization, all citizens of Ukraine liable for military service aged 18 to 60 years can be called up for military service, unless they have legal grounds for obtaining a deferment or exclusion from military registration.

And according to the classification of the World Health Organization, the age of 60-75 years is considered elderly, senile - 75-90 years. Those who have reached 90 years of age and older are called centenarians.

Indeed, such official campaigns do not exist; no one is going to mobilize older people. But this does not mean that anyone, including the Kremlin’s minions, cannot create such leaflets using graphic editors, and subsequently the news about their “distribution”. Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation have not determined the authenticity of the photo itself.

By the way, in our recent study on how Russian propaganda talks about older people, we analyzed the Kremlin’s messages regarding the so-called mobilization of older people.

This information is disseminated by pro-Kremlin resources. Referring to an article from the TSN website, propagandists claim that the purpose of these actions is quite obvious: when teenagers turn 18 and finish school, they will allegedly immediately be mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine and sent for a month’s training. After that, adults will be trained for “meat assaults” on forest plantations and positions of Russian troops. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to this case. They found out that propagandists resort to manipulation of information, since the TSN article is not about mobilization, but about military registration of Ukrainian citizens who have reached the age of 17. In addition, even the military registration procedure that was in force since 2016, but no longer in force, also provided for the submission of lists of conscripts who had reached 17 years of age. They were submitted to the district or city military commissariat by the relevant institution or organization.

In this case, propagandists manipulate information to sow fear, doubt and uncertainty among Ukrainian society. Thus, they also nourish the narrative that “grabbing” continues in Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media released a large-scale study on how Russian propaganda is speculating on the topic of Ukrainian children.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that special forces from the Kraken unit of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense will allegedly be sent to Transcarpathia to strengthen the mobilization of the men there. In addition, a separate task for the fighters will be to catch and torture Hungarians, and then mobilize them too. As evidence, propagandists attach “screenshots of correspondence” between two Kraken fighters. This is nothing more than a fake.

The specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation decided to study this case. They contacted the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine with a request to confirm or refute the “news”. They didn't have to wait long for an answer - the Main Intelligence Directorate says that the information disseminated by Russian propagandists is untrue. Today, fighters of the special forces “Kraken” are in the combat zone. There they carry out the tasks set by the highest military-political leadership of the country, facilitating the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories from Russian troops.

By spreading such disinformation, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine and the Kraken special forces, as well as promote the message that Ukraine is allegedly seeking to destroy ethnic Hungarians and is recruiting them en masse into the army. Previously, we refuted information that NATO could allegedly attract the Azov and Kraken battalions to suppress protests in France.

Russian propagandists claim that in Ukraine they have begun distributing advertisements for homosexuals calling for them to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The first half of the 10-second video shows heterosexual and homosexual couples kissing, while the second half features footage of military personnel. The footage is accompanied by a male voice saying: “It doesn’t matter at all whether you love women or men. It is important that you love Ukraine. Join the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. However, this is fake.

This case was analyzed by the fact-checkers for the StopFake project. They found out that the video is fake for a number of reasons. Firstly, the kissing footage was taken from a report published on the iD YouTube channel back in 2020. The second part of the video already uses footage from the social advertising of the Ukrainian Ground Forces “The Ballad of the Infantry”, published back in 2016. Secondly, the use of the word “love” in relation to Ukraine in the video indicates that its authors probably have poor command of the Ukrainian language. The word “love” describes specifically romantic love, while Ukraine or, for example, animals or colors can be “loved”.

With this fake video, Russian propaganda nourishes the narrative that supposedly Ukrainian troops will suffer huge losses on the battlefield and, as a result, they are running out of people. Therefore, “even” homosexuals are now being mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, attempts to discredit the Ukrainian army are in vain, since the Armed Forces contain representatives of different gender and sexual identities who defend Ukraine along with other military personnel. Previously, we analyzed disinformation that supposedly Ukrainians are dying for the right to be homosexual.

Propaganda telegram channels are disseminating information that Russian soldiers captured the pregnant Ukrainian military. Moreover, pro-Kremlin resources publish a video as evidence in which the Russian military demonstratively shows that this allegedly happened. It's fake.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation began to analyze this case. They found that the video distributed by propagandists contained a number of disinformation features. For example, the woman is wearing ordinary sneakers, which are not standard shoes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, the “prisoner” has a blue ribbon on her leg, while the Ukrainian military does not put identification marks on her legs. In addition, on the military shoulder one can see the chevron of the 65th Missile and Artillery Arsenal, which probably fell to the Russians during the occupation of part of the Kharkiv region.

By spreading information about a pregnant woman in the Ukrainian army, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the mobilization process. They say that people don’t want to fight, so the authorities have to indulge in extremes and send even pregnant women to fight. With this case of disinformation, propagandists are also nourishing the narrative of “grabbing” in Ukraine or “war until the last Ukrainian”. Previously, we refuted information that Ukraine had created body armor for pregnant women because they were going to be sent to the front.

The network began to spread information that the captain of the Ukrainian ship Izmail  Anatolii Bohatyriov refused to comply with the order of the high command to immediately take a ship to Ukraine from Burgas (Bulgaria). The reason for the “insubordination of the Ukrainian captain” is his desire to avoid mobilization. Anatolii Bohatyriov seemed to have told his superiors that he was ready to go anywhere except Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. They found out that the Ukrainian ship Izmail had a navigation ban from the Maritime Administration of Bulgarian Burgas and therefore could not head for Ukraine. The Burgas Maritime Administration explained this for two reasons: the expiration of the ship’s documents and the incomplete crew. After Ukraine provided all the necessary documents, the ship had to receive permission to sail. Other crew members were to be hired by the charterer.

Subsequently, the General Director of the Private Joint Stock Company “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” (UDP) Dmytro Moskalenko wrote on his Facebook page that Ukraine had nevertheless returned the cargo ship Izmail under its control. In addition, the Ukrainian side plans to demand compensation from the lessee for returning the ship in an improper condition after downtime. The UDP also responded to one of its subscribers on its Facebook page that captain Anatolii Bohatyriov is already in Izmail (Odesa region).

This case of disinformation nourishes one of the Russian narratives about “mobilization” in Ukraine, according to which the Ukrainian authorities do not value human lives and will soon send everyone to fight. Previously, we refuted the information that in Ukraine there is a “war until the last Ukrainian”, even the unborn.

This thesis was spread on social networks in the Russian segment. Reports say that female doctors are leaving Ukraine en masse for the temporarily occupied territories. In support of this thesis, a video is cited: a recording of a telephone conversation with a so-called doctor, a woman, from the Lviv region, who allegedly wants to go to temporarily occupied Mariupol and is looking for an apartment to live in. The authors argued that the woman allegedly received a draft notice and therefore she wanted to leave.

Analysts from the VoxCheck project dealt with this case. They explained that female doctors and pharmacists should indeed register with the military from October 1, 2023, but registration with the military does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on traveling abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited.

Therefore, most likely, the video is staged. After all, women are not mobilized in Ukraine  although the heroine of the video, during a telephone conversation, used the argument about mobilization as one of the main reasons for her irresistible desire to “escape” from Ukraine. In addition, this video is distributed only in the Russian segment of social networks. Experts cited other points from the telephone conversation:

For example, a woman said that she was only interested in an apartment in a new building and thus hinted that Russia was rebuilding Mariupol - a city that the occupiers really destroyed to the ground. Read in our Newspeak section how Moscow actually “rebuilds”  captured and destroyed cities and villages, calling them “a piece of paradise”.

Of course, it is almost impossible to verify the authenticity of the recording of a telephone conversation, since we can only refute the facts listed during the conversation. And this information includes false facts that, most likely, the Kremlin can use for its own purposes. For example, spread panic among Ukrainian women.

Propaganda resources began to disseminate information that there are no longer public health services in Kherson. The so-called “evidence” is the alleged advertisements posted at hospitals named after A.S. Luchanskyi and after Ye.Ye. Karabelesh. They report that hospitals will not work, since all employees of medical institutions have gone to register for military service. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxUkraine project analyzed this case and found out that the information was untrue and the ad was faked. In addition, among the medical staff there are also female doctors, whose military registration is voluntary until 2026. The mentioned hospitals and other medical institutions in Kherson continue to operate. The shortage of doctors that arose in the Kherson region with the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion is compensated by sending doctors from other regions of Ukraine.

Russia is escalating the situation when it spreads information about the closure of Kherson hospitals, resorting to one of the propaganda tactics aimed at sowing fear, uncertainty and doubts among Ukrainians about present and future life in Ukraine. Previously, we documented the message of Russian propaganda, according to which Ukrainian doctors and pharmacists were allegedly “escaping” from Ukraine en masse because they were afraid of mobilization.

Pro-Russian resources claim that in the Sumy region they plan to form the first brigade in Ukraine, which will consist of minors. Like, in Shostka, the local military registration and enlistment office, apparently, instead of sending boys 14-16 years old to paramilitary courses, began to form them into the 153rd territorial defense brigade. It's fake.

The case was analyzed by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. They contacted the 117th separate territorial defense brigade formed in the Sumy region, and they, for their part, confirmed that the information about the mobilization of children was fake. Moreover, there are no 153 brigades in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but there is a 153 separate territorial defense battalion. On the social networks of this battalion one can find photographs of its soldiers and make sure that there are no teenagers in it. In Ukraine, all citizens aged 18 to 60 who are capable of performing their military duty are subject to mobilization, except for exceptions provided by law. There is no talk of any mobilization of minors in Ukraine.

Pro-Kremlin propagandists are trying to promote the narrative that supposedly in Ukraine there are not enough people at the front, and therefore the Ukrainian government is resorting to radical methods - recruiting children into the ranks of the army. Previously, we refuted the fake that allegedly the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustam Umierov called for the mobilization of teenagers.

In the Russian segment of social networks, information is being spread that in Ukraine they have started issuing vouchers for sapper training to people with disabilities, supposedly “sending them to fight”. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts took up this case and informed that in October 2023, the Ukrainian State Employment Service increased the list of professions and specialties for which one  can receive a voucher, that is, payment for training. The list, in particular, includes the profession of sapper. And, in fact, training vouchers will be issued to specific people, for example, persons with disabilities. Other categories of citizens can receive a training voucher: internally displaced persons (IDPs), participants in combat operations (UCD), people injured as a result of war, etc.

Moreover, we are talking specifically about humanitarian demining, which takes place outside the combat zone. This is a long-term process aimed at creating a safe living environment for civilian residents. Military demining, on the contrary, is carried out directly in the combat zone. For example, when the enemy retreats, military sappers are already doing this.

Read also our documented case: in Ukraine, they want to abolish the status of a person with a disability in order to mobilize more people

Propagandists who spread pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that the “Kyiv regime” is allegedly preparing Ukrainians for the rapid mobilization of teenagers from the age of 14 due to the lack of reserves destroyed on all front lines. This is allegedly indicated by the fact that the instructors of the 103rd Territorial defense force brigade  arrived on the territory of one of the Ukrainian educational centers, where they taught teenagers military training for three weeks, after which the most capable students were allegedly enrolled in the brigade reserve. However, this is a fake.

The analysts of the Center of Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine drew attention to it. They explained that this information is fiction, because according to the current legislation of Ukraine, persons who have reached the age of 18 are subject to mobilization. At the same time, there are military training courses for young people in Ukraine. They are not mandatory and are not prohibited by law.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that an illegal “mobilization of scientific staff” is allegedly being carried out in Ukraine - and add to the publications a video from an eyewitness who says that her comrade was allegedly forcibly taken to the local territorial recruitment and social support center. And that person is a historian and supposedly teaches in a higher education institution. The authors sum up: no one can fight in Ukraine, it doesn’t need smart people, so everyone is being raked into the “Zelenskyi meat grinder”. It is not true.

Research workers, scientific-pedagogical and pedagogical workers are not subject to conscription for military service during mobilization. According to the amendments to Article 23 of the Law “On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Work” dated July 29, 2022, they are not subject to conscription, provided that this category of people works in scientific institutions and organizations, institutions of higher education, professional higher education, professional (vocational and technical) or general secondary education (at the main place of work with at least 0.75 rates of their salary).

Moreover, the heroine in the video did not provide any evidence, photo or video evidence confirming the arbitrary behavior of employees of the local territorial recruitment and social support center towards the man. Yet, cases where employees of territorial centers exceed their authority are still recorded. We are talking, in particular, about the use of physical force against those liable for military service. But the woman simply spread information and in no way confirmed either the thesis about the use of violence against the scientist, or the fact that, in general, a higher education worker was hypothetically mobilized.

On social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, videos are being distributed with information about the so-called mobilization of Ukrainians to Israel. In the video, the hero shows a “draft notice” issued allegedly by the local territorial center of recruitment and social support. The draft notice notes that, in accordance with Article II of the Law of Ukraine “On Refugees and People in Need of Additional or Temporary Protection”, the man was allegedly drafted into the “volunteer battalion” of Israel. It is not true.

The StopFake analysts investigated the case and analyzed that, in fact, the draft notice depicted in the video is fake. After all, the design of the document does not correspond to the current model. Both the draft notice and the procedure for maintaining military records of conscripts and those liable for military service are regulated by a specific legislative initiative. In particular, we are talking about the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 7, 2016 “On approval of the Procedure for organizing and maintaining military records of conscripts and those liable for military service”. And documents of this type have the same design; they cannot differ from each other.

Actually, the official form of the draft notice can be seen in Appendix No. 24 to this Resolution. The draft notice form was last changed on January 26, 2022, when the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine introduced appropriate changes to some resolutions on the performance of military duty.

As for the law that propagandists refer to, it has nothing to do with military service. Article 2  generally deals with the legislative framework regarding refugees and persons in need of additional or temporary protection.

The fact-checkers also recorded numerous errors in the “draft notice”. For example, in the column where one needed to write the name of the territorial center of recruitment and social support, the authors of the fake message indicated the Security Service of Ukraine in the Odesa region. The SBU’s competence apparently does not include any mobilization actions.

In the Russian segment of social networks, on YouTube and in pro-Kremlin media, a trailer for the horror film “Voienkom” (The Military Commissariat), which was allegedly produced by the Ukrainian company Kvartal 95 Studio, is being distributed. It's a lie.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. They established that the video was created by the Russians. Experts also managed to identify the person in the video - it turned out to be Russian actor Roman Makarov living in Moscow.

By spreading fake news about mobilization, Russian propaganda is trying to intimidate men of military age. The Russians are deliberately demonizing the mobilization process and exaggerating its pace in order to cause panic among Ukrainians. Previously, we talked about the manipulation that in Ukraine they are planning to mobilize men who are over 60 years old.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that Ukraine is supposedly going to abolish disability status in order to send more people to the front. As evidence, Russian propaganda cites a proposal to remove the concept of “disabled person” from the legislation. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. Minister of Health Viktor Liashko indeed stated that the Ministry of Health has prepared a bill according to which the disability notion is proposed to be replaced by the assessment of loss of functionality. However, this bill is not about abolishing “disability” or mobilization. This reform was discussed at the beginning of October at a briefing in Zhytomyr following the results of the Congress of Local and Regional Councils under the President of Ukraine.

For Ukraine , the goal is to abandon the post-Soviet model of determining disability, which provides a person only with benefits and compensation. And the task of the state should be “to return a person to an economic state”. However, benefits and payments should not be canceled. And they plan to implement the changes themselves in 2025, which once again proves that the reform is not related to mobilization.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian government and sow panic among Ukrainians. They say that the counteroffensive failed, there are not enough people at the front, so the authorities are trying to mobilize everyone, including people with disabilities. Previously, we talked about the manipulation that in Ukraine they created body armor for pregnant women as they are allegedly going to send them to the front.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that checkpoints are being set up in the Lviv region supposedly for “raids on men of military age”. If this practice shows a positive result, such checkpoints will be installed in other regions. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the VoxCheck project. In fact, it is about mobilization, and checkpoints have begun to be set up to strengthen security measures. All this is in order to counter the possible penetration of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups and facilitate the work of air defense forces. This was announced by the first deputy head of the Lviv Military Regional Administration Andrii Hodyk during a briefing on September 28.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit government officials and sow panic among Ukrainians, because, they say, there are not enough people at the front, and the counteroffensive has failed. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the manipulation that the West is forcing Ukraine to lower the conscription age and “send minors to the meat grinder”.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media and anonymous telegram channels claim that the European Commission and the European Council allegedly officially sent a letter to the King of Spain with a request to grant permanent residence permits in the country to the children of the President of Ukraine, the ex-minister of defense and minister, as well as other Ukrainian officials. It's fake.

The fact-checker of the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that the “letter” being circulated by propagandists is a fake, likely based on a letter from the European Council to King Mohammed VI of Morocco dated September 9, 2023. This letter can be found on the official website of the European Union. Meanwhile, the “letter” that propagandists talk about is not there, which is atypical, since all letters and statements from EU institutions are published on the website. The “letter” is not on the European Commission website either. In addition, Russian media have not been able to decide on the status they are “asking” for the children of Ukrainian officials. While it is about “citizenship” or “nationality”, the “letter” talks about a certificate of permanent residence. The procedure for obtaining a certificate in Spain by applying to the king is illogical, since without it it can be obtained using a simplified procedure in accordance with European Council Directive 2001/55/EC. In addition, the “letter” lists only male persons with a purely Russian transcription of first and last names, which does not coincide with the official transcription for Ukrainian foreign passports. The fake was refuted by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and cause panic among the population about a “comprehensive mobilization”. They say that while some are caught on the street and taken to the centers of recruitment and social support, the children of politicians are taken abroad so that they are not taken to war. Detector Media previously talked about other fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that women with medical education began to “escape” from Ukraine en masse, because from October 1, 2023, medical and pharmaceutical workers must register with the military. In support of this thesis, propagandists show alleged data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and explain that more than 25 thousand women with medical education allegedly left Ukraine over the past two weeks.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found that the State Statistics Service does not publish such statistics, and therefore, no data on the migration of doctors and pharmacists simply exists. That is, propagandists came up with this information. After all, migration statistics on the State Statistics Service website have not been updated since January 2022 due to martial law. Experts explained that in Ukraine, at the state level, the migration movement of the population is monitored according to several indicators: the number of arrivals and departures and the corresponding coefficients of these processes. Moreover, such indicators are formed annually, not weekly. And they do not separate out information about the professions of those who arrived and those who left, that is, such data is not collected. Data can be classified by type of area, gender, age, etc.

Also, statistics on the migration movement of the population are published by the State Migration Service of Ukraine. But this body also does not provide information on the distribution of migrants by profession.

Since October 1, 2023, medical and pharmaceutical workers must indeed register with the military, but registration with the military does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on traveling abroad. The Ministry of Health notes that registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that the ex-Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom, Ben Wallace, allegedly stated the need to lower the conscription age. As Russian propaganda notes, they are going to resort to such measures due to the alleged “complete failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces summer counteroffensive”. And this will be a continuation of the “Western policy” of killing a large number of Slavs associated with the Ukrainian and Russian sides”. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. They established that Russian propaganda refers to a column by Ben Wallace published in The Telegraph. Wallace didn't actually write about the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive or the need to draft 16-year-olds and “throw them into a meat grinder”. On the contrary, he noted that Ukraine will win this war, and the allies must increase the pace of assistance.

Ben Wallace writes that Putin is mobilizing all of Russia, and in Ukraine the average age of soldiers on the fronts is 40. “So, as Britain did in 1939 and 1941, perhaps it is time to reassess the scale of Ukrainian mobilization”, Wallace said. It was this quote that Russian propagandists used to create manipulative news.

Thus, Russian propaganda continues to promote the narrative that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is a failure, and the West will indeed destroy Ukraine. Previously, we described the message that the European Union benefits from Ukraine’s defeat in the war.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that Ukraine plans to mobilize men over 60 years of age. Russian propaganda refers to bill No. 10084 on amendments to Part 2 of Article 22 of the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service”. This is manipulation.

The case was examined by fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. They found out that in fact the bill refers to military personnel with a high level of professional training, who were recognized by a military medical commission as fit for health reasons. At their request, they may be retained in military service. Russian propaganda manipulated to create the impression that men over 60 will definitely be mobilized in Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and promote the message that Ukraine has high losses during the counteroffensive, so the decision was made to mobilize those over 60 years old. Propagandists are also trying to sow despondency and panic among Ukrainian society. Previously, we talked about the manipulation that Zelenskyi said that all Ukrainians should wear military uniforms so that the Russians would be afraid of them.

Propagandists are actively disseminating information on anonymous telegram channels that allegedly the Volyn Regional Psychiatric Hospital and the Volyn Medical Center for Addiction Therapy are being merged in order to fire 15 doctors of the psychiatric hospital and 18 employees of the addiction center. They say that these people will be spared a deferment from mobilization and will be sent to the medical company of the 14th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is confirmed by the fact that the directors of both institutions were allegedly fired, and one of them was given a draft notice for resisting this idea. However, this is a fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that there are no plans to fire or mobilize doctors from both hospitals. The decision to reorganize the psychiatric hospital was made by the Volyn Regional Council even before the full-scale invasion, namely on December 9, 2021. This decision provided for the dismissal of the heads of both institutions, but not the remaining employees. However, on March 16, 2023, deputies of the regional council canceled this statement and decided to reorganize the Volyn Medical Center for Addiction Therapy. As a result, the hospital will take over the rights and responsibilities of the center, and the center's property will become the property of the mental hospital. As a result, they decided to join the smaller one to the larger one. In addition, Volyn officials note that the staff may even have to be expanded, since as part of the reorganization they plan to increase the number of beds. VoxCheck specialists were unable to find news about the issuance of a draft notice to the ex-director of the Volyn Medical Center for Addiction Therapy, Ihor Shkarovetskyi.

It is noted that psychiatry and narcology are related disciplines, therefore the practice of combining specialized institutions of these disciplines is common in Ukraine. In addition, consolidation will help to obtain more funds. The merger takes place within the framework of the third stage of medical reform on the creation of a wealthy network. This reform is being carried out to improve the quality of medical services and free medical care.

Using such manipulations, propagandists want to exaggerate the scale of mobilization in Ukraine and intimidate the civilian population. They say that the Ukrainian government does not care about serious problems, so it puts ordinary people at risk and mobilizes mental hospital workers. Detector Media has already written not only about numerous manipulations on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine, but also about how Russian propaganda reinforces stereotypes about mental health.

On anonymous telegram channels, propagandists are actively distributing an alleged quote from the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umierov, where he allegedly calls for the mobilization of 16-year-old teenagers into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because “why can guys make children from the age of 16”. However, this is a fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that Umierov did not make such a statement, and there is no mention of him on the Defense Minister’s social media accounts. In addition, the photo with the “quote” shows the UNIAN media logo. In fact, this quote is also not on the UNIAN website or pages on social networks. The publication has not maintained the “Quotes of the Day” column in the telegram since March 11, 2022. Current Ukrainian legislation, in particular the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service”, allows military service only from the age of 18.

Using such fakes, propagandists want to cause panic among Ukrainians and deliberately exaggerate the pace of mobilization. Like, everything is so bad in Ukraine that it has to mobilize teenagers. Detector Media has already refuted a number of fakes and manipulations on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular on Telegram channels that broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports talk about “mass arrests” of Ukrainians of draft age in Germany - and that later they are allegedly sent to the front lines. Video evidence, the testimony of one of the men who witnessed such a situation with his own eyes is attached to the reports. It is not true.

Specialists of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and established that on September 5, the representative of the president in the parliament, Fedir Venislavskyi, stated that there will be no mass extradition of male evaders to Ukraine from abroad. In fact, the “deportation of conscript men” is generally impossible, since there is no legal basis for it. Ukrainian diplomatic institutions cannot deport Ukrainians for mobilization, just as EU power structures are not authorized to form any units of Ukrainians on their territories. That is, there is no legal mechanism or precedent for the mobilization of Ukrainians as EU members.

At the same time, Ukrainian law enforcement officers can investigate and prove in court the facts of illegal border crossing under martial law. And for extradition from abroad, it will be necessary to prove the guilt of each conscript under the laws of the country of his stay in a local court.

That is, if the extradition process is used for Ukrainian conscripts abroad, it will be applied only to evaders who illegally crossed the border.

The Kremlin media and users of the Russian segment of social networks are spreading information that Ukraine has allegedly introduced a bulletproof vest for “pregnant women on the battlefield”. Allegedly, due to the failure of the counteroffensive, the authorities in Ukraine decided to send pregnant women to the front, because “pregnancy will not be a valid reason for deferment from service”. In confirmation, Russian propaganda posted a photo of the armored suit. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. According to Ukrainian legislation, there is no mandatory mobilization of women in Ukraine, but they can join the Ukrainian army voluntarily. Pregnancy is a legal basis for dismissal of a military personnel.

Russian propaganda used photographs from a real presentation of the anatomical female armored suit “Ruta Liuta” (Furious Rue). This suit was not designed for pregnant women; it was invented by the Ukrainian Armor company to create protection for military personnel, taking into account the anatomical and physiological parameters of women.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities, who allegedly do not value human lives, and nourish the narrative of the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. They say that the Ukrainian army has high losses and lacks people, so Ukraine will mobilize even pregnant women. Earlier, Detector Media talked about a similar manipulation: in Ukraine, military uniforms were created for pregnant women in order to send them to the front.

Pro-Kremlin media are disseminating information that in Ukraine they want to reorganize military media and supposedly send journalists to the front due to the failure of mobilization and lack of people. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. The ex-deputy of the Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar actually spoke during the conference “Editorial Board. Summit” on plans to reorganize military media. She noted that people with high military knowledge who worked for military media could be useful directly at the front. Maliar also spoke about attracting already mobilized journalists to the media. However, there was no talk of separate mobilization of journalists - they, just like other citizens of Ukraine, are subject to mobilization.

The very reorganization of military media is necessary, first of all, in order to bring their status into compliance with the Law of Ukraine “On Media”.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and sow panic and despondency among Ukrainians, saying that there is a shortage of people at the front. Previously, we refuted the falsehood that, under the guise of mobilization, the authorities in Ukraine are destroying the Russian-speaking population.

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.

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 on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports note that allegedly two departments will be disbanded in the Rozhyshche multidisciplinary hospital (Volyn region) and 50 medical workers will be fired because they decided to send them to the front. The authors add that replacements are already being found to replace the mobilized personnel. The publications refer to the material from the Public. This is manipulation.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up this case and found out that the Public article stated that the hospital plans to disband the maternity and children's departments by the end of 2023. That's why 50 health workers were fired. The director of the institution, Viktor Redzii, assured that such actions are caused by a lack of funding and a general lack of attendance at the departments. Consequently, propagandists distorted the context of the material and invented desired talking points to spread their agenda. Since the material did not talk about any mobilization of medical staff. Only about optimizing a medical facility.

The fact-checkers explain that according to the 2018 reform, the hospital financing system has changed. That is, the institution now receives funds for each patient visit, and not per bed, as it was before. So, if fewer patients come to the hospital, the institution receives less money from the National Health Service of Ukraine (NSHSU).

Interestingly, manipulative messages subsequently migrated to Facebook. There, a local user allegedly commented on a post by the Volyn News Group and also stated that doctors and physicians were being mobilized. She allegedly introduced herself as a former doctor of this particular hospital with ten years of work experience. But the Facebook page looks suspicious: it was created on August 24, 2023 as a page for a marketing agency, with Kharkiv as her city of residence. And in the work section it is noted: “Physical office nurse at the Volyn Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital”. The director of the Rozhyshche hospital denied information that such a person worked there.

So propagandists are trying to intimidate Ukrainians and spread panic among them. It seems that everything is so bad, there is no one to fight, so officials are forcibly mobilizing doctors to the front.

By the way, in our review of disinformation for August 21-27, 2023, we have collected a selection of fakes about the so-called total mobilization in Ukraine. But they explained what the Kremlin is trying to achieve when it claims that the Territorial center of recruitment and social support mobilizes pregnant women and their children. And in the Newspeak section, we found out how Russia mobilizes its resources, hiding behind the term “partial mobilization”.

Russian propaganda media are disseminating information that the largest mobilization is taking place in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. Russian propaganda notes that this is genocide - under the pretext of conflict, the Russian-speaking population is destroyed, but sometimes they are forced to mobilize residents of western Ukraine. It is not true.

EUvsDiSiNFO fact-checkers drew attention to the case. There are no facts or evidence that mobilization in Ukraine is aimed at the Russian-speaking population. The idea that Ukraine is committing genocide of its own population is promoted in his speeches by Volodymyr Putin. However, there is no evidence to support this in the reports of the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OSCE.

It is Russia that attacks Ukrainian cities where many Ukrainians live who use the Russian language, such as Odesa or Kharkiv.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to sow discord between the Russian-speaking population and the Ukrainian-speaking population, to divide them and discredit the authorities. Also, Russian propagandists are trying to shift responsibility for the crimes of Russians onto Ukrainians.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the Rozhyshche hospital in the Volyn region allegedly received an order to send more than 50 medical workers to the front. Russian propaganda refers to the Ukrainian media. It is not true.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation. They found that in one of the hospitals in Volyn they plan to reduce staff due to lack of funding and because of this, two departments will be closed. However, there is no mention of sending doctors to the front or there is no corresponding order.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to sow panic among Ukrainians, they say, there are not enough people in the Ukrainian army, so hospitals receive orders to send doctors to the war zone. Earlier, we talked about the manipulation that in Ukraine they created a military uniform for pregnant women in order to send them to the front.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels are distributing photos and videos showing flyers ostensibly to launch a UFA campaign to increase mobilization. The flyers allegedly handed out in Kharkiv deliver the message “Education will not save the country! Join the Armed Forces!” and “Update data in Territorial centers of procurement and social support”. However, this is fake.

Specialists of the NotaYenota project drew attention to it. They found out that the flyers are actually fake, and the primary source of information about them is a Russian anonymous telegram channel “with an audience of many thousands”. From there, it began to be distributed in other telegram channels, VKontakte and TikTok. In addition, they found English advertisements for these flyers on Facebook. In particular, the flyers contain inaccurate hotline numbers, and the design style of Kharkiv regional territorial center of procurement and social support does not match the flyers.

By creating and spreading this fake, according to project experts, the propagandists want to discredit the information campaign recently launched by the Ministry of Defense “Update data in the Territorial centers of procurement and social support”. This is happening against the backdrop of a bill to abolish the deferment from mobilization for men over the age of 30 who receive additional higher education. The Ministry of Defense notes that the processes for updating data and mobilization are different. And the Russian propaganda wants to unite them in order to cause panic among the population. Detector Media has already refuted a number of fakes on mobilization in Ukraine, including the “mass mobilization” of Ukrainian students.

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.

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.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say Ukraine plans to lower the draft age to 20. Like, such an initiative was introduced by the General Staff and it was supported everywhere.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated the case and found out that such information is not true. This is just stuffing, because in Ukraine they do not plan to reduce the age for mobilization. Analysts also cited one of the interviews of NSDC Secretary Oleksii Danilov to Ukrainian Radio as an example. During it, the official assured that no mobilization rules would be changed.

That is, there is no reason to believe that mobilization will be carried out in Ukraine from the age of 20. The current age for mobilization is 27. In March 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament introduced a bill to lower the age to 25. However, the bill has not yet been signed by Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Russian propaganda has repeatedly speculated on total mobilization in Ukraine. Thus, propagandists want to distort reality and convince everyone that Ukrainian officials are constantly resorting to tricks to mobilize people more and more.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are spreading a fake document on behalf of the Ternopil public utility. It threatens to turn off gas and hot water to conscripts who do not appear at the local Territorial center of recruitment and social support. This “letter” also states that shutdowns will be carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”. The “letter” bears the signature of Oleksandr Andriyovych Popov, director of the Komenergo-Ternopil 1 company, which is engaged in the improvement of apartment buildings in Ternopil. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. They took comments from representatives of the Ternopil Territorial center of recruitment and social support, who refuted this document. They also noted that the regional Territorial centers of recruitment and social support are not involved in mobilization notifications - the mobilization process on the ground is carried out by city and district departments. Errors indicate that the “letter” is a fake. For example, instead of the word “according to” in Ukrainian, the Russian propaganda wrote “according to” in Russian, and the text itself indicates the date by which one needs to come to the Territorial center of recruitment and social support - January 18, 2023.

In addition, the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization” does not contain information on penalties in the form of turning off water and gas.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to spread panic among Ukrainians and discredit the Ukrainian authorities. They say that in order to encourage conscripts to register with the Territorial center of recruitment and social support and mobilize, the authorities are ready to turn off gas and water. Earlier, we talked about the manipulation that due to “huge losses” in the regions of Ukraine, a general mobilization began.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing an allegedly Ukrainian version of the Call of Duty video game trailer, where they allegedly call to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated the case. They found that the Ukrainian version of the trailer for the video game Call of Duty does not exist. The official YouTube channel of Call of Duty posted the only English-language video in which there is no call to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, in other versions of the trailer, translated into Russian, Arabic, and several European languages, there is no mention of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moreover, there will be no official Ukrainian localization, and Activision, the publisher of the game, did not cooperate with Ukrainian localizers.

By spreading fakes in which the authorities allegedly use any means to mobilize people, the Russians are trying to discredit them. In addition, they want to raise a panic and convince everyone that Russia is winning on the battlefield.

Earlier, we refuted the fake that the Tetris game is banned in Ukraine.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the Verkhovna Rada allegedly registered a bill that prohibits teenagers from 16 to 18 years old from leaving Ukraine. It seems that Ukrainians resort to such laws due to the fact that adult men are running out in Ukraine. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications drew attention to the case. On July 11, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered the “Draft Law on Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine on the Protection of the Rights of Children During Temporary Departure from Ukraine” No. 9480. It aims to protect the rights of children traveling abroad, and especially orphans and children deprived of parental care. The law does not talk about mobilization, but only about limiting the independent travel of children aged 16 and over abroad for unification with the rules of social services of the EU countries.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and sow discouragement among Ukrainians and military personnel. Earlier, Detector Media talked about how Russian propaganda manipulates the issue of mobilization in Ukraine, in particular, deliberately exaggerating its scale.

Propagandists are actively spreading information on social networks that Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that he would ask for assistance from the Canadian government in mobilizing members of the Ukrainian diaspora for war. Like, he is talking about 30 thousand men of military age. However, this is fake.

Reuters analysts drew attention to it. They found that Ukraine and Canada jointly denied the information from these reports. In particular, in response to a request from fact-checkers of the publication, Yurii Sak, adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, called them “a cheap fake”. The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that Ukraine had not made such requests. There are no similar statements by Reznikov on the Internet either.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to cause panic among Ukrainians and discredit the Ukrainian authorities. Detector Media has repeatedly written about how Russian propaganda manipulates the issue of mobilization in Ukraine, in particular, deliberately exaggerating its scale.

On anonymous telegram channels, propagandists spread information with pro-Russian rhetoric that after the end of the war there will be 4 million war veterans in Ukraine. They argue that this is an indirect confirmation of the scale of mobilization and losses in Ukraine. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found that Minister for Veterans Affairs Yuliia Laputina spoke several times about the number of people who might need help from the relevant ministry after the war. So, on May 8, 2023, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, she stated that until February 24, there were “about 500 thousand people in Ukraine who are directly participants in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and the Joint Forces Operation”. At the same time, Laputina emphasized that if one adds to this figure the family members of those killed and injured during the Revolution of Dignity, as well as “all other categories”, including participants in the Second World War and persons equated to them, participants in peacekeeping missions, the number of these persons will be “approximately 1.2 million”. The minister only added that after the war this figure would be many times higher and could reach “4-5 million people”.

By manipulating the statements of Ukrainian officials, propagandists want to give out the desired for reality and create a false impression that Ukraine has lost. In fact, Laputina spoke about the total number of people to be supported by the Ministry of Veterans, namely the military and their families, civilians who suffered as a result of the Revolution of Dignity and the war. VoxCheck analysts note that this indicator cannot be used to assess the scale of losses and mobilization in Ukraine.

Russian media, broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric and in the Russian segment of Facebook, disseminate information that the Kharkiv police will allegedly transmit information about Ukrainian citizens who fled from the mobilization to the countries of the European Union. This statement was made by Serhii Bolvinov, head of the investigative department of the National Police of the Kharkiv region. This is manipulation.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated the case. On July 14, Serhii Bolvinov did write on Facebook about cooperation with Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization). However, this cooperation is not because of the Ukrainians in the EU countries, as Russian propaganda claims. Bolvinov said that Ukrainian law enforcement officers would contact the organization because they want to bring to justice the collaborators who fled Ukraine and settled in the EU. Russian propaganda took the phrase out of context.

By manipulating the facts of mobilization, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and sow panic in society. Previously, we refuted the manipulation that in Ukraine a military uniform was created for pregnant women in order to send them to the front.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that pregnant women are allegedly mobilized in Ukraine and that a special uniform has been sewn for them. And the proof is a screenshot from the UNIAN website, where they are talking about a new uniform for female military personnel. This is manipulation.

According to the specialists of the VoxCheck project, the mobilization of women in Ukraine is exclusively voluntary. And volunteers began to create uniforms for military personnel, including pregnant women, at the request of the women themselves in the army. UNIAN  published news about the creation of a uniform for women, it was presented on the air of the United News marathon.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the authorities and intimidate Ukrainian society. Like, the Russians are winning on the battlefield, there are not enough people in the Ukrainian army, so they began to mobilize pregnant women. Earlier, Detector Media denied the manipulation that due to “huge losses” in the regions of Ukraine, a general mobilization allegedly began.

Such information was disseminated in the social networks of the Ukrainian segment. Reports say that in the Ivano-Frankivsk region on June 13, 2023, the hospitalization of men aged 18 to 59 was allegedly temporarily stopped without the consent of the Territorial recruitment and social support center. The authors add to the publications a photo of an Extract about the decision of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration to ban hospitalization. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up this case and found out that the regional council did not make such a decision. This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration Vitalii Ilchyshyn. However, such a decision was actually considered the day before at the initiative of the Regional territorial center of recruitment and social support. They explained that those liable for military service, whom the military medical commission recognized as fit for service, may try to get to the hospital, declaring a “sudden” deterioration in their condition.

The chairman of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration noted that in this way people can avoid mobilization. The Extract itself, the photo of which was distributed on social networks, was not found by fact-checkers. They wrote that there were no relevant instructions on the official website of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration. The photo of the Extract was previously distributed by telegram channels and media of the Ukrainian segment, although it is not on the official pages.

Propagandists spread information that the news about the need for men in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv to come to the military registration and enlistment office within 10 days, if they did not receive personal draft notices, is confirmation of the “huge losses” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The authors of such reports add that Ukraine is doing this “for the sake of NATO membership” when “resistance to the regime is growing” among the people. This is manipulation.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They claim that in Ukraine there is a general mobilization due to martial law. The appearance of orders from individual territorial recruitment centers (TRC) is not new, but serves to re-notify those liable for military service. In Ivano-Frankivsk, they explained that such an order is provided in case of an extension of martial law. As before, Ukrainians liable for military service between the ages of 18 and 60 who do not have a deferment are still subject to mobilization.

By spreading such manipulations, propagandists distort reality and try to arouse Ukrainians' distrust of the authorities. In addition, they want to raise a panic and convince everyone that Russia is winning on the battlefield.

Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous telegram channels spread the information that the Ukrainian embassy in Estonia allegedly informed the Ukrainians that they were being called to a “two-week meeting of reservists”. Those who refuse are deported. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. According to the Estonian National Defense Law, foreigners are exempted from the obligation to join the army. Also, the Ukrinform news agency requested the Ukrainian Embassy in the Republic of Estonia. The embassy said that this information is not true and it is another fake of the Russians. Moreover, according to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of the procedure for organizing and maintaining military records of conscripts, conscripts and reservists”, diplomatic departments have no right to force them to join the ranks of a foreign army.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Estonian government and intimidate Ukrainians, to destabilize the situation. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that Poland had allegedly launched covert mobilization.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that draft law No. 7114, allegedly declaring a state of war, registered on February 24, 2022, has disappeared from the website of the Verkhovna Rada. The authors argue that mobilization is illegal. They add a screenshot to messages that show a citizen's request for public information. In response to a request, the Verkhovna Rada stated that the draft law No. 7114 was not in the database.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case, and they found that Volodymyr Zelenskyi submitted the draft law “On declaring a state of war” for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada on February 24, 2022, and it was indeed not approved. However, this does not mean that we are not at war. For example, back in March 2022, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar explained that it was not necessary to adopt a special law or decree declaring war. She cited Article 3 of the UN Resolution “On Aggression” of 1974 and stressed that an invasion or attack by the armed forces of a state on the territory of another state, bombardment or blockade of ports is qualified as an act of aggression.

In addition, after the start of Russia's full-scale aggression, Volodymyr Zelenskyi issued a decree “On the introduction of martial law in Ukraine”, adopted on February 24 by the Verkhovna Rada. This document empowers military administrations to assist in the organization of mobilization and communicate to the population the order of the military commissar to announce mobilization.

By spreading this message, Russian propaganda wants to prove that, as they say, the war is staged in Ukraine, but in general the state of war has not been declared. Like, there is no war, and mobilization is also impossible. Thus, propagandists deliberately hide the fact of a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that in Odesa they have already begun to recruit schoolchildren for the front under the guise of summer volunteer work. The authors attach a screenshot of a Google form (allegedly spread by the school administration), where, they say, children are asked if “they have a desire to work in the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the summer”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and they determined that the information about the trip of children to the front was false. In Ukraine, children are not recruited to serve in the army - those liable for military service from 18 to 60 years old are subject to mobilization. At the same time, the Google form contains many spelling errors indicating the use of third-party services, such as a translator. For example, in the column from the full name in the screenshot, the Name, Last name and letter O is shown (from “patronymic” - in Russian). The description of the survey itself is also misspelled: “we ask for your opinion on improving the work of the school”. It is most likely that this survey was compiled using Google Translate.

Propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulations on the topic of “total mobilization” among young men and women, because they are allegedly mobilized because there is no one else. Thus, the authors of the messages seek to convince that the Ukrainian leadership violates its own laws and mobilizes children, women, and students.

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.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular in the Polish segment of TikTok. Reports say that a mass mobilization of young students has begun in Ukrainian universities. The authors published a video in which an allegedly Ukrainian student is forcibly taken away by law enforcement officers from the audience. It is not true.

The Center for Countering Disinformation says the video was filmed more than seven months ago at the Shehyni checkpoint on the border with Poland. This premises can be seen in one of the BBC News Ukraine reports about students going abroad. The student did not want to leave the checkpoint, so he had to be escorted out by customs officials. That is, the video was filmed not at the university premises, but at the customs, and no one among the students was forcibly mobilized.

Propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulations on the topic of “total mobilization” among young men and women, because they are allegedly mobilized because there is no one else. Thus, the authors of the messages seek to convince that the Ukrainian leadership violates its own laws and mobilizes children, women, and students.

Let us remind you that the analysts of Detector Media previously denied the fake that allegedly draft notices in Ukraine began to be sent using SMS messages.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric distribute photos of SMS messages with the Law of Ukraine on mobilization, and claim that the Ukrainian authorities have allegedly begun testing a system for issuing draft notices to mobile phones. And ignoring SMS is regarded as evading military service. It's fake.

The case drew the attention of specialists from the VoxCheck project. On the air of the Kyiv TV channel, Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said that the draft notification of mobilization in messengers is only being discussed so far. And if it is developed, they will send notifications to Telegram and Viber, and not via SMS, as propaganda writes. It is also important to clarify: if such a message comes in the future, it is not an official call to the military registration and enlistment office.

The Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov noted that it is now technically impossible to implement notifications in messengers until there is a high-quality register of military servicemen, and a verified phone number is not linked to the register identifier.

Russian propaganda systematically parasitizes on the topic of mobilization. By spreading such fakes, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and the army, and sow panic among the people. Previously, Detector Media denied cases that military registration and enlistment offices handed out draft notices and took away cars in favor of the army, and also began handing out draft notices to women.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric are distributing a video in which the Ukrainian military allegedly forcibly seize cars “for the needs of the army” from residents of the village of Stare Selo (Old Village), Rivne region. Some telegram channels also write that the military registration and enlistment office representatives have surrounded one of the villages in the Rivne region and are distributing draft notices. The video shows a confrontation among policemen, people in camouflage and civilians. It's fake.

This case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. They determined that the event recorded on the video took place in the village of Stare Selo (Old Village) on April 7 and the event did not concern the service of draft notices or the confiscation of cars for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the press service of the National police in the Rivne region, the National police, together with the National guardsmen and representatives of the Regional security service, conducted 9 searches at the places of residence of those involved in criminal proceedings opened on the facts of illegal mining of amber, illegal handling of weapons and ammunition. In the video, we see how “the police seized 5 kilograms of amber, vehicles and other material evidence relevant to the case”.

By spreading this fake, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and the army. Analysts of Detector Media have repeatedly analyzed cases related to Ukrainian mobilization. For example, they refuted the case that the Ukrainian media allegedly published an infographic that shows the percentage of mobilized citizens in the regions of Ukraine.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that a concentration camp has allegedly been organized near Odesa for those who do not want to fight with Russia. Like, this is evidenced by “intelligence data” of the occupying authorities. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the fake, and found out that the information about the “concentration camp” was not true. The representative of the Odesa military administration, Serhii Bratchuk, said that there were no concentration camps on the territory of the Odesa region. He noted that in Ukraine there are only camps and military training grounds, where citizens are preparing with the desire and motivation to destroy the enemy.

In addition, as analysts explain, there are no photo or video materials testifying to the existence of the so-called “concentration camp”. According to analysts, the information is simply fictional.

By spreading this fake, the propagandists are once again promoting the message of total mobilization in Ukraine. Like, there is no one to fight, so everyone is mobilized, and those who do not want to are transferred to concentration camps. Thus propagandists demonize the Ukrainian authorities, who allegedly mock Ukrainians.

We recall that earlier Detector Media refuted the fake, which said that the Territorial recruitment and social support centers were intensively recruiting female chemists and biological specialists, and explained the case about the alleged preparation of Ukrainian women and their children for mobilization. We also refuted the fake, in which the propagandists claimed that in Ukraine they “dug a ditch on the border with Moldova in order to stop the flight of men from mobilization”.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian media have published an infographic that allegedly indicates the number of people mobilized since the beginning of 2023 in certain regions of Ukraine. According to these data, the largest number of mobilized is in the Odesa region. The Odesa region is followed by Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions. The authors of the messages add that, allegedly, the current Ukrainian authorities “destroy Russian-speaking Ukrainians” in this way. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case, they investigated that the Ukrainian media did not publish such infographics, while there is no data on the total number of the mobilized in open sources. As the checkers explain, the infographic contains a list of areas where one area is misspelled. Instead of “Mykolaiv” you can see “MIkolaiv”. Information on mobilization in the regions is indicated only in a few areas. For example, the situation in Kyiv, Transcarpathians, Cherkasy and other regions is not indicated, although mobilization continues throughout Ukraine. Analysts also failed to find Ukrainian media that would distribute such infographics. Therefore, analysts are convinced that the information on the infographics was invented and the Ukrainian media did not distribute the infographics.

Analysts of Detector Media have repeatedly analyzed cases related to Ukrainian mobilization. For example, we refuted a fake about the alleged forgery of a document of a minor by one of the Territorial recruitment and social support centers. We also explained a case about a false document that was distributed by the Russians, claiming that young people from 15 to 18 years old are forbidden to travel abroad.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that an increased mobilization of women has begun in Ukraine, first of all, women with a chemical or biological education are mobilized. The authors of the messages refer to the “results of intelligence” of the occupier. At the same time, the authors note that Ukraine is preparing to use chemical and biological weapons. It's a lie.

The experts of the StopFake project got down to the case, they investigated that in Ukraine they do not plan to carry out mandatory mobilization of women or the mobilization of women of certain specialties. According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov, as of the end of 2022, 59,786 women served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of who: about 19 thousand are civilian workers (in the field of medicine, office work, communications, finance and administration), and the rest are military personnel. Also, about 5 thousand women are directly involved in hostilities. That is, everything happens of its own accord and there is no question of any “forced mobilization”.

At the same time, analysts called the thesis about the use of chemical or biological weapons false. Experts have not found any evidence of the likely use of chemical or biological weapons.

In October 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on the voluntary procedure for taking women into military registration. According to the law, women who have received a medical or pharmaceutical specialty and are fit for age and health are subject to military registration. The rest can register voluntarily. Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar explained that there is no mobilization of women in the country. Until 2026, even Ukrainian women with a medical specialty do not have to be registered.

We recall that Detector Media previously also refuted fakes on the so-called mobilization of women. For example, the fake that women and children should allegedly prepare for mobilization.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukraine has dug a ditch on the border with Moldova, which should “stop the mass escape of men from mobilization”, the Border guard service of Ukraine itself told Moldovan colleagues. It is not true.

The case was noticed by the experts of the StopFake project, who investigated that the Border guard service did not make such statements. At the same time, they explain the construction of fortifications on the border with Moldova as the need to increase attention to this area due to the situation in Transnistria and the possibility of provocations there. The Moldovan border guards also commented on the situation and stated that, among other things, this would aggravate the fight against an attempt to introduce smuggling from Ukraine to Moldova. Analysts stressed that there was no talk of stopping the “mass flight of men from mobilization” as the reason for the appearance of the structures.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports state that employees of the Territorial recruitment and social support center in Poltava allegedly forged the documents of a minor in order to send him to the front. In support of this, the authors of the messages distribute scans of the passport and military ID of the minor. According to the information in the passport, the young man was born on July 14, 2006, and he is now only 17 years old. However, in the military ID, he was already 4 years older - in the column “date of birth” 2002 is indicated. It is not true.

The case was noticed by the experts of the StopFake project, who investigated that the scans were edited using a graphic editor. Using a Google image search, StopFake analysts managed to find a scan of the same military ID that was used to create the fake. It turned out to be a document of a man born in 1992. The signature of the military commissar, as well as the series and number of the military ID match the data indicated on the fake military ID. The attackers also partially changed the date of birth: “July 4, 1992” was corrected to “July 14, 2002”. StopFake journalists are sure that this story is fiction.

By spreading this fake, the propagandists are once again promoting the message of total mobilization in Ukraine. Like, there is no one to fight, so they mobilize minors. Allegedly, the Ukrainian authorities are indifferent to the Ukrainians, which does not even take into account the tricks and carelessness of the Recruitment and social support centers, which mobilize “everyone in a row” and even dogs.

We recall that earlier Detector Media denied a fake, which said that Ukrainian underage boys were not allowed to go abroad because they would soon be mobilized, and explained the manipulation of the so-called combat training of Ukrainian children. In addition, analysts explained why Ukrainian teenagers cannot fight and denied the thesis that “women and their children should prepare for mobilization”.

The telegram channels distribute a video where supposedly teenagers (14-15 years old) load mortars, aim and shoot. The reports claim that the Ukrainian army does not hide the fact that teenagers are taking part in hostilities. It is not true.

In the video, distributed in telegram channels, one can see an adult soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine. StopFake fact-checkers checked the video using software and identified the military man. In personal correspondence, he provided fact-checkers with proof of his age - a passport photo.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the participation of Ukrainian children or teenagers in hostilities. In this way they use inhuman enemy tactics. Like, Ukrainians don't even feel sorry for their children. Periodically, they spread fakes about combat training or mobilization of teenagers.

Information is being disseminated on social networks that Ukraine seems to have completely exhausted its mobilization resource. Like, the twelve wave of mobilization begins, but there is no one to mobilize. Allegedly, therefore, since the beginning of March, Ukraine has increased the age limit for the mobilization of Ukrainians to sixty-two. The corresponding order was allegedly sent to the territorial recruitment and social support centers. It is not true.

There were no changes in the age of Ukrainians who could be mobilized. According to the legislation, men and women up to sixty years old are subject to mobilization. Senior officers can be mobilized up to sixty-five years old. There are no “waves of mobilization” in Ukraine. The mobilization was announced on February 24, 2022, and since then the term of the relevant law has been extended several times. So far, the duration of martial law and mobilization has been extended until May 20, 2023.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to sow panic among the population, discredit the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian army. They say that the situation at the front is bad, because they will take everyone into the army. More details.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels distribute a photo of an alleged “honor board” on which they post the results of handing over draft notices. The reports claim that employees of one of the Territorial recruitment and social support centers in Mykolaiv are allegedly competing for weekend vacations in a cottage. The competition is ostensibly called the Safari draft notice. It's fake.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project did not find any evidence that this photo is related to Mykolaiv and the Territorial recruitment and social support center. The Mykolaiv regional recruitment and social support center denied the possibility of holding such competitions among workers.

To create a fake, black-and-white photos of poor quality were used, which complicates their verification. In the photo, men are in civilian clothes, although the employees of the Territorial recruitment and social support center must be in military uniform. The fact checker suggests that these photos are generated by artificial intelligence. Actually, the use of the word “safari” in the title immediately associates negatively with the messages that men are being hunted in Ukraine.

Russian propaganda systematically parasitizes on the topic of mobilization, moreover, they use a network of agenda telegram channels for this. Propaganda uses the facts of real violations in the mobilization process to give credibility to its messages, in particular, regarding the combat training of teenagers, the mobilization of women, etc. The propagandists also claimed that the Territorial recruitment and social support center  is an illegal structure, so the draft notices are also issued illegally.

In the pro-Russian telegram channels, reports are being circulated that allegedly in the Kharkiv region they began to mobilize employees of the local administration. As evidence, they cite a photo of the draft notice signed by the mayor of the city of Pervomaiskyi, Mykola Baksheiev. The reports suggest that the Ukrainian army is suffering very heavy losses and is doing so much “bad business” that they have begun to mobilize officials in defiance of the law. Allegedly, such draft notices will soon be issued by heads of state-owned enterprises. This is manipulation.

There is no evidence that the draft notice was handed over to the official. In addition, government employees may be exempted from mobilization, but this is not mandatory. As the VoxCheck fact checkers explain, the photo circulating on the network has a new design of the draft notice. According to the latest changes in legislation, the mayor has the right to issue a draft notice, but this does not mean that it was issued to an employee of the local administration. Receiving a draft notice does not mean that a person is immediately mobilized and sent to the front. The first thing the Territorial recruitment and social support center requires is to verify the citizen's data and determine their suitability for service.

Russian propaganda once again parasitizes on the topic of mobilization and appeals to the emotionally complex topic of losses at the front in order to demoralize Ukrainians. Earlier, propagandists said that a military enlistment office was deliberately set on fire in Kharkiv. The propaganda also said that the Territorial recruitment centers are illegal structures, so handing over draft notices by them is also illegal.

There are reports in foreign media that allegedly youth organizations like the Nazi Hitlerjungend (Hitler youth) are being created in Ukraine. Like, Ukrainian girls and boys are taught to shoot and prepared to kill Russians. It seems that they wear uniforms with crosses, very similar to those that were during the Second World War. The messages refer to the American news channel News Nation. This is manipulation.

Chris Cuomo's report for the American news channel News Nation is about Ukrainian teenagers studying at a military academy, not about youth organizations. Russian propaganda laid out the plot and gave it a second context. EU vs Disinfo analysts note that there is no evidence that Ukraine involves minors in hostilities. This is confirmed by international human rights organizations.

Russian propaganda constantly nourishes the narrative about Nazism and fascism in Ukraine with various fakes. Like, even the Germans are already asking Ukrainians not to use Nazi symbols. They also systematically manipulate the topic of adolescent mobilization. Thus, propaganda uses the tactics of the inhuman enemy and justifies the war in Ukraine.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The report says that Ukraine is allegedly engaged in ethnic cleansing of Hungarians in Transcarpathia, that is, genocide. They say that Ukraine sends ethnic Hungarians to the front, and does not “touch” others. The authors of the messages add that, at the same time, the Ukrainian leadership wants to get rid of ethnic Hungarians in the territory of Transcarpathia to the detriment of Hungary.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project investigated this case and found that no facts confirm that representatives of national minorities in Ukraine, in particular Hungarians, are disproportionately called up to the Ukrainian army. A citizen of Ukraine liable for military service can carry it out on an equal basis with everyone, regardless of whether such a person belongs to the category of national minorities or not. In addition, the Hungarian authorities did not make any official statements about the so-called genocide of the Hungarians in Transcarpathia or “ethnic cleansing”.

This message is beneficial for propaganda, as the authors want to nourish the narrative that Ukraine itself is allegedly engaged in genocide. Thus, propagandists want to hide their own war crimes, the murder and genocide of Ukrainians, and at the same time whitewash themselves.

"Detector Media" previously denied the fake that Russia would transfer the alleged Transcarpathian prisoners of war to Hungary in order to achieve justice.

Such a fake was spread on social networks, in particular in telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian children are not allowed out of Ukraine, in particular, underage boys. The authors of the messages add that this is how the Ukrainian authorities prepare children for mobilization, because the war will be long-term - until the last Ukrainian. As evidence, the authors refer to another telegram channel of the Ukrainian segment, in which Ukrainians allegedly complain that their young children are not allowed through the checkpoint, and customs officials deny any explanation. It is not true.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to this case and determined that in fact children are released from Ukraine abroad, they are not subject to mobilization. At the same time, the telegram channel quoted by the propagandists does not exist at all. Fact-checkers are convinced that the screenshot was taken using a graphics editor.

The fake screenshot shows the so-called channel messages, for example: “My daughter and I were let through, our son is gone”. Analysts say that “... our son is gone” is an automatic translation from the Russian phrase “There is no son” (that is, they did not let the son go). In Ukrainian, this phrase should have sounded “My daughter and I were let through, but our son was not”.

By spreading this fake, the propagandists are once again promoting the message of total mobilization in Ukraine. Like, there is no one to fight, so even minors are mobilized. At the same time, they are promoting the previously widespread thesis about “war against the last Ukrainian”, which confirms the alleged indifference of the Ukrainian authorities and the so-called Western curators to the Ukrainian people.

A video allegedly of fires in the “military registration and enlistment office” of the Shevchenko district of Kharkiv is being distributed on social networks. They say that Kharkiv “military personnel” cannot withstand the “hot” mobilization campaign. The reports note that allegedly the building was deliberately set on fire by “partisans”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Kharkiv anti-corruption center managed to identify the video from social networks. The results of the check indicate that this is a video of a fire in Moscow back in 2014. Then the house where the builders lived burned down. That is, this video has nothing to do with either Kharkiv or the Territorial recruitment and social support centers (former military enlistment offices).

Russian propaganda deliberately spreads fakes and manipulates the topic of mobilization in Ukraine. Thus, they put emotional pressure on Ukrainians. Previously, propagandists claimed that the Territorial recruitment centers were illegal structures, so handing draft notices by them was also illegal.

Such a message is spread by pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, in Ukraine there is a “hidden” mobilization. There are “colossal” losses at the front, so men are “caught” on the streets to be sent to the front.

In fact, mobilization in Ukraine has been going on since February 24th. This law has been extended several times. According to the latest changes, martial law and general mobilization will continue until May 20, 2023. However, propagandists systematically manipulate the topic of “hidden” mobilization, using the technique of substitution of concepts. Russian propaganda also uses real facts of violations in the mobilization process to reinforce its messages and make them more credible.

Systematic mobilization manipulations discredit the Ukrainian army and affect Ukrainians emotionally. Earlier, propagandists said that the Office of the President wants to send everyone to the war, so the female deputies were banned from traveling abroad and are stepping up mobilization.

Such information appeared in the Kremlin propaganda media and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. The reports claim that in the Kyiv region they announced a recruitment into nationalist groups reorganized into brigades under the general name “Offensive Guard”. Like, this is akin to the creation of military formations in the system of the Ministry of internal affairs in case of any internal conflicts in the Ukrainian elite. The propagandists also dubbed the offensive guards Nazis, once again trying to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis. However, this is not true. 

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. In Ukraine, they really announced the formation of new brigades, but they have nothing to do with Nazism. “Offensive Guard” is a project of the Ministry of internal affairs of Ukraine aimed at strengthening the National guard, the National police and the State border service of Ukraine during the upcoming liberation of Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea. However, such fakes are beneficial to propagandists in order to once again spread the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis, so Russia is doing everything right by denazifying Ukraine. Russian propaganda regularly creates such fakes and manipulations to nourish the narrative about the rise of Nazism in Ukraine. In particular, propagandists said that Ukrainians allegedly decorate Christmas trees with swastika toys or shout Nazi greetings at weddings.

Such a fake was spread on social networks, in particular, on a telegram channel broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say that in Poland they began to openly recruit Ukrainian tank troops. Like, the Polish authorities are trying to recruit a crew for the German Leopard tanks, which will come to Ukraine. As evidence, the propagandists attach a video clip showing this “announcement”. The authors of the message cite the slogan allegedly depicted on it: “Protect Polish homeland. Be a tanker. Protect Poland in Ukraine”. There is no such announcement, it's not true.

Analysts of The Insider project investigated this case and found that for the first time information about such a poster appeared in the telegram channel of the Russian segment. The video clip itself was filmed at the Centrum station of the Warsaw metro. For the fake poster, they used the corporate identity of the “Become a soldier of the republic” campaign, which started in 2018. However, the authors of the messages did not take into account the corporate logo of the campaign, which was still not placed on the poster. So the fake announcement was just overlaid on the video. As for the campaign itself, it is aimed at recruiting people for contract service in the Polish army, so it has nothing to do with recruiting volunteers to participate in the war. So there was no such poster with an appeal.

By spreading this fake, propagandists nourish the narrative that everything is bad in Ukraine, that there is no one to fight, so the Ukrainian leadership resorts to such tricks and wants to recruit foreigners. Now the authors of the messages want to convince the readers that Poland wants to cut off our territories and thus, by mobilizing the Poles, will try to return them.

Such a fake was spread on social networks, in particular in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook. The report says that the draft notices are handed over illegally, because they were once issued by military registration and enlistment offices. Like, the Territorial recruitment centers are an illegal structure. The author’s messages were picked up by users of the social network, who began to spread complaints, saying that Ukrainians are being given draft notices illegally, so it is impossible to mobilize those liable for military service. It is not true.

The fact-checker of the “Beyond the News” project drew attention to the case, they managed to find the primary source where the Facebook user really spoke about this. However, as experts say, the territorial recruitment and social support centers were created on the basis of the military registration and enlistment offices and are their legal successors. This is stated in part two of the Final provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine on improving certain issues of performing military duty and keeping military records” dated March 30, 2021. Consequently, the fulfillment of military duty by citizens of Ukraine is ensured by state bodies, local self-government bodies, military units established in accordance with the laws of Ukraine and territorial recruitment and social support centers.

On February 23, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the implementation of these norms. That is why the recruitment centers are a completely legal structure that has the right to hand over draft notices to those liable for military service.

Anonymous telegram channels write that the Office of the President has banned female deputies and civil servants from traveling abroad. Like, this indicates that in the near future women will be sent to serve in the army on an equal basis with men.

In fact, Russian propaganda manipulates changes in legislation. The decree of the president of Ukraine and the resolution of the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine concern professions, not gender. That is, the restrictions apply to officials in general, both men and women. Now they will be able to cross the border only in the case of a business trip or under certain personal circumstances (visiting minor children, death of a relative, etc.).

Propagandists are also manipulating the mobilization of government employees. According to the current legislation, the mobilization of women is voluntary. Men working in the public sector may be exempted from mobilization by decision of the body in which they work (reservation of an employee by position). Consequently, in the event of a change in the legislation, only the presence of public sector employees in Ukraine for the period of martial law is regulated. Features of the mobilization of public sector workers have not changed.

Previously, propagandists talked about the forced mobilization of women, children and even dogs.

A network of telegram channels controlled by Russian intelligence is spreading the message that now in Ukraine the authorities will turn on air raid sirens more often than usual, taking advantage of the fact that Belarus is holding another joint military exercise with Russia. It seems that the Ukrainian authorities do not care whether there is a threat of shelling from the territory of Belarus or not. And the sirens are turned on so that the men go to the shelter, and at the end of the alert, representatives of the “military registration and enlistment offices” will hand out draft notices. It's fake. Air raid alert sounds throughout Ukraine when Russian missiles are launched or threatened, including from Belarus.

The channel network, which presents itself as Ukrainian, constantly uses the topic of mobilization in Ukraine to whip up panic and increase social tension. Along with reports that draft notices would now be distributed in shelters, another channel from this network reported that Ukraine has massively violated the rights of the mobilized and conscripts, and that it was necessary to apply to the ECHR (European court of human rights) about this - and to get “20-30 euros” guaranteed. . Also, in these telegram channels, they constantly state about the pressure that the Office of the President allegedly exercises on the media in order to force them to keep silent about the mobilization.

Mobilization has been going on in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and as with any general mobilization, many violations occur during the war, including the rights of mobilized or conscripts. But this is written about in the Ukrainian media, lawyers talk about the duties and rights of both representatives of recruitment centers and those who are being served with a draft notice. This is a complex topic manipulated by Russian propaganda, including writing dozens of reports that draft notices were handed out to people in shelters and churches, without giving any evidence of this.

Such a message was circulated on telegram channels and pro-Russian media. It says that the Estonian Ministry of Defense will replenish its reserve with the help of high school students. Like, Estonia will teach its children “how to die for Ukraine”, that is, will plan to send children to war in Ukraine. However, this is a lie.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case and found out that the headlines about “the replenishment of the Estonian army with schoolchildren” appeared in the Russian media after the proposal of the Minister of Defense of Estonia Hanno Pevkur to make national defense a compulsory subject for high school students.

The minister himself emphasized that there was no talk of conscripting schoolchildren into the Estonian army, and that it was only about introducing a compulsory thematic lesson in high school. Pevkur is sure that young people need to know how to protect themselves when conducting hostilities.

Russian propaganda repeatedly manipulated statements on sending children to the front. Thus, propagandists want to nourish the narrative that there is no one to fight in Ukraine, so children have to be sent to the front, even from other countries. Detector Media has already analyzed disinformation stuffing that teenagers are handed draft notices or they are mobilized for war.

Such a document was shared by propagandists in their telegram channels and the Kremlin media. It says that Ukraine is preparing to deport women and men who are abroad and allegedly asks the Ukrainian Embassy in the EU to provide information about people of military age. After the deportation, all women and men are mobilized. In particular, such an appeal was allegedly received by the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia.

As experts from the Center for counteracting disinformation explain, the Ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine did not send such appeals to the Ukrainian Embassy in Latvia and other European countries. The document is fake and has nothing to do with the official position of Ukraine.

By sharing such a document, propagandists want to sow panic among Ukrainian refugees in Europe. The propagandists also create the appearance that the situation at the front is extremely bad, because the Ukrainian authorities supposedly have to return people from abroad and mobilize even women.

This is the message propagandists share on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It says that the draft notices allegedly began to be handed over even to teenagers, because all the reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been exhausted. Like, they are “still children” who Ukraine transfers to the front. The authors of the message add to the publication a likely draft notice, supposedly issued by one of the territorial recruitment and social support centers. However, this is not true.

As the StopFake fact checkers explain, the draft notice spread by the propagandists is actually fake. First of all, the “document” does not correspond to the official model: it has the wrong column names, and some information is completely missing from it. Also, the name of the “military commissariat” is constantly used in the fake draft notice, however, starting from 2021, military registration and enlistment offices in Ukraine are called “territorial recruitment and social support centers”. Fact checkers are sure that the so-called document was created using special editors.

By spreading such messages, propagandists are once again trying to promote the narrative that there is no one left to fight in Ukraine, so even children allegedly have to be mobilized.

Slovak social media circulated reports that allegedly the district administration in Banská Bystrica (probably other district administrations) was given the task of conducting “comprehensive exercises to carry out tasks after the declaration of martial law and orders to mobilize the armed forces of the Slovak Republic”. In particular, such a message was published by the Bádatel resource. This is manipulation.

According to Infopost.Media, the Slovak police denied the information. Usually, mobilization exercises are organized twice a year to test the defense capability of Slovakia. They have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.

According to the police, the fake news about the mobilization in Slovakia is being spread by Russian propaganda as they are trying to cause panic in countries that support Ukraine with the alleged threat of being drawn into the war. Also, these fakes are spread in order to create a general information chaos and distrust of law enforcement agencies among the population.

In Ukraine, propagandists systematically manipulate the topic of mobilization, in particular, they talk about the forced mobilization of women, children, and even dogs.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels spread the news that allegedly “after the mobilization of women” in Ukraine, they began to mobilize dogs. Allegedly, dog owners must put them on military registration from February 1, 2023. This applies to Shepherds, Labradors, Boxers, Rottweilers and other “big, strong” dogs. In case of violation of this requirement, the alleged owner of the dog will be punished. It's fake.

In the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization training and mobilization” there is not a word about the mobilization of animals. One of the sources of the fake is the telegram channel of the Zaporizhzhia collaborator Rohov. He writes that “dog draft notices” are allegedly carried by “dogs of the Zelenskyi regime”. Rohov also distributed a photo of the announcement, which was allegedly sent to him from the South of Ukraine. The Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center checked these reports. On fake leaflets, the abbreviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was used in Russian language, not in Ukrainian. The phones given there are used by the National Police Department in the Transcarpathian and Rivne regions, although leaflets are allegedly distributed in the South. These contacts are freely available.

Obviously, such fakes are spread primarily through the occupant telegram channels (list is  here) in order to convince the residents of the temporarily occupied territories of the “hopeless” situation in Ukraine. Also, Russian propaganda is trying to ridicule the “absurdity” of the orders of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and once again parasitizes on the topic of mobilization.

A number of telegram channels, operating under the control of Russian intelligence, began to distribute photos of documents glued on various houses in the capital. This is a printout of the order for mobilization, signed by the head of the Holosiyivskyi territorial center for recruitment and social support (TTsKSP). The document states what people who have received the draft notices, people who have not yet registered, and people who are going to change their place of residence should do during the general mobilization. All photos of the documents were taken in the Holosiyivskyi district of Kyiv.

The photos are real. Telegram channels of the GRU network write that these documents indicate that “The President's Office is stepping up mobilization”. This is manipulation.

Firstly, even though the president signs the mobilization order, all mobilization activities are under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Secondly, the general mobilization has been carried out in Ukraine since February 24, did not stop and was last extended in November 2022 until February 18, 2023. Thirdly, as reported in the Kyiv City State Administration, such announcements are the usual informing of the population. “TTsKSP have the right to bring information about planned events to citizens. This is the usual work of the TTsKSP. Such announcements should not be taken in a different context”, and they also add that the announcement at the entrances of houses is “informing the population that the mobilization process in the country continues and a reminder for those who have already been given draft notices to come to the military registration and enlistment office”. The Kyiv state city administration did not explain why it was about these announcements that they appeared only in one district of the capital.

Earlier, Kremlin propaganda has repeatedly spread fakes about mobilization in Ukraine.

Telegram channels massively disseminate information that there is a list of places where draft notices will be handed out in each of the regions. Like, from January 11, 2023, draft notices will be handed out anywhere in Ukraine, because the law does not regulate the place of their delivery. Anyone can view the list of places where this will take place in order to avoid serving the draft notices.

In fact, information about clearly defined territories where draft notices will be handed out is fake. Local recruitment and social support centers did not report this either on their official pages in social networks or on official websites. So, there is no reason to believe this information. As the fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project, the message about the delivery of draft notices dated January 11, is also not true. In Ukraine, mobilization has been going on for 10 months, starting on February 24, 2022. Every man of military age can get a draft notice.

According to fact-checkers, public administrators on social networks disseminate such messages deliberately, realizing that they are manipulating socially important information. Such manipulations help the authors of telegram channels to increase their audience. In addition, such messages also shake the situation in society.

Social networks and enemy telegram channels spread information about Ukraine's preparations for the mobilization of women and children. Like, advertising with a call to join the territorial defense units contains hints that they will mobilize “everyone in a row”: both women and children. However, this is not true.

In fact, this is an unfounded statement. Such ads do exist and feature a crying baby and the slogan “Protect your children”. The advertising banner also featured the hotline number of the command of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Actually, volunteers from 18 to 60 years old, both women and men, can join the territorial defense. Everything happens on a voluntary basis. We are not even talking about general mobilization.

Such a message is spread by pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, both the President and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to send absolutely everyone to the front, even unborn children. In the messages, the propagandists manipulate the words of the President about the readiness of Ukrainians to defend their country and a video in which a pregnant Ukrainian woman talks about receiving a draft notice. Allegedly, the President's message has just such an embodiment.

The mobilization of women in Ukraine is voluntary. Military registration is required only for workers in the medical field. Pregnant women and women on maternity leave (to care for a child before the child reaches the age of three or in some cases the age of six) are exempted from mobilization in accordance with the law. Obviously, the woman received the draft notice by mistake.

The propagandists used the emotional video to promote several disinformation narratives at once: the mobilization of women in Ukraine, the incompetence of the Ukrainian authorities, and the weakness of the Ukrainian army.

Since November 11, such messages have been distributed by anonymous telegram channels. They say that with the arrival of Ukraine in Kherson, mass mobilization will begin, all men of military age, despite their state of health, will be taken into the Ukrainian army.

Such information does not correspond to reality, since conscription activities throughout Ukraine are carried out according to the same algorithm.

Currently, Ukraine does not intend to carry out additional conscription. Considering that a war is going on in Ukraine, the course of mobilization will depend solely on the situation at the front, explained Anna Maliar, Deputy defense minister.

Russian propagandists are inciting fear among civilians in the Kherson region that mobilization is one of the methods of “reprisal” and “cleaning” for the fact that people lived under Russian occupation. Like, those who allegedly collaborated with the Russians should wait for filtration, and, accordingly, torture, and all other men of military age should expect conscription.

Such messages are intended to sow doubts about the legality of the general mobilization, to cause distrust in the authorities of Ukraine and the Ukrainian army in the liberated territory, and to show that life was better under Russian occupation in the Kherson region and there were no dangers to the civilian population.

Pro-Russian blogger-propagandist Yehor Myslyvets reproached this. Some Russian deputies allegedly unlike Ukrainian people's deputies, decided to go to the front.

For six months, none of the officials has gone to protect their country, and does not explain why they are not doing it. It is not true.

As reported by Stop Fake fact-checkers, several current and former people's deputies personally went to defend the country both as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and in the ranks of territorial defense.

Moreover, the Ukrainian mass media repeatedly wrote about such examples. Among those who defend Ukraine from the Russian army are deputies from the faction of the "Holos" party Roman Kostenko and Roman Lozynskyi, people's deputies from the faction "European Solidarity" Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, Volodymyr Vyatrovych, and Andriy Parubiy.

The former parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov and the general prosecutor and ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Yuriy Lutsenko became soldiers. 

It was prepared in the administration of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, reports the publication "Meduza", which received such a method from its sources.

According to "Meduza", the document states that Russia won wars "only in the whole world" and only when Russians believed in "people's war".

The mass media should convey the main thesis that "the people of Russia should unite before the threat of NATO." The Kremlin claims that the alliance intends to "dismember and rob" Russia. Therefore, it is forbidden to "put the entire burden of responsibility on the contractors and the people's militia of Donbas."

The manuals contain information that Russia is supposedly at war not with Ukraine, but with NATO. Therefore, by conveying such theses to ordinary Russians, it is planned to reduce the level of dissatisfaction with mobilization.

Obviously, the methods didn`t work. According to British intelligence, Putin's quick recognition of mobilization problems in Russia shows its ineffectiveness.

Such a statement is spread by propagandists along with a fabricated document. It says that the head of the Vinnytsia regional police department allegedly announces a so-called partial mobilization for students. Like, students of secondary and higher professional educational institutions fall under the mobilization. However, this is not true.

According to the Bukvy publication they received a message from a Russian who distributed the so-called document. However, such a document does not really exist.

Adviser to the head of the Office of the President Mykhailo Podoliak said earlier that Ukraine does not plan to announce additional mobilization against the backdrop of Russian fake "referendums" and the so-called partial mobilization in Russia. “We have already created reserves through the territorial defense system and actively use these reserves. We do not plan to announce additional mobilization today. We have everything and we are ready for more Russian military”, Podoliak said.

Such messages are distributed in pro-Russian telegram channels. In particular, this was stated by propagandist Anatolii Sharii whose party is banned in Ukraine. This is manipulation.

Sharii noted that on the video of the rallies in Russia, he did not see a single person falling under the announced mobilization. In his opinion, there are no such rallies in Ukraine, otherwise all those present would have been given draft notices randomly.

In fact, since the 21st of September, just in Russia at rallies against mobilization the police disperse and beat the protesters and shoot. Already on the first day of protests in different cities of Russia at least 1,176 people were detained. The detainees are handed draft notices to the military enlistment office, the Russian service of the BBC reports.

There are many women among the protesters, they come out with posters “No to war!” and “Our children are not fertilizer!”.

In addition, military registration and enlistment offices were set on fire in several regions of Russia. In the military registration and enlistment office of the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation, the head of the draft commission was shot.

At the same time, rallies were also held in different cities of Ukraine, at which participants demanded the return of prisoners of war who had not yet been released from Russian prisons. No arrests were recorded at rallies in Ukraine, there is no evidence that any of the protesters were handed draft notices.

Propaganda channels in social networks disseminate information that “draft notices” are issued to women because “there are no men left in the city.” The head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kharkiv region, Volodymyr Timoshko, called it nonsense on the air of the telethon.

Since the beginning of the summer of 2022, Russian propaganda through social networks has been promoting the thesis of agendas for women. In the Mykolaiv region, even forged documents were distributed to argue the lie.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has developed a bill to reduce the list of women's specialties subject to military registration from October 1. The initiative has already been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, and now the relevant committee is working on it.

The Ministry explained that now there is no urgent need for the mobilization of women. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine still need specialists in medicine, radio engineering, and food technology.

Women with minor children under 18 years of age are not subject to conscription due to mobilization. Note that registration is not mobilization.

In wartime, women can be recruited for military service and in the military reserve only under contract and on a voluntary basis. All female employees do so voluntarily and/or under contract.

The Russian media repeatedly manipulates the topic of LGBT military personnel. This time, messages are being spread that there is no one to fight in Ukraine anymore, so gays, lesbians, and transgender people are being recruited. Russian society is characterized by intolerance and homophobia, considering representatives of the LGBT community to be "perverts", people not worthy of respect. LGBT people in Russia are often discriminated against, for which the perpetrators, according to the law, cannot be brought to justice. When talking about LGBT people, propagandists pay attention exclusively to their sexual orientation, erasing the fact that homosexual people can be specialists in various fields just like heterosexuals. In particular, in the military.

LGBT people have been serving in the Ukrainian army for a long time and, in particular, have been defending the borders of Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in 2014. The Constitution of Ukraine stipulates that "all people are free and equal in their dignity and rights. Human rights and freedoms are inalienable and inviolable". During the draft, the military commissions do not ask about sexual orientation, because people are not selected for the army based on it. On the contrary, the fact that additional attention will be paid to it can be considered discrimination.

In Ukrainian society, as well as in the army, there are still certain problems with bullying or intolerance towards LGBT people. Despite this, Ukrainian LGBT soldiers fulfill their duty to protect the state. Manipulations of Russian propaganda about the fact that in Ukraine "there is no one to serve" is a wish that is passed off as reality.

The fake about Ukrainian "gays in the army" is not new. Earlier, Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva voiced on the air of her program that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr ZeZelenskyon the orders of US President Joe Biden, sent "columns of Ukrainian homosexuals" to Donbas.

"Media Detector" previously refuted the myths about the LGBT+ community, which are widespread in the Ukrainian media and society, and also told how LGBT activists oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

An updated list of diseases with which conscripts are deemed unfit for service is being circulated on social networks. The fact-checkers of the "Brekhunets" project noted that the specific laws in this regard have not changed since April, and the changes made do not concern the list of diseases. In particular, on March 18, changes were made to the Regulation of military medical examination in the Armed Forces. The modifications introduced on April 21 to the law "On mobilization training and mobilization" were related to the separation of powers between central executive bodies regarding state policy in civil protection.

The list of citizens who are not subject to conscription is defined in Art. 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Training and Mobilization." The regulation on military medical examination in the Armed Forces specifies a list of diseases in which conscripts may be temporarily or not recruited into the army in peacetime and/or wartime.