Propagandists published a photograph on social networks showing Adolf Hitler allegedly hugging the grandmother of Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. They also claim that Ursula von der Leyen's grandfather, Karl Albrecht Oberg, was allegedly the “chief SS man and policeman” and sent 100,000 people to concentration camps. However, these statements are false.

Specialists from the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to them. They found that these claims originated as a joke by American researcher Norman Finkelstein. The identity of the actual person in the photograph has not been confirmed by publicly available sources. Additionally, the claim that Ursula von der Leyen's grandfather, Karl Albrecht Oberg, was an SS general is false. In fact, the great-grandfather of the President of the European Commission was named Friedrich Karl Albrecht and he was an entrepreneur.

The photo circulating on social media is a screenshot of a message posted by Norman Finkelstein on his X network page on November 23, 2023. Finkelstein captioned the post as a joke, calling it “Photo from Ursulie von der Leyen's family album” and adding a made-up quote to the politician: “My dear grandmother did not wash her hands for a month after this wonderful incident”.

The real person in the photo remains unknown. According to the description of the American photo agency Getty Images, the photo was taken in 1937 in the city of Buckeburg, where Hitler shakes hands with a “traditionally dressed girl”.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit Western partners and justify Russian aggression against Ukraine.

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.

Pro-Russian resources disseminate information that after the “coup d’etat” of 2014 in Ukraine, people who were supporters of peace negotiations with Russia were killed. In asserting this, propagandists refer to Putin, who made a corresponding statement.

In fact, this information is not true, write the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. There was no coup in Ukraine in 2014. Propaganda uses this expression as a revolution of dignity, since Russia cannot come to terms with the strength and determination of Ukrainians in the struggle for independence. Then, as today, Ukrainians defended the European vector of development, democratic values, their rights and freedom.

There was no extermination of Ukrainians who sought dialogue with Russia. Proof of this can be the fact that before the start of a full-scale war, pro-Russian political parties functioned in Ukraine. Moreover, 38 pro-Russian politicians from the “Opposition platform — for life” still owe mandates. Pro-Kremlin media were and are also in Ukraine. Now there are simply clickbaits and manipulations, including about “internal problems of Ukraine”, but after the start of the great war they stopped quoting Russian disinformation, and obvious denim in the interests of Russians disappeared from them.

In the end, there can be no talk of any “peaceful relations between Russia and Ukraine”,  since in 2014 Russia annexed Crimea and started a war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russian propaganda once again accuses Ukraine of being unprepared for negotiations, but the reason for the refusal is the lack of trust in Russia, because it has repeatedly violated agreements.

• Read also: Russia has always strived for peace, but Ukraine does not want to “agree”.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks are disseminating information that allegedly, during an IDF raid in the Gaza Strip, the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler was discovered, which was allegedly accidentally left behind by one of the Azov military units while staying at an Israeli clinic. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the original source of these statements is a Russian satirical telegram channel called “here is my Yandex wallet”. The authors of the channel define their publications as “a parody and satire of political reality, only verified fakes”. This “news” first appeared on the channel on November 13 and was circulated on the Internet, appearing to be true information. The photo accompanying this story is a screenshot from an address by Israeli President Isaac Herzog on November 12, 2023. In it, Herzog stated that the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler was found in the personal belongings of a Hamas terrorist in the northern Gaza Strip. The Ukrainian military has nothing to do with this incident.

By spreading such manipulations, propagandists want to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine and “denazification”. Detector Media continued to refute other propaganda materials in support of “denazification”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russian media disseminated a disinformation statement by Foreign Minister Serhii  Lavrov about the “rebirth of Nazism” in the world. They say that the voting results of Germany, Italy and Japan and a number of other UN countries against the resolution condemning Nazism “cast doubt on the sincerity of their repentance for the events of the Second World War”. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that we are talking about a draft resolution “Countering the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”, proposed for consideration by UN member states during several letters. UN Third Committee (social, humanitarian and cultural). The authors of the resolution “on the glorification of Nazism” were Russia, Belarus and Syria.

Several states categorically opposed the adoption of the Russian document. During the debate, several diplomats noted that the Kremlin resolution is a tool of political pressure, as Russia itself tries to justify its aggression against Ukraine with the fanciful excuse of “eliminating neo-Nazism” and the mythical need to “denazify” Ukraine. Several countries have stressed that Russia's actions in Ukraine, as well as its lobbying for pseudo-democratic resolutions, seriously undermine real efforts to combat neo-Nazism. During the debate and numerous votes to amend the draft resolution, the UN Third Committee recommended that the UN General Assembly adopt the document as amended. In particular, with the clause on Russian aggression against Ukraine:

“[The UN General Assembly] notes with alarm that the Russian Federation is trying to justify its territorial aggression against Ukraine with the fanciful excuse of eliminating neo-Nazism, and emphasizes that the use of neo-Nazism as a reason to justify territorial aggression seriously undermines the real efforts to combat it before the adoption of the draft resolution.

Also, during the discussion of the draft resolution, a number of countries called on Russia to immediately stop its aggression against Ukraine and abandon false narratives, “with the help of which Russia is using one of the darkest moments of history to achieve its cynical goals”. UN countries strongly condemned Russia's abuse of anti-Nazi rhetoric and “unequivocally rejected the inaccurate and inappropriate use of the term 'denazification' to justify Russia's desolate, brutal and illegal actions in Ukraine”. Therefore, several countries, in particular Ukraine, the USA, the EU and Japan, refused to vote for the resolution proposed by Russia and advocated amending the document.

Media spreading pro-Russian rhetoric are spreading a fake news story about the Ukrainian parliament passing a law that allegedly aims to “hide up torture in prisons”. According to it, since other countries refuse to extradite detained Ukrainians to Ukraine due to “non-compliance with human rights” there, the Verkhovna Rada decided to pass a law that will protect such prisoners. This, it would seem, is being carried out with the goal of “convincing partners to hand over persons unpleasant” to the regime to the neo-Nazis. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They point out that propagandists not only misspelled the name of the Verkhovna Rada deputy who co-authored the bill — not Vadym Bozhyk, but Valerii Bozhyk — but also distorted the content of the legislative initiative for propaganda purposes. We are talking about bill No. 9451, the purpose of which is to ensure respect for the rights and freedoms of convicted Ukrainians extradited to Ukraine for prosecution or execution of a sentence. The explanatory note notes that the law was proposed due to the refusal of many countries to fulfill requests for extradition to Ukraine due to violations in Ukrainian penal institutions of Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the prohibition of torture, as well as due to the inability to ensure security during the stay of persons in penal institutions under martial law.

Bozhyk explained that because of this law, the Ministry of Justice receives the authority to approve a list of correctional labor or educational colonies to which Ukrainians from extradition will be transferred. It is also indicated that such institutions will fully comply with both the requirements of national legislation and Ukraine’s international obligations in the field of human rights.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to discredit Ukraine and portray it as a country that systematically violates international law. Detector Media has already repeatedly refuted other Russian video fakes.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing a video in which Ukrainian first-graders allegedly march to the song “We’re killing Russianns” on Knowledge Day. Russian propaganda also states that the subject Defense of Ukraine is designed to instill in children neo-Ukrainian ideology and hatred of Russians. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the VoxCheck project. They found the original video, dated September 2, 2022, and featuring a different song. That is, Russian propaganda edited the video and superimposed the song “We’re killing the Russians” on it.

Regarding the subject Defense of Ukraine - it has long existed in the school curriculum and until February 26, 2020 it was called Motherland Defense. This subject aims to provide schoolchildren with knowledge to defend Ukraine. The updated program contains information on the provision of pre-medical care, terrain orientation, and mine safety. As stated in the Ministry of Education and Science: “And the skills of controlling UAVs are used by videographers, surveyors, archaeologists and many specialists in their professional activities”.

This is a continuation of the narrative promoted by Russian propagandists that Nazism reigns in Ukraine, to which children are taught from childhood, and the Russians are supposedly trying to save Ukrainians. Thus, Russia is trying to justify a full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory. Previously, we refuted the fake that in the Azov children's camp children read Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social media are posting images purporting to have published an article on the Diia website explaining why Nazism is normal. The title on it looks like “Why are Ukrainian fighters who fought on the side of the Nazis our heroes? Special material about fighters for Ukrainian independence who made a brave choice in the war”. The propagandists add that these publications on the website allegedly appeared after the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in the Parliament of Canada greeted a veteran of the SS division Galicia, which was part of the Waffen SS troops of Nazi Germany. However, this is a fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that there are no articles about soldiers who fought on the side of the Nazis in the “news” section on the Diia website after the “education” request. In addition, the published photo is dated September 25, but in fact, this section contains posts dated September 4 and 26, and they do not mention the Ukrainian military. The design of the site, the “education” section and the articles in it also differ from those in the image of the propagandists. The site only publishes news related to the Action application or digitization, so it is unlikely that an article on a historical topic will appear on it.

The inauthenticity of this message is also indicated by errors in the text. In particular, the phrase “awarded with applause” and the expression “it is important to look at many things” are inherent in the Russian language. Also, the authors made a mistake and used the word “beat” instead of the verb “struggle” in the phrase “fought against Soviet oppression”. It also has the capital letter that begins the word “Soviet” but it is a common name, not a proper name, in this sentence.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to reinforce negative stereotypes about Ukrainians. Like, they are ready to glorify the Nazis even on the website of a technological application for document management. In this way, the Russians justify their aggression against Ukraine, namely, they create a false need for “denazification”. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted fakes, messages and manipulations in which Russians manipulated the topic of Nazism.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that a number of European countries, and especially Ukraine and the Baltic countries, are systematically destroying historical memory. They say that they have forgotten about the lessons of the Second World War, and they worship racist, neo-Nazi and extremist ideas.

Analysts of the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to this message. They note that the Kremlin media repeatedly scares with the “rebirth of Nazism” in the West and “historical revanchism” against Russia. The myth of Nazi Ukraine is refuted by the fact that Nazi and communist ideologies were banned in Ukraine at the legislative level in 2015.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, providing a false need for “denazification”. By baselessly calling all Ukrainians Nazis, they deliberately portray Ukrainians in a negative light. Detector Media has refuted a number of fakes and manipulations using this message.

Pro-Russian resources claim that a prayer book for children has appeared in Ukraine, in which they are invited to pray to God, saying the following words: “Protect my father near Donetsk, as you protected my great-grandfather in Galicia”. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of Gvara Media. They contacted one of the places where this prayer book was sold, the Church Store of the Lviv Archdiocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, with a question whether such a text existed in the book. In response to a request from the fact-checkers, store employees responded that there was no such text in the prayer book and added that it was published back in 2011, that is, long before the start of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.

Propagandists are trying to demonize Ukrainians in the eyes of ordinary Russian citizens in order to justify Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. We recently published an extensive article about Ukrainian children suffering as a result of Russian aggression.

Pro-Kremlin resources claim that on the evening of October 29, mass riots at Makhachkala airport allegedly occurred as a result of information “stuffing” by telegram channels controlled from Ukraine. They allegedly announced the arrival of a flight with refugees - Israeli citizens - in Dagestan. In addition, propagandists claim that they have already established the probable involvement of Iliia Ponomariov, a former State Duma deputy under the control of the SBU, in the situation at the airport. One of their arguments is that Ponomariov even had an “interview on this topic” before.

Propagandists do not provide any evidence for their statements. They assume that a “provocation” was prepared, but for some reason their government allegedly deliberately did not notice the problem. At the same time, some opinion leaders in Russia do not condemn the actions of the Dagestanis, but rather dissociate themselves from the situation, which is another reputational blow for the Kremlin. For example, Russian blogger Yurii Podoliak says that activists behaved in a similar way on the Maidan in Kyiv. They say that everything happened according to the same method, and the participants in the riots seemed to be working for the “Kyiv regime”.

It should be noted that in this case, pro-Russian sources use one of the propaganda tactics called “scapegoat” - they make amends for the Dagestanis and shift responsibility for the events in Makhachkala to Ukraine. Previously, we wrote about how Russian propaganda uses anti-Semitic stereotypes against Ukraine.

This thesis was spread on social networks in the Russian segment. The messages told how Volodymyr Zelenskyi assigned the 131st separate reconnaissance battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces the name of Yevhen Konovalets. Meanwhile, propagandists, in response to this, added that such actions emphasize the true “Nazi” essence of Ukraine, where officials are no longer afraid to “glorify Bandera’s supporters”.

Russian propaganda is once again speculating on the topic of Ukrainian nationalism and distorting it into “Nazism”. It seems that being a Ukrainian, taking care of one’s own state interests, is already grounds for receiving accusations of Nazism from the Russians. The authors appeal to Ukrainians and call them “nationalists” to hint at supposedly radical views among civilians. Russian propaganda deliberately exaggerates the weight of bearers of nationalist views in Ukrainian society, describing them as sharing opinions with representatives of Nazi Germany and mocking supporters of Russia. And propagandists also reduce the approval of historical figures in the Ukrainian context to “Nazism”.

And there is nothing wrong with the fact that the Ukrainian president named the reconnaissance battalion after a historical figure. Yevhen Konovalets is one of the most famous figures of the Ukrainian national movement of the twentieth century. Over the course of his 47 years, he managed to go from a student at the Faculty of Law of Lviv University to a colonel in the UPR army, commander of the Sichovi Striltsi, chairman of the Ukrainian Nationalists, founder and first leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The basic principle of nationalism is the value of the nation as the highest form of social unity and its primacy in the processes of the state. The term “nationalist” itself is not something bad, but is characterized by loyalty and devotion to one's nation.

Read more about the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism here. A researcher of political history of the early twentieth century, Doctor of Historical Sciences Oleksandr Zaitsev, spoke about how the nationalists of that time saw Ukraine. In particular, he explained that the Ukrainian version of nationalism is characterized by the fact that in the 1920s and 30s it was the nationalism of a stateless nation. Or a nation that lost its statehood during the Ukrainian Revolution, having suffered defeat in the creation of a single, integral state.

By the way, read the case in which Zelenskyi allegedly put on a jumper with an embroidered OUN coat of arms, although first of all it is the coat of arms of Ukraine.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees in Europe have begun to demonstrate their Nazi tendencies. They claim that this is a direct threat to the territorial integrity of the EU. In support of this thesis, evidence is provided that a Ukrainian barista offers Europeans coffee with a swastika on it. All this, they say, is happening in a German town. Video evidence is added to publications. It's a lie.

The analysts from the VoxCheck project analyzed the case and determined that the video is an advertisement for online late art courses in Bolivia, and there is no mention of Ukrainians in it. The video has an Instagram page tagged, so the fact-checkers decided to check it out. The page is actually active and posts are posted there.The fact-checkers came across the original video used by propagandists. There is no mention of Ukraine there either. And it is impossible to say for sure that it was the swastika that was depicted on the coffee. That is, the authors of the online courses did not add any context to the Instagram message, so there may be different interpretations. Although the video received more than 384 thousand likes with 4,800 subscribers, in the comments, users mock and hint at the theme of Nazism. The fact-checkers claim that the video could have been used to attract attention.

With all that, neither the Instagram page nor the video have anything to do with Ukrainians. Propagandists explained the video modifications in a context that was favorable to them. It’s as if a Ukrainian refugee in Germany is selling coffee with a swastika design. Thus, the authors seek to demonize Ukrainian refugees and show that Europe does not support Ukraine and Ukrainians in general. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research.

Russian propagandists and pro-Kremlin telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that Ukrposhta has issued a stamp depicting veteran of the Waffen SS Galicia division Yaroslav Hunko. It's fake.

The case was studied by fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. They established that the latest stamp announced by Ukrposhta is not with the image of Yaroslav Hunko, but with Challenger 2, Leopard 2, Patriot, CAESAR and M2 Bradley. This brand is called “Weapon of Victory. Peace with Ukraine” and it can already be ordered. The head of Ukrposhta, Ihor Smilianskyi, announced this on September 25.

Thus, Russian propagandists continue to promote the narrative that there is Nazism in Ukraine, which Russians are fighting against. This is how Russian propaganda try to discredit Ukrainians, reduce Western support and whiten Russia. Previously, Detector Media refuted the fake that in the Azov children's camp children read “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing a photo of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson allegedly “showing a Z letter” during a visit to Ukraine. This happened at Lviv University named after Ivan Franko, where he was awarded an academic degree. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. They determined that the photo had been edited in a photo editor. In the original photo, Boris Johnson has his arms down, while other ceremony participants hold one hand to their heart.

Moreover, in Ukraine, the use of the Nazi salute or “zigging” is prohibited by the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Article 436) as a public use of symbols of the totalitarian Nazi regime.

Thus, Russian propaganda continues to promote the narrative that there is Nazism in Ukraine, which the Russians are allegedly fighting against. Previously, we refuted the fake news that in the Azovets children's camp children read Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the book with the speeches of Volodymyr Zelenskyi is allegedly sold in Polish online stores in the same section as books about the Nazis. “In the “You may like” section, the store automatically offers books about the Volyn massacre, the UPA and, unexpectedly, Mein Kampf”, the telegram channel says. It is not true.

The case was investigated by the VoxCheck fact-checker. The book on the screenshot from the online store belongs to the author Wojciech Rogachin and is called Zelenskyi  Biography, it was published by the publishing house Wielka Litera, it is about the life path of Zelenskyi. Also, on the screenshot distributed by the propagandists, the site allegedly says “Może i się spodobać” – “I might like it”, although the correct word would be “Może ci się spodobać” – “Perhaps you will like it”. Fact-checkers have established that, probably, Russian propaganda distributed a screenshot from the website of the Tania Książka bookstore. There are also differences in the recommended books, and in the price, and in the title of the headings. Moreover, the site does not sell Hitler's book Mein Kampf, but only a critical edition with comments by the Polish historian Eugeniusz Krul.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Poland and continues to promote the narrative that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is a Nazi, like all Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that a stamp with Zelenskyi in the image of Hitler was issued in Poland.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are circulating a photo from the Azovets children's camp, where children with an Azov badge hold Adolf Hitler's books Mein Kampf for children (My Struggle). As if the children in the ranks are reading this book. They say that Ukrainian children have been made Nazis since childhood. It's fake.

The photograph used by the Russian propagandists has been edited. In a Google Images search, we found the original photo. In it, children hold brochures with the inscription “Azov” in their hands.

“Azovets” is a camp for children that teaches skills that can be learned in pre-conscription and history lessons in schools. They teach medicine and robotics, use military terminology. The Azov Regiment and the Azovets camp for children are different things, which are connected by the leader of the movement Andrii Biletskyi.

Thus, Russian propagandists continue to promote the message that Azov and everything connected with it, even the children's camp, are Nazi organizations. This is a continuation of the narrative that the Russians are promoting Nazism in Ukraine, and Russia is fighting against it. Earlier, we refuted the fake that the Germans are asking the Ukrainian military not to use Nazi symbols.

Users of the American segment of Facebook and Twitter are spreading a screenshot and a link to a document allegedly declassified by the CIA. It states that the Ukrainian hero Stepan Bandera was allegedly “a professional spy for Hitler, known as Consul II”. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Reuters media drew attention to the case. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) posted on its website a translation of a Russian-language article from the magazine. And users of Facebook and Twitter mistakenly perceived the text as data from the CIA itself. Also, some of the correspondents shared a cropped screenshot, where the part that identifies the document as a translation is not visible.

In fact, the source of this article about Bandera as a spy for Hitler is the 1951 issue of the periodical Socialist Visnyk (Herald), which was published by the Mensheviks abroad.

Russian propaganda systematically promotes fakes about Stepan Bandera to convince the whole world that Ukrainians are Nazis. This discredits Ukraine and the Ukrainian authorities. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that Ukraine allegedly hides a real photo of Stepan Bandera with the German leadership.

Anonymous telegram channels and Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are spreading reports that NATO is considering enlisting the Azov and Kraken battalions to quell protests in France. This was allegedly written on the official website of the Alliance with reference to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. It's fake.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation drew attention to the case. To spread it, Russian propaganda used a fake page of the Alliance. Moreover, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg did not make such statements.

In this way, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the Azov and Kraken battalions, as well as to emphasize that Ukraine is a puppet in the hands of the West. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that in Poltava people sold Easter sets “with symbols of the Nazis” and the Azov regiment.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukraine is “spreading” Nazism throughout Europe, so monuments to Nazis have begun to be erected there. The authors are sure that Ukraine is inciting the West to create an organization that can destroy Belarusians and Russians.

The case was worked out by analysts from the EU vs Disinfo project, who explain that none of these themes is true: neither about monuments, nor about “Nazi organizations”. The myth of Nazi Europe was used by the Kremlin after Russia attacked Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea back in 2014. Thus, Moscow is still trying to become a victim, which allegedly suffers at the hands of Western leaders. Like, “Nazi” Ukraine is supported by the same “Nazis”.

In support of the thesis about “European Nazi organizations”, propagandists cite the situation when Estonia allegedly banned Russians and Belarusians from using weapons on their territory. In fact, in the country, permits for the issuance of weapons will become invalid for citizens who are not members of the EU and NATO. The changes will affect not only ethnic Russians or Belarusians living in Estonia. Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets assured that the restriction is a direct consequence of unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine. That is, any restrictions concerning Russians or Belarusians are labeled by Moscow as "Nazi". However, this is only a response to Russian aggression.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric distributed a screenshot of Zelenskyi’s video message, which allegedly shows the chevron of the Nazi 14th Waffen-SS division “Galicia” in the form of a lion with three crowns. Russian propaganda allegedly noticed it on a board with military chevrons behind the back of the President of Ukraine. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. A board with military chevrons really hangs behind Volodymyr Zelenskyi's back. However, the chevron that Russian propagandists passed off as the emblem of the SS division “Galicia” actually belongs to the 1st separate tank Siversk brigade, and it depicts a horse in armor. For the fake, Russian propaganda used a video message from the President dated June 20.

Russian propagandists are systematically spreading the narrative that Ukrainians, and President Zelenskyi in particular, are Nazis. Russian propaganda transfers responsibility for Russia's crimes from the aggressor to the victim of aggression. Earlier, Detector Media denied fakes that Zelenskyi wore a sweater with Nazi symbols to a meeting with the Pope, and Valerii Zaluzhnyi allegedly has a “bracelet with a swastika”.

Russian propaganda media disseminate publications in which the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands on the return of the collection “Crimea - a golden island in the Black Sea” to Ukraine is described not only as “a complete degradation of the system of international law in Europe”, but also as due to the “Nazi inclinations” of the countries EU and Ukraine. In particular, Russian “historians” claim that the Scythian gold is returned to Ukraine only “for occult reasons”, because according to their version, Ukraine and Europe are “collecting magical artifacts” in order to defeat Russia “with their help” . It's fake.

Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that Russian narratives based on the collection “Crimea - a golden island in the Black Sea” have evolved from theses like “Russia has nothing to do with it” to statements about “breaking the bottom in the European judicial system”. Now propagandists have moved on to spreading frank conspiracy theories about this. In a comment to StopFake, Evelina Kravchenko, senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, emphasized that this approach is not new and that these theses do not explain the situation with the collection in an effective way.

By spreading such stories, propagandists want to justify the failure of the gold situation, raise doubts about whether it can be true, what is not, and also distort the historical context of the issue. Detector Media explained how Russian propaganda instrumentalizes the history of Ukraine.

Information is being disseminated on social networks that postcards with xenophobic overtones are being distributed in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The first postcard reads: “Pure blood means a healthy nation. If you hate Russians, bulbash (Belorussians), Tatars, Gypsies, Psheks (Poles) and other shit, join us. Harvest time has come!”. The second shows several dates, namely: the birthday of Adolf Hitler, the birthday of Stepan Bandera, the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the clash between supporters of Euromaidan and Anti-Maidan in Odesa in 2014, and the day of the explosion on the Crimean bridge. At the end of this postcard is written “your time for exploits” and the year 2023 is mentioned. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. Experts analyzed the text of the leaflets and found out that they correspond to the stereotypical image of a Ukrainian Nazi and contain a number of inaccuracies indicating that the text was created by foreigners without knowledge of the local context. In addition, analysts have not found publications with postcards in Ukrainian resources. Messages with them were published only by Russian propagandists and Polish-language anti-Ukrainian resources. Additionally, experts checked the photo postcards through FotoForensics and found out that some of them had images added using software. Moreover, on the postcards you can see photos with Azov fighters and members of the Centuria organization, but they did not spread the hate speech contained in the postcard.

Thus, propagandists are trying to justify the war against Ukraine and reinforce stereotypes about Ukrainians. In addition, they want to discredit the Ukrainian armed forces and Ukrainian civil society. However, by creating such fakes, Russians reinforce their own xenophobic beliefs, which is adjacent to the ideology of Nazism.

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

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

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

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the slogan “Glory to Ukraine!” is Nazi, and Ukrainians use it, glorifying “Nazism” in this way. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariia Zakharova in response to a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on May 15. During the briefing, the chancellor shouted “Glory to Ukraine!”.

Specialists of the StopFake project worked on the case, explaining that the slogan “Glory to Ukraine!” is not a “Nazi slogan”. Historians have recorded the use of the congratulations “Glory to Ukraine!” by the Ukrainian national movement at least since the end of the 19th century. In addition, they began to massively use “Glory to Ukraine!” during the Ukrainian revolution in the period 1917-1921. Subsequently, this congratulation was introduced in the UNR Army. And at the Second grand meeting of the OUN (under the leadership of Stepan Bandera) in 1941, a resolution was approved in which the obligatory answer was added to the greeting “Glory to Ukraine”: “Glory to heroes!”. This formula is still in use today. Since 2018, the slogan has also been used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine. That is, the slogan has nothing to do with so-called Nazism. Moreover, the slogan existed long before the creation of the OUN.

By spreading this fake, the propagandists once again speculate on the topic of Ukrainian nationalism and distort it into “Nazism”. It seems that being a Ukrainian is already a reason to receive accusations of Nazism from the Russians. Recently, we refuted a similar case, which said that Zelenskyi allegedly put on a jumper with an embroidered coat of arms of the OUN, although it was the Ukrainian coat of arms.

Kremlin propaganda media and a network of Twitter bots are spreading the information that Zelenskyi came to a recent meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican wearing a sweater with supposedly Nazi OUN-UPA symbols. It's fake.

The case was noticed by specialists from the StopFake project. Volodymyr Zelenskyi did indeed wear a black sweatshirt to the meeting at the Vatican, but it features a stylized white coat of arms on a black chevron. This image is not the symbol of the OUN-UPA, which was drawn by the Ukrainian graphic artist Robert Lisovskyi and approved in 1932 (yellow coat of arms with a middle element in the shape of a sword on a blue background). The Ukrainian trident has been used in state heraldry for hundreds of years.

Stylization of the emblem of the OUN 1932 and the Ukrainian trident are not Nazi symbols and are not prohibited in the world. Moreover, during the Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1946, none of the national liberation movements, in particular the OUN and the UPA, were found guilty. Nazi and fascist symbols are prohibited in Ukraine by the law “On the condemnation of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols”.

Propagandists systematically spread the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis and the real killers that Russia is fighting. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to justify Russia's crimes by shifting responsibility from the aggressor to the victim of the aggression. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that Zaluzhnyi had a “bracelet with a swastika”.

Anonymous telegram channels, where pro-Russian rhetoric is circulating, spread messages  showing a photo allegedly taken in Kamianets-Podilskyi, in which, at the entrance to the bike workshop, it is written that “parishioners of the UOC-MP” are not served there. Along with this image, the propagandists add a photo that shows a sticker on a telephone booth in Munich during the Third Reich, which forbade Jews from using the phone. Propagandists claim that this is yet another proof that Ukrainians have become neo-Nazis.

When trying to search for an image allegedly from Kamianets-Podilskyi published in such messages, it can only be found in pro-Russian Twitter accounts and Reddit threads. It's impossible to find it on social media. Accordingly, its reliability is doubtful, and the original source is incomprehensible.

This message is not used for the first time. Thus, the propagandists want to justify the crimes of the Russians and the aggression against Ukraine in general. Like, that's why they talk about denazification. The identification of the “oppression” of supporters of the UOC-MP with the genocide of Jews also devalues the scale of the tragedy of the Second World War.

Propagandists are constantly spreading information about the UOC-MP, inventing various fakes. In particular, Detector Media wrote about “blackened crosses” in the church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra because of the “blasphemy of Ukrainians”.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyryl Budanov, called for “killing Russians”, just like Hitler did in his time. Like, Ukrainian officials are lobbying for the idea of killing Russians on a national basis. The authors of the messages refer to the statement of the first deputy head of the international committee of the Council of Federations of Russia, Volodymyr Dzhabarov. This is manipulation.

The specialists of the StopFake project took up the case and determined that Kyryl Budanov did not say such things, and his words were taken out of context. The reason for creating this manipulation was an interview for Yahoo News, where the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate spoke about the Russian army and their war crimes. He explained that punishment for such people cannot be avoided. He also said that the Ukrainian army is destroying the Russians and will destroy them until the complete victory of Ukraine. That is, Kyryl Budanov did not call for the killing of all “Russians” on a national basis. He mentioned only those Russians who hosted or are participating in the war against Ukraine and commit war crimes by killing Ukrainian civilians.

By spreading such manipulation, propagandists seek to once again feed the narrative about the existence of Ukrainian Nazis. Therefore, the Russians whitewash themselves and justify the wide-scale war and the daily war crimes committed by the Russians. Like, the goal of Ukraine is to destroy the Russians, so they are defending themselves.

The propagandists are spreading the message that the “Kyiv regime” allegedly seeks to gather around itself the Nazi elite, and the only way to fight it is to destroy all the military and military equipment used in the counteroffensive. In addition, propagandists openly call for the overthrow of the Ukrainian authorities for the above reasons.

Analysts of the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to the message. They noticed that the message is indeed repeated regularly in Russian propaganda media. The myth of “Nazi Ukraine” has been at the heart of Russian disinformation since 2013-2014, when they tried to discredit Euromaidan protesters in this way. In fact, right-wing groups did not gain much popularity either during Euromaidan or during the 2019 parliamentary elections.

In addition, in 2015 Ukraine passed a law condemning Nazi and communist ideology. The law prohibits the public use and promotion of Nazi and communist symbols.

Thus, the propagandists want to justify the crimes of the Russians. Like, Russia protects the world from the invasion of neo-Nazism. However, according to EUvsDisinfo analysts, right-wing groups do not have significant political or social influence in Ukraine.

Propagandists spread the message that on May 2, 2014, “Nazi groups” organized a “brutal burning” of protesters in the House of Trade Unions in Odesa and thus killed 48 people.

It was brought to the attention of the EUvsDisinfo project. The project specialists claim that the trial, which would clearly identify those responsible for the events of May 2, 2014 in Odesa, has not yet taken place. At the moment, 5 court cases and 3 open investigations related to the events are known. In addition, the chronology of events can be followed by reports from The Guardian and DW. Project analysts also recommend watching the documentary “May 2. Without myths” for a better understanding of the events that took place then in Odesa.

They emphasize that this message is not new and is often repeated on the anniversary of the tragedy. Thus, propagandists want to create a stereotype about “Ukrainian Nazis” and justify Russia's crimes by shifting responsibility from the aggressor to the victim of aggression.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that in Poltava on the eve of Easter they sold themed sets (accessories for Easter eggs) with symbols of the Nazis and the Azov regiment. The authors add a screenshot and a video to the publication, seemingly from the story of Poltava residents, claiming that “all the sets have been sold out”. It is not true.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated that such a set is not sold either in Poltava or in Ukraine as a whole. Such a photo and video can only be found in the Russian segment of social networks, which means that the “Easter set” was probably made with the help of special programs.

Moreover, in Ukraine it is forbidden to distribute Nazi symbols. According to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the production, distribution of communist, Nazi symbols and propaganda of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years. In theory, such a product could not get on the counter or be advertised in the media.

In addition, propagandists have equated Nazi symbols with those of the Azov regiment and once again seek to promote the narrative of the existence of Nazi Ukrainians. Allegedly, in Ukraine, the Nazis are praised along with the Azov representatives.

Such information appeared in the Georgian-language segment of social networks,particularly on Facebook. The reports stated that the Ukrainian post office issued a series of stamps dedicated to the division SS “Halychyna” (SS Galizien). The authors of the messages did not refer to the words of the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mariia Zakharova, however, it was she who first disseminated this information, back on January 27, 2023. According to Zakharova, the stamps were issued for the 75th anniversary of the division SS “Halychyna” (SS Galizien) and the Holocaust Remembrance Day in Ukraine. Like, the fact that Ukraine produces such stamps testifies to its Nazism, because the stamps were issued “in honor of the Nazi division”. It's fake.

In fact, the post of Ukraine did not issue the stamps shown in the photo, which is distributed in the messages. As analysts of the MythDetector project write, stamps with images of members of the SS “Halychyna” (SS Galizien) division have been distributed in the Russian media and on Russian-language forums since 2018. In addition, on April 27, 2018, the Russian Embassy in South Africa circulated a photo of the stamps on Twitter, claiming that the stamps were issued in Ukraine “in honor of the Nazi division”.

There are indeed such stamps, but they are not official, because they were issued by a group of enthusiasts who research the history of the SS “Halychyna” (SS Galizien) division. The stamps were issued in limited quantities and can be bought at online auctions.

In the Russian media, you can find a number of reports according to which Ukrainians are supposedly Nazis because they choose big dogs. Such a reaction among propagandists was caused by one of the plots of the 1 + 1 TV channel as part of the national telethon. In it, the authors satirically say that Russians love smaller dogs because pets often “look like their owners” and that Russian dogs are no match for the same dog Patron.

The Russians argue that such statements are offensive and anti-human in nature. Like, comparing dogs is a humiliation for an entire nation and another sign that Ukrainians are Nazis. They also make excuses that they choose small dogs because they live in “Khrushchovka” type buildings.

Propagandists are constantly trying to portray all Ukrainians as Nazis, creating fakes and distorting real materials. Thus, they want to shift the responsibility for the war from the aggressor to the victim of the aggression. For example, recently the Russians were outraged that Yuliia Paievska (Taira) received an award from the United States and accused her of supporting Nazism.

Propagandists and Russian diplomats are spreading the information that the medic and volunteer Yuliia Paievska, with the call sign Taira, is a Ukrainian Nazi thug who killed civilians, so the International Women of Courage Award is unacceptable for her. It's fake.

Analysts of The Insider drew attention to this case. They found out that Russian propaganda was still trying to characterize Taira as a Nazi. In particular, while in captivity, Taira was interrogated by representatives of the propaganda media, accusing her of supporting Nazi ideology. During this interrogation, then broadcast on Russian television, even Taira's hairstyle was called “in the best traditions of the Reich”.

In fact, Yuliia Paievska is a medical doctor and volunteer. She became known during the Euromaidan. After the outbreak of war in 2014, she traveled to the east of Ukraine and organized her own volunteer service, which also helped the military. As a medic, Paievska cooperated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2018-2020.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists are trying to justify the actions of the aggressor again and shift the responsibility for them to the victim of aggression. Like, Russia is fighting against just such Nazis, who kill civilians in Donbas. Also, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Ukrainian civil society and the armed forces by inventing various horrifying stories about them. Using these stories, Russia accuses the “collective West” of supporting the spread of Nazism.

A video of a column of tanks allegedly being transported to Ukraine is being circulated on social networks. On one of the tanks you can allegedly see the inscription “14/88”  symbolizing the Nazi slogan. Users of social networks write that this video was filmed in Germany, and symbols are applied to tanks before being sent to Ukraine. It's fake.

The video circulating on social media has been intentionally altered. There are no symbols on the tanks in the original video. The reports also refer to a fake about encrypted Nazi symbols in the number of tanks. Fact-checkers of StopFake found out that the video shows American Abrams tanks. The video was published back in March 2022, that is, the tanks could not be transported to Ukraine, since at that time there was no talk of their deliveries.

Russian propaganda began to spread messages about “Nazi crosses” on tanks for Ukraine in advance, saying that “Nazis” can not hide their views. Thus, propaganda nourishes the narrative of Russia's one more fight against Nazism and fascism by appealing to the events of World War II.

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

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

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

Propagandists spread information that the telegram channels of the Azov brigade allegedly publish racist messages and the authors of the messages rejoice at the deaths of children as a result of the earthquake in Turkey on February 6. Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric add: this is what kind of Nazism Russia is fighting against in Ukraine. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. The messages that the propagandists write about are published in the AZOV Ukraine Supporters telegram channel, which is conducted in English and has nothing to do with the Azov Brigade. In particular, the authors of the channel regularly publish their own messages and repost them from other channels. They are mostly conspiratorial in nature. For example, one can find unconfirmed English-language reports about supposedly “Ukrainian Nazis” in it. The creators of the channel also suggest that the earthquake in Turkey was artificially created by the United States.

At the same time, the brigade's official telegram channel is called “AZOV” and publishes content in Ukrainian. In addition, there are no publications on the earthquake in Turkey on the channel. Moreover, as of today, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Russians, and Hungarians serve in the Azov Brigade. Accordingly, the brigade's claims of “racist views” are not true.

Thus, propagandists devalue someone else's grief in order to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine and justify the crimes of Russians. Like, Russia started the war to fight such manifestations of Nazism. Russian media are actively using the tragedy in Turkey to create and spread fakes and conspiracy theories directed against Ukraine.

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.

The telegram channels are distributing a photo of the stand, where they allegedly posted announcements for Ukrainian military personnel studying in Germany from the German Ministry of Defense. It states that in Germany, displaying a Nazi swastika or other symbols associated with fascism is punishable by up to three years in prison or a heavy fine. The comments say that this “memo” was allegedly hung on the building of the Bundeswehr to warn the Ukrainian military. In other reports, they specify that they are talking about Ukrainian tankers who went to take possession of German tanks. These messages entered the Ukrainian information space through pro-Russian and occupation telegram channels. It's fake.

According to Ukrinform, the German special training command denied the existence of such an announcement. In addition, reports say that an announcement for Ukrainians is hanging on the building of the Bundeswehr. Its offices are in Berlin, Bonn and Potsdam. At the same time, Ukrainian tankers are being trained at the School of tank troops in Münster. That is, the nearest building of the Bundeswehr is more than 300 kilometers away.

Propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulations that nourish the narrative of Nazism in Ukraine. Earlier it was said that in Kyiv volunteers were openly recruited into the Nazi brigades, and the Ukrainian military was awarded “Nazi” awards. Propagandists also claimed that the military uses Nazi symbols on uniforms and equipment. Thus, the propagandists are trying to identify the Ukrainians with the crimes of the Nazis and use the tactics of dividing the Ukrainians.

A fake was spread to a foreign audience, which said that in December hostages in the center of the German city of Dresden were taken by a refugee from Ukraine, who demanded Ukraine's entry into NATO. In particular, WhatsApp distributed a voice message saying: “[The attacker] who took the hostages in Dresden, German Davyd V., is actually called Davyd Voshchenko, […] he is a refugee from Ukraine, and his demands were that [ . ..] that Ukraine shall join NATO”.

In fact, this incident had nothing to do with Ukraine. According to Correctiv's fact-checkers, they were told at the Dresden Police Department that there were no links to the situation in Ukraine in this case, and that the man was a German citizen. Law enforcement officers also denied that his name was Davyd Voshchenko. In addition, a video with a similar statement about an alleged perpetrator named Davyd Voshchenko was posted on Tiktok. It was made public on the account with the description “Entertainment/satire”, and at the bottom of the video and hashtags it was indicated that it was fake. Despite this, as fact-checkers note, some users took the content of the video seriously and demanded “immediately stop any assistance to Ukraine”.

The spread of this fake to a foreign audience indicates attempts to influence the attitude of foreigners towards Ukrainian migrants and undermine support for Ukraine among the international community. Detector Media has previously written what messages and manipulations about Ukrainian refugees are most often spread by Russian disinformation.

A new stamp, which was released in Poland, is being distributed on social networks. It depicts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with a mustache similar to that of Adolf Hitler. Social media users ask in the comments if one can send letters with such stamps to Israel. However, this is fake.

In Poland they really issued a stamp with the image of Volodymyr Zelenskyi. However, this is not an official stamp issued by the Polish Post. According to VoxCheck, the issue of such a stamp is an initiative of the deputy of the Krakow City Council Lukasz Wantuch, and not the Polish Post. The funds received from the sale of the stamp are planned to be transferred to humanitarian aid to Ukraine. But a modified image of this stamp is distributed on the web.

Russian propaganda has repeatedly spread fakes associating Volodymyr Zelenskyi with Adolf Hitler. And in such a way the disinformation narrative “Ukrainians are Nazis” is being promoted.

Kremlin-controlled anonymous telegram channels have circulated a number of photos of Christmas tree decorations with swastikas and other Nazi symbols claiming they were in Ukraine. In reality, this is not true.

On Flickr, a photo and video sharing and archiving website, swastika Christmas decorations were published in 2011. They were later distributed by Slate.fr. Also, these toys are mentioned in a scientific article in Polish about the celebration of Christmas during the Second World War.

These photos were taken at the Bread and Art Museum (until 2018 Bread Culture Museum) in Ulm. In 2013, German art historians exhibited a collection of 400 Christmas tree decorations from the Third Reich to demonstrate how fanatics changed the symbols of Christmas.

Among the old photographs with Nazi symbols, the propagandists published one fresh photograph, which has Christmas decorations with the inscriptions “Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, “Azov”, “Right Sector”. The propagandists stole this photo from the site olx.ua, which sells New Year’s patriotic toys.

Russian propaganda regularly disseminates “evidence” of Ukraine’s alleged adherence to Nazi ideology in order to justify the need for its fictional “denazification” of Ukraine. 

This information was disseminated by Russian resources with alleged photo evidence.

Basically, it's a photo fake. Russian propagandists changed the original photo so that the signature of the 46th separate airmobile brigade of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resembled the emblem of the armed formations of the National Socialist Workers' Party in Nazi Germany. The original image is depicted in such a way that the number 46 looks like the emblem of the SS.

The fact that propagandists spread the fake photo can also be understood from the fact that in it the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is standing on the left, and US Vice President Kamala Harris is on the right. In the original photo, the opposite is true, and it was this photo of the Ukrainian president against the background of the flag that was published by many world media, depicting exactly how the politicians were. This episode can be seen in the plots of various TV channels, on the broadcast of Zelenskyi's visit to Congress.

Russian propaganda regularly disseminates “evidence” of the alleged adherence of the Ukrainian authorities to Nazi ideology in order to justify the need for their fictitious “denazification” of Ukraine. More details.

Evidence of the prosperity of Nazism in Ukraine is being disseminated in social networks and telegram channels. They write that allegedly for the Kharkiv operation, the servicemen of the 92nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were awarded “Steel Crosses”, like the “Iron Crosses”, which were awarded in the Wehrmacht to “the biggest thugs”. Like, the awards have a similar design. It is not true.

The “Steel Cross” badge has nothing to do with the Nazi “Iron Cross”, moreover, there are no Nazi symbols on it. The Ukrainian award “Steel Cross” combined the symbols of the regimental power of the Zaporizhzhia Host (crossed feathers) and successful campaigns against enemies (the heraldic sign of the Ukrainian hetman Konstiantyn Ostrozkyi, who defeated the Moscow army near Orsha in 1514). In addition, the modern award was created on the prototype of the “Iron Cross of the UNR Army”, founded back in 1920 by Symon Petliura after the First winter campaign.

As StopFake writes, the Wehrmacht really had an award called the “Iron Cross”. However, it is wrong to consider this military order exclusively Nazi. The fact is that the order was originally founded in 1813 in the Kingdom of Prussia, it was awarded to the military who distinguished themselves in the war against the Napoleonic army. After the establishment of the Weimar Republic in Germany, it was decided to abolish all former orders. The Order of the Iron Cross was restored in 1939 in Nazi Germany and lasted until 1945. In modern Germany, it is permissible to wear the Iron Cross from the Second World War, but only without a swastika.

Ukrainian-language postcards were hung in Skadovsk saying that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already close. The authors also ask the locals to report on all Russian-speaking citizens after the liberation of the city. Like, the court and "the death penalty” awaits them. At the same time, Ukrainian-speaking residents of the city can “privatize” the property of Russian-speakers. They tried to illustrate the “patriotism” of the leaflets with the help of a trident and the slogan “Glory to Ukraine”.

Such a message is promoted by pro-Russian telegram channels. Allegedly, the division of Ukrainians will take place thanks to the draft law “On national minorities (community) of Ukraine” and that people’s deputies consider this to be more important than solving the issue of supplying water and electricity to homes.

The requirement to reform legislation on national minorities is one of the conditions that the European Union puts before Ukraine on the way to full membership. The bill was finalized on the basis of the opinion of the Council of Europe and in close cooperation with its experts.

People's deputies pass laws, but do not supply water and electricity to homes. Problems with this arose due to Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities. Blackout is another Russian war crime for which it should be held accountable.

An allegedly new cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is being circulated online. The cartoon shows men in blue-and-yellow clothes writing Nazi salut on a wall. And men in hijabs look up the meaning of this greeting in the dictionary and say: “This is something in Ukrainian.” Users who distributed the “cover” indicate that the special issue is dedicated to the fact that the Ukrainians drew Hitler's mustache to the football mascot in Qatar. It is not true.

The report that supposedly Ukrainian football fans were detained because of Nazi graffiti in Qatar is not true. This fake has already been debunked. The Charlie Hebdo cover is also fake. Allegedly, this is a special issue dated November 24th. However, on the website of the French magazine, the last issue was published on November 23.

The site also features a paper edition created during October-November dedicated to the World Cup in Qatar, but the illustration for this edition also differs from the image distributed online.

Russian propaganda media massively spread the news that Ukrainian football fans were detained in Qatar during the World Cup because they added a "Hitler mustache" and Nazi congratulations "Sieg Heil" to the championship symbol. All news links to a video allegedly created by Al Jazeera, the TV channel. But this is fake.

As the StopFake fact-checker found out, this video is neither on the TV company's website nor on the channel's social networks. The photo of Ukrainian fans used in the video first appeared online at the beginning of the year. It was used in several Ukrainian media publications on the semi-final of the European Futsal Championship 2022, which was held in Amsterdam on February 4. Also, the fact-checkers write, the intro of the video is different from those that Al Jazeera usually does.

In addition, there is no mention of the detention of Ukrainian fans in foreign English-language publications.

Such information is disseminated in social networks and propaganda media. They say that the Nazi inscription Jedem das Seine is depicted on the helmet of one of the Ukrainian military.

Propagandists claim that "this symbol is banned in Germany as a Nazi one and is associated with a call for massacres". A photo of the supposedly same helmet is added to such messages. However, this is all fake. As StopFake writes, the photo circulating on the network was edited: the inscription "Jedem das Seine'' was intentionally applied to the photo of the military man.

The photo shows the musicians of the Ukrainian group “Antytila” who joined the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda once again wants to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis. 

Information about this along with a photo, which allegedly proves the fact that Ukrainian vehicles are depicted with fascist symbols, is being distributed in social networks and Russian media.

Propagandists claim that fascist crosses are depicted on armored vehicles used by the Ukrainian army. However, the sign that can be seen in the photo has nothing to do with Nazism or fascism. The photo published on social networks shows a soldier standing against the background of an armored car. The presence of the Ukrainian flag allows us to assume that this is military machinery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A symbol in the form of a cross is visible on the car door. Lithuanian fact-checkers drew attention to the fake in the networks. Most likely, the emblem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, approved in 2009 by the decree of the ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, is depicted on the door of the armored car. It is a straight equilateral cross with crimson branches, in the center of which there is an image of the Princely State Emblem of Volodymyr the Great in a round blue medallion.

By spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda once again wants to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis.

Russian telegram channels, as part of a large narrative about “Nazi” Ukraine or “Ukrainians as descendants of Nazis”, have come up with and promote another fake: it seems that on November 16 the city of Novohrad-Volynskyi, Zhytomyr region, was renamed into Zviahel and it proves that the Ukrainian government is “Nazi”. As proof, they spread the word that the city had this name during the German occupation in 1941-1944. And indeed it is.

But at the same time, this city was called Zviahel (or modifications of this name) from the moment of its establishment - at least from the first mention of the city in 1256. And for more than 500 years it had borne this name - until the partition of Poland under Catherine II who ordered the name Zviahel to be changed to Novohrad-Volynskyi in 1795. From then until 2022, with the exception of four years of occupation, the city had the name that was invented for it under the Russian Empress, and this year the historical name was finally returned. By the way, Lesia Ukrainka and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi were born in this city.

Such information was disseminated on their telegram by Russian propagandists. As proof, they provide a screenshot of the profiles of three women in military uniforms on Tinder, the dating application. It seems that in the information box about themselves, the servicewomen noted: “I’ll meet a guy who likes to cut Russians”, “You suit me if you want to see Russian children burn”, “Raguli (persons of low culture) from the eastern regions, don’t disturb”.

One of the photos used in such publications allegedly belongs to 25-year-old Kseniia. But this is not true. StopFake recognized the owner: she turned out to be Shura Riazantseva (call sign is Yalta), who now serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Shura Riazantseva told StopFake that she does not have a Tinder profile, and the photo she posted on April 12 was taken from her Instagram page. She wears a beret of the Ukrainian Navy in this photo.

Since the start of the all-out war against Ukraine, Russian propaganda has been spreading fake photos and videos to promote the notion that the Ukrainian military and all Ukrainians in general are Nazis. Thus, they want to justify the war that Russia unleashed in Ukraine. During the occupation, the Russians kill the civilian population, including children, justifying their crimes, they say, this is how they carry out “denazification”, destroy the Nazis who threaten the Russians and Russia.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that the inhabitants of Kherson began to find leaflets from the Ukrainian army, practically corresponding to those scattered by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Such postcards are distributed on social networks to draw a parallel between the Ukrainian army and the liberation of cities from Russian occupiers and the German army and the occupation of the Soviet Union.

Russian media disseminated such information with reference to a fake letter allegedly from Health Minister Viktor Liashko to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

They say that Ukraine was in dire need of donor blood, so it required it from NATO member countries. After the "canned blood" seemed to have arrived in Ukraine, they decided to selectively test it and found the causative agents of almost all possible infectious diseases.

The fact that the letter from the minister is fake is evidenced by its form; it does not meet the requirements for official documents in Ukraine.

The ministry said that during the entire period of the war, Ukraine has never turned to foreign partners for donated blood or its components.

Since the first day of the war, the Ukrainians have held the “donor front” securely on their own. If there is an urgent need in the blood centers, people actively respond to requests and close such needs within a few hours.

Ukraine does not conduct random checks of blood and its components. Any donated blood or its components always and without exception undergo laboratory tests.

The Center for Strategic Communications compiled a Newspeak Dictionary of Russian Propaganda, and using examples of several words and phrases from this dictionary, showed how Newspeak works.

According to experts, Newspeak colors the language ideologically and justifies repressions and wars of conquest. Thanks to it, the annexation of Crimea is transformed into “reunification”, and the occupation of Ukrainian lands with a full-scale invasion into “liberation”. It also smooths out the negative and diminishes the scale of failures at the front. Explosions become "pops", helicopters and planes do not fall but "fall on their sides" and "make a hard landing", collisions of ships become "rapprochements". And finally, the escape of Russian troops from the Kharkiv region turns into an "organized transfer of the Izium-Balakliia group to the territory of DNR".

Experts write that with the help of Newspeak the meanings of words change. The word "fake" in Russian propaganda now means not the false information, but information that does not come from the Russian authorities and state media.

Newspeak also penetrates the vocabulary of any Russian publications or politicians, even opposition ones. They also use the word "special operation", thereby removing from Putin the responsibility for unleashing a full-scale war and "unbracketing" the war crimes of the Russian army. They also use the names of "people's republics" as if they have sovereignty, thereby giving them legitimacy. Therefore, Newspeak is the same weapon of Russia in the information war as fakes and manipulations.

A cartoon with the same name is distributed on social networks. It seems to show what is really happening in Ukraine. In the story, Volodymyr Zelenskyi becomes a puppet of Western rulers and launches an attack on the Donbas. The animated video was allegedly produced by the Barracudas agency, positioned as a “French independent studio”. It is fake. There is no information on the web about the so-called Barracudas studio, its creation or work, except for one cartoon about “Nazi Ukraine”. The studio does not have pages or channels on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. At the same time, the video upload date on many platforms is the same - August 14-15. As VoxCheck fact-checkers note, this may indicate forced distribution from fake accounts. Fact-checkers of the Delfi project from Latvia noticed that the style of the Stop nazi games cartoon resembles the work of the Armenian animator David Sahakyants, who created the Kill Dim cartoon series two years ago. This is a political satire about Azerbaijan, which is portrayed as a puppet of Turkey and a threat to the security of Armenia. The cartoons use very similar artistic and visual imagery. For example, the dolls of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Volodymyr Zelenskyi are put on the arm. Later, in both cartoons, these puppets press a button with the inscription “war”, and tanks leave for Armenia and the Donbas. The cartoon "Stop Nazi Games" promotes the key narratives of Russian disinformation about Ukraine: that Ukraine is a Nazi country that started a "civil war" against its own population in the Donbas. Previously, propagandists distributed anti-Ukrainian cartoons created by a Russian woman from Sochi, with comments that allegedly it was made by Israel.

Such a message is distributed in Telegram channels. Like, Articles 106 and 107 of the UN Charter allowed Russia to attack Ukraine. Allegedly, these articles give the "victors" of World War II the right to take action against "hostile countries". To do this, they need to communicate their plans to other "winners", but it is not necessary to obtain their consent.

The German fact-checkers of the Correctiv project drew attention to the spread of the message. They note that the UN Charter allows the use of weapons only in case of defense or with the consent of the Security Council. Telegram channels distorted the content of the UN Charter. Articles 106 and 107 state that the parties to the Declaration must cooperate in the preservation of peace and on measures taken in "hostile countries''. However, "parties" refers to those countries that signed the founding document, and not just the "winning countries". Also, the UN Committee back in 1995 proposed to exclude the so-called “hostile state” provisions from the charter since they are outdated. Now there are no hostile states in the meaning that was laid down after the Second World War, in particular, Germany and Japan are members of the UN.

Russia constantly manipulates the historical context and victory in World War II, forgetting about the contribution of other states. Russian propaganda also systematically accuses Ukraine and other states of Nazism. Previously, Russia tried to justify the invasion of Ukraine under the guise of Article 51 of the UN Charter.

In pro-Russian Telegram channels, the message of the Russian propagandist, the director of the Russian-language broadcasting of the Russia Today TV channel, Anton Krasovsky, during an interview with the Russian fiction writer Serhiy Lukyanenko, is being distributed.

Anton Krasovsky called for killing Ukrainian children, and telegram channels are already calling for the extermination of all Ukrainians. In order to emphasize the "inhumanity" of Ukrainians, the reports use a fake that the Armed Forces allegedly "carry cats and dogs with them, which are not fed for several days, so that they can then be fed to dead Russian soldiers." The fact checkers of the NotaYenot project drew attention to the spread of the message. In fact, Russian propaganda has long been talking about the "inferiority and inferiority" of Ukrainians, accusing them of Nazism and cultivating intolerance and aggression towards Ukrainians.

Propagandist Krasovsky has spread anti-Ukrainian appeals before. He claimed that the so-called "special operation" would not end until Ukraine signs its capitulation and that Ukrainian children should be taken care of only when they "become Russian." Read more about Krasovsky's statements and the reaction to them. Pro-Russian Telegram channels are also not the first to show aggression towards Ukrainians.

After the massive rocket attacks on October 10, the Russians rejoiced at the death of civilians. As a result of the strike, Ukrainians were left without electricity, water, and heat. The spread of such messages causes an obvious emotional solid reaction in Ukrainians, which is then used by propaganda for its purposes. In this way, Russian propaganda tries to impose the opinion that "Ukrainians aren't sorry." They try to justify a full-scale invasion and the deaths of thousands of people.

At the beginning of October, an anti-Ukrainian cartoon, allegedly filmed by an Israeli TV channel, began to be distributed on the network of Russian Telegram channels. The captions for the video were typical - "not all Israelis support the Nazi regime" in the east. The cartoon depicts Ukraine as a pig with swastika tattoos and a yellow-blue flag, while Russia is represented as a bear that throws out a pig in Europe. There the pig arranges pogroms and other crimes that Russian propaganda attributes to Ukrainian refugees.

At the end of the cartoon, the logo of what appeared to be the Israeli TV channel INN appeared. There are two channels in Israel. The abbreviation INN stands for both Arutz Sheva (Channel 7), which is officially called Israel International News, and Israel Now News. At the same time, the logo at the end of the cartoon is not the logo of any of these channels. Of course, there is no cartoon or any mention of it on these channels. The Israeli publication "Details" checked how this cartoon appeared in the Israeli media space and found a Telegram channel with the name INN and a logo identical to the one shown in the cartoon. This Telegram channel is conducted in two languages, Russian and Hebrew, and it contains only anti-Ukrainian fakes. The last of such fakes was information about Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who allegedly wrote the book "My Struggle." This fake has already been disproved.

After the distribution of this cartoon, it was blocked on Youtube. At the same time, a resident of Sochi named Yevgeniya gave an interview to the propaganda Telegram channel Shot. She said that she creates this anti-Ukrainian propaganda by herself. She also added that she has been "working on the information front since 2014." She has been posting these anti-Ukrainian videos since September 1 on her telegram channel "Svynka v ommoroke SVO." On October 20, she also published correspondence with the "Israeli TV channel INN," which apologized for using her cartoon and supported her fight against the "Ukrainian Nazis." The correspondence shows that the author of the cartoons wrote specifically to the address of the INN @uktoterror2 telegram channel. The channel has 1,339 subscribers and is run by a Russian-speaking Israeli woman who, for example, creates a poll about who to vote for in the upcoming Israel elections - among other politicians she suggests, Putin and Kadyrov.

Propaganda anonymous Telegram channels spread this photo fact.

In fact, the Russians drew the "swastika" on the bracelet of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, themselves, using a compressed image, which made the Scandinavian symbol distorted. Journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk pointed out the propagandists' lies in his Telegram channel. "The Russian conscript is assured to give his life for Zaluzhnyi's bracelet. If so, let them take a closer look at what he looks like before he leaves for the other side of the Kerch Strait in a black bag," he wrote and published a photo of an analog of Zaluzhnyi's bracelet.

A video is circulating on social networks in which children against the background of a blue-and-yellow flag allegedly sing the "unofficial Luftwaffe anthem" - Air Force of Third Reich.

The boy sings the first verse in Ukrainian (“Soldiers are coming, and weapons are with them, faith is with them, mother tongue is with them”), in the second verse he sings the words from the original song: Dann wollen wir schaffen komm fass an. This is an interpretation of the popular German song Sieben Tage lang (Was wollen wir trinken), the song has nothing to do with the Nazi German air force.

Musicologists believe that this melody was taken from a Brittany folk song (Son Ar Chistr), which was sung in the process of making and consuming apple cider. For the first time in 1929, the brothers Jean-Bernard and Jean-Marie Prima recorded it during the harvest by the peasants. The song gained popularity outside of Brittany after it was performed on harp by musician Alan Stivell in 1970.

The Russians regularly spread the thesis that the Ukrainians are Nazis to justify the war they unleashed in Ukraine. During the occupation, they massively kill the civilian population, including children, justifying their crimes, they say, this is how they carry out “denazification”, destroy the Nazis who threaten the Russians and Russia. More details.

Russian telegram channels write about such assumptions.

Allegedly, the Ukrainian special services will shake up the situation in Russia not only because of the protests, but also because of "working with mentally unstable elements."

Propagandists immediately drew parallels between the shooter from Izhevsk and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The man who caused the shooting at the Izhevsk school was wearing a T-shirt with Nazi symbols.

Also, the man who set fire to the recruiting office in Uriupynsk, Volhograd region, was called an ardent Nazi.

Like, Nazism is always evil, Nazism kills, Nazism is the same everywhere, so Russia is forced to conduct a military-political operation against the Nazis in Ukraine.

Such a message is being spread by Russian propagandists against the backdrop of the liberation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Russian invaders of territories in the Kharkiv region. The reports say that for people living in the liberated territories of the Kharkiv region, a big problem will be that immediately after the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and maybe with them, real punishers will come. Like, they showed themselves perfectly in the fight against civilians even before the war: they fearlessly killed prisoners, fought against the flow of humanitarian aid, etc. The authors of such messages add that people in the liberated territories need to be careful. 

In addition, according to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Russian propaganda accuses the Ukrainian authorities of plans to persecute traitors and collaborators among the residents of the territories of Ukraine de-occupied from the Russian occupiers. And Russia calls on international organizations to “force Kyiv to abandon punitive measures against civilians”; appeals to all UN states "to influence Kyiv in order to prevent severe humanitarian consequences for civilians"; accuses the Armed Forces of Ukraine of "looting, torture, beatings, in order to later shift the responsibility for their crimes to Russia".

In fact, the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not persecute the civilian population in the liberated Ukrainian territories. Since the liberation of cities and villages from Russian invaders, dozens of videos have appeared on the network, which show how civilians welcome the Ukrainian military with hugs and thank them for their struggle. However, Russia once again seeks to create the image of evil Ukrainians-punishers who mock their citizens; torture them, etc.

Thus, the propaganda wants to justify the war that Russia started in Ukraine. Like, the Russian army came precisely to liberate the Ukrainians from the captivity of the terrible Nazi punishers. In addition, the Kremlin seeks to create an alibi for itself regarding the possible discovery of war crimes by the Russian army in the liberated territories in order to avoid negative reputational consequences by analogy with the tragedy in Bucha.

Photos of a man with a bunch of Nazi tattoos are circulating on social networks. Particularly with the swastika. The text circulating along with the photo says that the photo is of Ukrainian Vadym Troian, a former head of the Kyiv police.

However, this is not true. As Correctiv analysts have found out, the bald man in the photograph is not Vadym Troian, but a Russian neo-Nazi from St. Petersburg Oleksii Maksymov. At the same time, Ukrainian Vadym Troian was mentioned in the media when he was appointed as a chief of police in Kyiv in 2014. He has been repeatedly called a right-wing extremist, but he is not in the photo on the Internet.

According to analysts, fake photos have been circulating online since Troian was appointed as a head of the agency in 2014. It is beneficial to distribute such propaganda’s photos as confirmation that Ukrainians are Nazis. Earlier, photos of two men with Nazi tattoos, allegedly depicting Ukrainian refugees in Rijeka (Croatia), were distributed on social networks. In some reports, the photo served as an excuse for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

A wedding photo in front of a monument with a blue-and-yellow flag, in which brides and guests raised their hands in a gesture similar to the Nazi salute, is being shared with foreign audiences on social media. Like, nothing special, just another ordinary day in the life of Ukrainians. Also in the comments to the photo they write that foreigners should not support Ukrainians in the war because Russia was “right” when talking about Nazism in Ukraine. This photo is fake.

As the Reuters fact-checkers established, the photo was digitally processed. This is not the first time the photos have been shared on social media. It was previously distributed back in 2016. Also, the color of the flag has been changed, in the first photos the flag is black and yellow. In 2018, the fake photo was proved by OBOZREVATEL. Probably, the photo was taken in Russia in the city of Novokuznetsk. This was identified by the monument.

This is not the first time Russia has resorted to the dissemination of fake photos in order to confirm the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis. Previously, photos of half-naked supposedly Ukrainian “Nazi refugees” in Croatia were used for this.

The Russian media spread the information that the head of the EU Foreign Service called Russia a “fascist state”. And since he supports Ukraine and its government in the war with Russia, then the hidden fascist himself would support Franco's dictatorship in Spain.

This story is given by euvsdisinfo.eu. First, Borrell did not call Russia fascist, but only referred to a reservation made by a speaker at the Inter-Parliamentary Conference in the Czech Republic. And secondly, Borrell is a Spaniard and a representative of the Socialist Party, his public service and track record prove that he opposed the Franco regime and was an active participant in Spain's transition to democratic governance.

Pulling words out of context and distorting them, blaming Ukraine, the EU, the UK, etc. in being “fascists” is a typical tactic in pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystems where anyone who disagrees with Russia can be labeled as a fascist. This is done in order to play on the sensitivity of the topic of the Second World War for Russians, to cause a sharply negative attitude for everyone who is branded with such a cliché.

The well-known photograph, replicated by social networks, next to Hitler and Goebbels shows not the grandmother of the Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, but the wife of the Nazi Reich Propaganda Minister Magda Goebbels.

Writes “Reuters”. At the same time, the agency refers to several Facebook and Twitter accounts at once, some of which are verified.

However, the original source of this photo is from the media company Getty Images. There, a similar photograph is dated to the 1930s and bears the caption: “German dictator and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) (center back) stands with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945), his wife Magda (1901 - 1945) and their three older children”.

This lie is also spread by pro-Russian channels and accounts in order to accuse the Deputy Prime Minister, who is of Ukrainian origin, of having Nazi supporters in her family, and thus to compromise her. Meanwhile, Chrystia Freeland and Canada remain among Ukraine’s closest foreign partners.

Russian media quoted Russian leader Volodymyr Putin as saying at an economic forum in Vladyvostok that a huge number of Ukrainians hate the Kyiv regime and are under the yoke of neo-Nazis. It's fake.

StopFake reports this and cites data from the last three sociological studies. Thus, on the eve of the Independence Day of Ukraine on August 24, the Rating sociological group conducted a comprehensive study of various markers of Ukrainian patriotism. 74% of Ukrainians assessed the direction of development in the country as correct, 13% believe that it is moving in the wrong direction, and the same number found it difficult to answer the question.

At the end of June, the Rating sociological group conducted a survey commissioned by the Center for Analytical Research (CISR) of the International Republican Institute (IRI), and, among other things, received the following results: 81% answered that they believe that Ukraine will win this war, 16% replied that they will probably win. Also, 88% strongly approve the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 10% generally approve the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and in second place is President Zelenskyi (59% strongly approve his actions, 32% generally approve them).

The results of a sociological survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation with the sociological service of the Razumkov Center from August 5 to 12, 2022 also showed the high faith of Ukrainians in victory (over 90%), as well as pride of their citizenship (about 90%). In addition, 87.3% of men and 89.5% of women answered that they would like to build their future life in Ukraine.

This misinformation is being spread by the Russian media to justify the war of conquest launched by Russia against Ukraine, allegedly defending the rights of oppressed Ukrainians. In fact, there is no justification for the cruelty of the crimes of the Russian army.

Russian media and pro-Russian resources write about this. Allegedly, there is a classical Ukrainian language, very close to the Russian language and which every Russian understands. Like, it's just a version of the Russian language. The modern Ukrainian language is allegedly the work of political technologists. As if Russian words are replaced by a large number of Polish and English words. And this “artificial, totalitarian and terrorist” modern Ukrainian language is taught to schoolchildren. That is why, according to the Russians, it is necessary to completely eliminate this “artificially created language”, since it originates from the “terrorist methods” of Ukrainian nationalists.

Ukrainian is a real language that has been different from Russian for many centuries. It is more similar to other Slavic languages ​​than to Russian.

They tried to destroy the Ukrainian language many times, and forcibly russify Ukrainians. Targeted bans and oppression of the Ukrainian language with the aim of its destruction and assimilation in Ukraine are called linguocide.

This opinion of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was disseminated by the pro-Kremlin media and telegram channels. Like, many residents of Ukraine did not indulge the ruling regime in its Nazi aspirations.

Such messages are part of a propaganda campaign against Ukraine and Europe to prove that the Russian army is “liberating” the world and, in particular, Ukraine from Nazism. This is one of the contrived reasons for Russia's war in Ukraine.

Such information is disseminated by Russian and anonymous telegrams.

Immediately after the car explosion, the so-called head of the part of the Donetsk region occupied since 2014, Denys Pushylin, said that it was the terrorists of the Ukrainian regime who tried to eliminate the "ideologist of Putin" Oleksandr Duhin, and blew up his daughter Daria.

Russian propagandist, editor-in-chief of the Rossiia Sehodnia news agency, head of the Russia Today TV channel Margaryta Simonian demands strikes on decision-making centers in Kyiv.

Anonymous telegram channels write that the channels of the President's Office began to "dance victoriously on the death" of Duhin's daughter, which indirectly confirmed Bankova's participation in this event.

The murder of Duhina is supposedly a victory for the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the British, who were preparing the Ukrainian military for a "partisan" war.

Allegedly, the Office of the President of Ukraine hunted Duhin in order to spread panic among the Russians. Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the OPU, said on the air of the telethon that Ukraine had nothing to do with the bombing of Daria Duhina. In his opinion, propagandists will use this to increase the ideological informational pressure on Russian society: "Let's go massacre Ukrainians."

Another theory of propagandists is that now the Russians will want their missiles to fly at different Arestovyches, Podoliaks and others.

A criminal case has been initiated on the murder, an investigation is underway, there are no official statements from the investigators yet. From the Office of the President of Ukraine, no one arranged any dances at the death of Duhin's daughter.

Propagandists say that today's behavior of Europe is reminiscent of the behavior of Nazi Germany. This seems to be similar to the case when signs “Juden sind hier unerwünscht” (“Jews are not welcome here”) appeared in Germany after 1933. Today's discussion about visas is like a European sign "Russians are not needed here."

According to EUvsDISINFO project fact-checkers, the decision to ban Schenhen visas for Russian citizens has not yet been made. The solution will be discussed at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague at the end of August 2022. The ban on visas for Russian citizens was initiated by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who believes that "visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right." These words were spoken in the context of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The idea of ​​a visa ban was supported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. He said Russians "should live in their own world until they change their philosophy."

This is stated in a letter allegedly signed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Marcin Przydacz. It is not true.

The letter from the Polish Foreign Ministry is a fake response to a fake letter from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. The "letter of response" speaks of a positive decision to rename a street in Warsaw in honor of Stepan Bandera, which houses the Russian embassy. In addition, the "letter" refers to the ways of future promotion of Bandera among the Polish population. According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, a bot account on the social network Facebook, which contains almost no messages of other messages, was likely the primary source.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine discovered a fake letter in the information space, allegedly on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In it, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry seems to appeal to its Polish colleagues with a request to rename the street in Warsaw in honor of Stepan Bandera, where the Russian embassy is located. The goal of the fake is to discredit Ukraine, warned the CPD.

Such messages are spread in the Russian media. They enter the Ukrainian information space through anonymous Telegram channels and social networks.

As the Center for Combating Disinformation writes, the topic of the "inevitable international tribunal" over prisoners of war from "Azovstal" has been systematically in the focus of propagandists since May 2022. In Russia, "Azov" has already been recognized as a terrorist organization and its activities have been banned on its territory. However, any attempt to "convict" the Azov people would be outside the bounds of international law, as the rights of prisoners of war are guaranteed by international conventions. Prisoners of war performed the duties defined by the state and the law to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine.

The Institute of Mass Information investigated how one of the largest telegram channels of the occupied Donetsk region spreads Russian disinformation in the occupied territories and how it changed the main message topics five months after the start of the full-scale invasion.

According to the research, propagandists most often refer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as "VFU" (Armed Forces of Ukraine; 632 mentions), "Nazis" (601), "militants" (495), "Ukras" (160), "terrorists" (134), "neo-Nazis" (131), "Ukrainian Nazis" (117). Propagandists most often associate the Ukrainian army with Nazism in their word-making experiments, IMI writes.

IMI researchers identified five groups of messages:

More details in the study.

Such information is disseminated in Russian propaganda media. Nazis allegedly gather in this building, and weapons and ammunition are stored. It is not true.

Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov denied the information. He said that on the premises of the Zaporizhzhia Palace of Culture, there is an open space for helping displaced persons from Melitopol and other cities. "This center provides humanitarian aid," Fedorov said. That is why hundreds of immigrants from Melitopol and other cities gather daily near the Palace of Culture building.

It is not the first time that Russia spread information about placing "military bases" where civilian or humanitarian infrastructure facilities are located. Subsequently, these stories are used to justify launching rocket attacks on civilians.

Russian media and telegram channels report this to justify the missile attack on the center of Vinnytsia. It is not true.

Officers' houses are not military facilities in Ukraine. These are establishments created for recreation - there are concerts, plays, children's clubs, etc. They are not used as military barracks. Before the rocket attack, the Officers' House in Vinnytsia was preparing for a charity concert by the singer Roksolana. One of her team members was killed. In total, at least 23 people were killed, three children and more than 100 people were injured due to the Russian missile attack on the center of Vinnytsia. The rockets destroyed a business center, a medical center, and a parking lot and damaged residential buildings and other objects of civil infrastructure. As EUvsDisinfo fact-checkers write, the representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, and the commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, condemned the Russian attack on civilian objects, calling the events in Vinnytsia "the latest atrocity in a long series of brutal attacks on civilians and civilians infrastructure."

Russian propaganda spreads lies about hitting military infrastructure and destroying "Nazis" every time after missile strikes on civilian targets. At first, they reported that they had hit a military unit in the town of Haysyn near Vinnytsia. The alleged "military object" destruction was also said after shelling the shopping center in Kremenchuk.

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

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

The Russian mass media and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, are spreading the information that the mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, has proposed to bury "neo-Nazis and fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Babi Yar." It is not true.

On July 14, the Kyiv City Council approved the decision to create a military cemetery and places of honor for the defenders of Ukraine next to Babyn Yar, and not in Babyn Yar itself - the area of the largest mass burial of victims of Nazism in Ukraine, shot in 1941-1943.

According to Klitschko, permission for the development of the land management project was granted along Olena Teliga Street in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv - we are talking about a place next to the Babyn Yar tract.

Klitschko said that Kyiv is ready to take on all the costs associated with arranging the military cemetery. However, the project needs support at the national level.

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

Information was spread on social networks that on June 22, the anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Ukrainian activists pasted over the walls and fences of the Memorial in Auschwitz with anti-Russian stickers. Along with these posts, there were also circulated photos of a red, white, and black sticker with such words "Russia and Russians, the only gas you and your country deserve is Zyklon B (poisonous gas used in Nazi death camps - Edit)."

According to Reuters Fact Check, the Auschwitz Memorial said that no such stickers were found in the places depicted in the photo: "Everything points to the fact that the photos are simply manipulation, and this incident should be seen as primitive and crude propaganda." A museum representative said security cameras also did not catch anyone applying the stickers in June 2022 or earlier. However, Hani Farid, a computer science professor specializing in image analysis and digital forensics at the University of California, Berkeley, said he believes the images were likely faked. So this fake is part of the message about alleged "Russophobia." The US State Department has previously said that claims of "Russophobia" appear in several threads and are used whenever the Russian government wants to portray itself as the victim when it is the aggressor.    

Russian mass media, referring to the so-called people's police of the so-called "LPR," are spreading information that allegedly fighters of the nationalist "Aidar" battalion (banned in Russia) regularly raped women who were held hostage at the "Azot" plant in Sievierodonetsk. According to their version, dozens of women were injured; now, they are safe, receiving medical and psychological help from specialists. The media do not provide evidence; they only spread a loud statement about the crime.

On June 18, the head of the Luhansk RMA, Serhii Gaidai, reported that the people hiding in the shelters of the "Azot" plant in Sievierodonetsk refused to evacuate. During the communication with the population, the National Guardsmen recorded the refusal on video. Previously, the Russian media distributed video recordings of interviews with women who escaped from the "Azot" bomb shelter, where they talked exclusively about foreign mercenaries. In fact, the world has already learned more than once about the sexual crimes of the Russian military in Ukraine.

Rape has become a characteristic feature of the Russian occupiers, says the adviser to the head of the President's Office, Oleksiy Arestovych. We will remind that after the liberation of Bucha near Kyiv from the Russian occupiers, it became known about dozens of cases of sexual violence committed by Russians. Former Human Rights Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Lyudmila Denisova, reported that in Bucha, Russians systematically raped 25 girls and women aged 14 to 24, nine of whom were pregnant. More details.

According to the Kremlin media, in this way, the region's residents want to "secure themselves" and "liberate their territories." StopFake wrote that the statement about the "formation of a battalion of volunteers to protect against the Armed Forces" in Zaporizhzhia was made by a collaborator of Balytskyi, who has nothing to do with the official Ukrainian authorities.

Fact-checkers drew attention to the fact that the occupiers appointed former regional People's Deputy Yevhen Balytskyi as the head of the administration. On May 26, the SSU announced that he was suspected of treason. According to the Armed Forces, the city of Zaporizhzhia is under the full control of the Ukrainian army. In addition, Russia violated the Geneva Conventions by mobilizing Ukrainians in the occupied territories, the fact-checkers added. Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russian propaganda media and telegram channels spread the "news," referring to the so-called ambassador of the terrorist group in the temporarily occupied territories of the Luhansk region Rodion Miroshnyk as if about 400 Ukrainian soldiers are hiding in the territory of "Nitrogen" and can not get out. Allegedly, some of them are trying to get in touch with units of Russia and the so-called "LPR" and even put forward their conditions - to release them to Lysychansk with "hostages," and they are told to lay down their arms and surrender.

Information about the blockade of "Nitrogen" is a lie spread by Russian propagandists. The head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Haidai reported about it. All other "details" described in a box - Miroshnyk's sick imagination. For reference: Rodion Miroshnyk is a Kremlin litter and a liar," Haidai wrote on Facebook. He stressed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding the Sievierodonetsk industrial zone and destroying the Russian army in the city.

Russian occupiers were so impressed by the district museum of local lore in Popasna in the Luhansk region that they shot a video about it and disseminated it in the pro-Kremlin media, including Ria Novosti. According to them, the museum has a whole hall about one of the most common inventions of Russian propaganda about Ukraine - the so-called national battalions. To which, to their ridicule, they attributed Bohdan Khmelnytsky. In the video, the Russians show part of the exhibition dedicated to the anti-terrorist operation and the events of 2014-2017, in the center of which are the books "History of Ukraine," "Battle for Konotop" by Vladyslav Karnatsevych from the series "Famous Events of Ukrainian History" and "Archaeological war." The last book is a methodological recommendation of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which is designed to guide the military in a situation where the threat of destruction of archaeological heritage and how to minimize it.

This information was spread by Russia's representative in the UN, Vasily Nebenzya. He said that soldiers from the Azov Regiment recruited children aged 7 to 18 and "trained future militants." In particular, according to him, such work was carried out in the Mariupol "Pilgrim," too.

However, this is not true. In fact, the institution was a center for helping children in difficult life circumstances. Yesterday, June 1, the pupils of the Pilgrim held a rally dedicated to Children's Day in Zaporizhzhia. During the rally, according to Mariupol Mayor's Adviser Petro Andriushchenko, the participants called the propaganda of Vasily Nebenzya's words that they were allegedly training "militants" in the children's center. Pupils of the Center also reminded that children die daily due to Russian aggression in Ukraine and called on the world community to help protect them.

Information about this is spreading on social networks. The messages say that a man named Artem Bonov, who has a tattoo with Nazi symbols, is allegedly the deputy chief of the Kyiv police. A photo of a man with a swastika in the uniform of the police is attached to the fake posts. VoxCheck's photos show a real user, Artem Bonov, who maintains his Vkontakte page and YouTube channel. Bonov wrote that in the summer of 2014, he was a member of the Azov Volunteer Battalion and was then imprisoned on suspicion of killing a neighbor. Later, he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Lviv. However, this information is confirmed only by Bonov's own letters. However, Bonov does not hold the position of Deputy Chief of Police. His name is not among the Kyiv or Kyiv region police leadership. "In fake posts, photos of Artem Bonov in police uniform are added. This photo can be found on Bonov's Vkontakte page. The chevron on Bonov's hand belongs to those worn by Ukrainian police units that were subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs until 2015. However, in 2015 the National Police of Ukraine was established. Since then, chevrons on police uniforms have also changed, ”the fact-checkers write.

It is alleged that the Russian Ministry of Defense received such information from captured Ukrainian soldiers. The report used a standard set of Russian propaganda: "Neo-Nazi" plan to fire on Russia's border area from a residential area of ​​the city, provoke a retaliatory strike, and then blow up containers with chemically hazardous substances. Journalists of foreign news agencies are in Sumy for photo and video shooting. And, of course, the goal is to accuse the Russian military of allegedly using chemical weapons and striking civilians who are not being evacuated but left in the city for "maximum resonance."

Such nonsensical Russians are throwing into the media to either intimidate people in the region where they announce the provocation or plan to commit a war crime and absolve themselves of responsibility.

The Security Service of Ukraine reminds us that the Russian military regularly shells peaceful Ukrainian cities, kills civilians, uses them as a "living shield," rapes women in the occupied territories, takes children to "filtration camps," and tortures men.

 Such a fake is spread by the Russian propaganda media. In particular, the publication RIA-news. "Soldiers of the composite regiment of the LNR Interior Ministry, who are serving in Cossack Lopan near Kharkiv, told RIA Novosti that alcohol and cigarettes are dropped from helicopters on Ukrainian military and nationalist positions, whose packages are stylized as food supplied to the German-Fascist troops. Some of these gifts have accidentally fallen on the positions of the Russian forces. The cigarette packages have swastikas and symbols of Nazi Germany on them," the propagandists write. As the fact checkers of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center project write, this interview begs the question why the Ukrainian military would risk helicopters at all in the Russian air defense zone (after all, Kozachya Lopan is a settlement right on the border with Russia), if there is a road to the AFU positions from Kharkiv. "Other than that, not a single photo was provided by the propagandists. Neither alcohol nor cigarettes. Also in Ukraine since 2015 there is a law "On the condemnation of the communist and national-socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols." According to it, the symbols of the National Socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regime are prohibited for use in Ukraine, including: symbols of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP), the national flag of Nazi Germany 1939-1945, the national emblem of Nazi Germany 1939-1945, the name of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP), images, inscriptions on events related to the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP)," - write the fact checkers.  

Russian propagandists and various anonymous telegram channels spread information that Ida Novakowska, the spokeswoman for Eurovision from Poland, allegedly used a Nazi salute during the announcement of the evaluations by the Polish jury. In particular, information about Ida Novakovskaya's use of the so-called zig appeared on the channel of Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. The Nazi salute in the Third Reich consisted of raising one's right hand and shouting "Long live Hitler!" (German: Heil Hitler!). The hand was raised at an angle of 45 degrees with the palm straightened: among the higher ranks - half-bent, ordinary and before the senior rank - fully straightened. However, Ida Novakovska did not use the Nazi salute, but raised her hand to show the V sign - Victoria, which symbolizes victory or peace, and shouted "Glory to Ukraine". The presenter also had a yellow and blue ribbon attached to her clothes, the permission to use which was previously agreed with the Eurovision spokesperson and spokespersons with the organizing committee of the contest. However, it is advantageous for Russian propagandists, and in particular Solovyov, to remind their audience once again that Ukrainians are Nazis, and that those countries that support Ukraine are Nazis.

Russian propaganda has taken the narrative about "European politicians with Nazi descendants" out of the closet and is actively promoting it on social networks, mostly in European languages. Recent publications referred only to the grandfather of Polish President Andrzej Duda Michal, who was supposedly a friend and associate of Stepan Bandera (which would prove the Nazi connections of Duda) - but it is a ridiculous fake: propagandists could not even find the real name of the Polish president's grandfather - in fact his name was Aloise.

Now the same fakes are spread about the grandfathers of three key German politicians - but German fact-checkers from the Correctiv project proved, that all these claims are false: the grandfather of Chancellor Olaf Scholz was not Fritz von Scholz, Wehrmacht General Gerhard Lindner is not the grandfather of Finance Minister Christian Lind Obergruppenführer SS Hartmann Lauterbacher is not the grandfather of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. As the investigators write, the source of these fakes is a single person - "Putin's cook" Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose fictions were quoted by the press service of his company Concord.

All these fakes are part of a propaganda campaign against Ukraine and Europe to prove to Russians that the Russian army is liberating the world from Nazism.

The Russian and pro-Kremlin media have spread an old fake about Polish President Andrzej Duda, whose grandfather was allegedly Michail Duda, a friend of Stepan Banedra. These reports are, expectedly, accompanied by accusations of Nazism against the Polish leader. Mythdetector fact checkers reminded us, that Duda himself refuted this fake back in 2015. Then he said that his grandfather's name was Alojz Duda. He was a fur expert who died in 1992.

Russian propaganda media once again manipulated the topic of Victory Day, which was celebrated there yesterday, May 9. According to StopFake, Russian propaganda media have once again spread a series of manipulative materials saying that the Ukrainian authorities "finally banned people from celebrating May 9," and in some regions "deliberately" imposed a curfew because of "fear" that "many people will get. May to honor the feat of the Soviet soldiers who defeated fascism." Such reports add that the Ukrainian authorities allegedly "officially cancel Victory Day and drive people home." In fact, there were no mass events in 2022 due to Russia's large-scale invasion and heightened danger of missile attacks in Ukraine. However, we are not talking about "banning Victory Day." Previously, the thesis of the abolition of May 9 was dispersed by Russian propagandists. In particular, Vladimir Solovyov reported in his telegram channel that in Ukraine they decided to cancel May 9, and in confirmation of this fact he added that the Verkhovna Rada allegedly registered a bill according to which May 8 is Memorial and Victory over Nazism Day, and May 9 is a working day. Apparently, we are talking about the bill "On amendments to some laws of Ukraine on the commemoration of the victory over Nazism in World War II," which MPs registered on April 18. The bill indeed proposes to commemorate the Day of Remembrance of all victims of Nazism during the Second World War on May 8, and to celebrate Europe Day on May 9 together with other EU countries. In fact, Ukraine is not cancelling May 9. However, this time in Ukraine, as in the past few years, they did not celebrate Victory Day, choosing to celebrate May 8 - Memorial Day.

Pro-Kremlin media actively spread the opinion that the temporarily occupied cities of Ukraine are preparing to celebrate Victory Day openly for the first time in many years and that the St. George Ribbon is becoming increasingly popular among the local population, especially among children. A video circulated on social networks shows a Victory volunteer in Mariupol tying a St. George's ribbon to children's clothes and asking what it means. The girl replies: "It's beautiful" and says that she has never worn such ribbons before.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmila Denisova reported that in Melitopol, temporarily occupied by Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia, children are forced to wear St. George ribbons and learn poems about the war. "From the media it became known that in the occupied Melitopol of Zaporozhye region forced children to wear St. George ribbons and learn poems about the war. Such actions are committed by school principals cooperating with the occupation troops," she stressed. According to Denisova, teachers distribute children's thematic drawings and videos of schoolchildren reciting poems about the war with St. George ribbons on their chests online. There is information that this is happening without parental consent. The ombudsman stressed that school is one of the means of educating a child, the formation of the worldview, which is continuously connected with the upbringing in the family. According to her, "this imposition of the racist ideology in educational institutions is aimed at destroying the Ukrainian identity in the minds of children". Denisova stressed that these actions of the Russian invaders are a violation of Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This document stipulates that the education of a child should be aimed at fostering respect for the child's parents, cultural identity, language and national values of the country in which the child resides, his country of origin. The above is direct evidence of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

According to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, the "St. George's Ribbon" is an element of Russian propaganda. The formation of the symbol "St. George's Ribbon" has a long and complicated history. It first appeared on the Order of St. George, founded in 1769 by Empress Ekaterina II. The Order became the highest military award of the Russian Empire and was given to officers for special courage in battle. Later, a whole set of awards associated with St. George was formed: the Order, the medal, the cross and the flag. They were accompanied by the St. George ribbon, which, according to official statutes, consisted of three black and two yellow stripes. It was also allowed to use orange instead of yellow.

The most likely version is that the gamma of the ribbon was taken from the black-yellow-white flag of the Russian Empire. Another version is that the color symbolizes the fire and smoke, which emphasizes its military nature. Read more here.

In 2015, instead of the "St. George's Ribbon" as a symbol of remembrance of victory and honoring the victims of World War II, Ukrainians were suggested to use the red poppy flower. Striped black and yellow ribbon in the perception of Ukrainians became a negative symbol, which is associated with danger and terrorism. Since 2015. On May 8 and 9, Ukraine celebrates Memorial and Reconciliation Day and Victory Day over Nazism in World War II. The traditional slogan of these commemorative days "We Remember - We Win!" this year is somewhat modified at the state level and sounds like "We defeated the Nazis - let's defeat the Rashists too!.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Security Service of Ukraine was preparing provocations using chemical weapons. Another Russian fake is reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council in Telegram.

"The Russian Defense Ministry said that "according to available information, the SBU is planning chemical weapons provocations in a number of settlements in the Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk regions for further accusations from Russia. We warn you: this is a fake!", the report reads.

The Center specifies that the Russian Defense Ministry's statement that "on the instructions of the US and UK handlers, units of the AFU and the National Security Forces are setting up fortifications at the Luhansk chemical enterprises is yet another fake. At the same time, neo-Nazis were replacing chemical tanks to destroy them when leaving their positions.

This is not the first Russian lie about the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian security service. In April, the Russian Ministry of Defense already reported that "the SBU is planning chemical agent provocations near the Yuzhny port in Odessa to accuse Russia of allegedly targeting civilian infrastructure.

In March, Russia spread a fake that the SBU was allegedly "preparing, with the support of Western countries, a provocation using toxic substances against civilians."

Officially noted: The SBU cannot even in theory prepare any provocations with poisonous substances. Because we do not act by the methods of kafirs! Our task is to protect Ukraine. And we carry it out successfully together with all the people. And the invaders and kafirs will surely answer for their atrocities!", - stated in the SBU.

The Ukrainian service pointed out that theses about "SBU provocation" appeared in March after the Russians shelled a peaceful convoy near Mariupol and dropped a bomb on the building of the city drama theater, where hundreds of women and children were hiding. The SBU notes that such statements are only an attempt to distract attention from yet another war crime committed by the Russians.

This is the thesis spread by Russian propagandists, claiming that Carpathian Ukraine was "a small pro-Nazi state" and no one had heard of the Ukrainians of Transcarpathia before 1939. In Russia, the opinion "the Carpathian Sich was a Nazi Ukrainian organization" had spread before. In her study "Revision of History: Russian Historical Propaganda and Ukraine," Olena Sorotsynska analyzed this narrative of Russian historical propaganda: "Secrets" of Carpathian Ukraine: how the Nazi murtads built their 'state'", "In Ukraine another invented Ukrainian 'holiday of independence' is widely celebrated - the 80th anniversary of the proclamation of independence of Carpathian Ukraine" - these are some of the headlines of Russian media about Carpathian Ukraine. Some Russian media identify the OUN with Carpathian Ukraine and claim that this state is a product of the Abwehr. "On September 4, 1938, a meeting was held in Uzhgorod on the initiative of members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists at which the Ukrainian National Defense (UNO) was created. This was the Nazi center that later created the so-called Carpathian Ukraine," writes Novorossiya Information Agency. The occupation of Carpathian Ukraine by Hungarians is explained by the fact that Hungarians were more valuable allies for Hitler than the UUN, so he gave permission for Hungary to seize these territories. "The country of the victorious Euromaidan," which is known to have "no fascism," continues to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the pro-German Carpathian Ukraine declaration of independence," according to the Rus' Unity resource. This is meant to demonstrate "the gravitas of the Ukrainian fascist idea," which, they say, is flourishing today."

The electronic version of the publication is available at the link.

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance has prepared information materials about Carpathian Ukraine. Read more about Carpathian Ukraine.

This was reported in a telegram by the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andriushchenko.

"Today this photo went massively on Russian sub-publics, as if a trophy obtained in battle from the Ukrainian military. In fact, this medal is one of the exhibits of the Mariupol local history museum. Which was stolen the other day, along with paintings by Quindzhi and a unique library.

We are waiting for the appearance of "wheelbarrow", machine gun "Maxim" or German MP40 as a proof of Nazism in Mariupol. Feycomets are looters...", - he noted.

Russian Telegram channels have massively spread a photo of what seems to be Lviv schoolchildren lined up in a swastika on Hitler's birthday on April 20. In fact, the photo is not just of Lviv schoolchildren, not Lviv, not Ukraine, not 2022, and not even a swastika. This photo was taken on April 12 in Penza during a flash mob where local schoolchildren and young people lined up in two numbers 5 to commemorate the 55th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space. You can see it better here:

The thesis of this is dispersed by Russian propagandists. In particular, Vladimir Solovyov reports in his telegram channel that Ukraine has decided to abolish May 9, and in confirmation of this, he adds a document allegedly registered in the Verkhovna Rada. law, according to which May 8 is the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism, and May 9 is a working day. people's deputies registered April 18 the bill actually proposes to celebrate the Memorial Day of all victims of Nazism during World War II, May 8 and 9 with other EU countries to celebrate Europe Day, not yet adopted.

According to State Special Communications Service of Ukraine, for decades now, May 9 has been the focus of the new fascist ideology of the Russian state. It is safe to say that most of today's Russian national identity is based on the victory in World War II, which Russia attributes exclusively to itself. All ideas of Russian exceptionalism, "God-given right to rule" and Russian imperial superiority over other nations have been carefully constructed from the foundation of that same victory, turning what should be a celebration of life and peace into a macabre ritual. We don't want to be a part of it," the agency said.

Social networks and pro-Russian telegram channels spread a video in which the Azov regiment allegedly attacked a convoy of civilian vehicles with humanitarian aid in Mariupol. "No armored cars and tanks, these ghouls saw what convoy was being attacked!" Horrific footage of the Nazi massacre as proof of the crimes of the Nazi ghouls," the reports said.

According to StopFake, this video accusing Azov of attacking a humanitarian convoy was also published in some anonymous telegram channels masquerading as "pro-Ukrainian." In particular, we are talking about the "Sheptun" channel, the moderators of which, according to the Ukrainian Security Service, are employees of the Russian special services. "Claims that the Azov regiment attacked a humanitarian convoy are unfounded and false. This is confirmed by the video footage, which clearly shows - civilian vehicles were moved by Russian military," the fact checkers write. Recall that Russian propaganda calls Azov Nazis and constantly makes up fakes to discredit them and justify their crimes in Ukraine with the so-called fight against Nazis. For example, the Russian military destroyed a maternity hospital in Mariupol under the pretext that "Nazis from Azov" were stationed there. Read more.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in her speech tells how Ukrainians fought to make borshch an exclusively Ukrainian national dish and do not want to share it. In her opinion, this is "xenophobia, Nazism and extremism in all its manifestations. Probably it is a reaction to the official inclusion of borsch in the National List of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine back in 2020 and the corresponding application to UNESCO in 2021 to recognize borsch as Ukrainian at the international level. And it was Russia that repeatedly tried to call the achievements of Ukrainian culture Russian, and a year ago, the Russian media spread a fake that Google recognized borsch as a Russian dish..

Read more: "Already less than 25 million": Russian propaganda counts Ukrainians by the amount of bread consumed. Why is this manipulation?

Such a thesis was spread by former Russian President and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. The politician's statements about Ukraine were spread by a number of Russian propaganda media. Medvedev said that Ukraine had mentally turned into the Third Reich and once again accused Ukrainians of Nazism. In addition, he added that Ukrainianism is a fake that never existed in history and does not exist now. In fact, the thesis that Ukraine is a state that historically did not exist, and consequently Ukrainians do not exist either, is not new to Russian politicians and propaganda. Russia constantly speculates on our history, claiming that Ukraine is an inferior state that did not exist and has no right to exist, because it has no history, culture, etc., unlike the so-called "great Russian culture. Such theses are beneficial for Russian propaganda, because in this way Russia seems to justify its criminal military actions on the territory of Ukraine, claiming that, firstly, everything Ukrainian is a fake, and secondly, Ukrainians have turned into Nazis.

Information about this is spreading in pro-Russian telegram channels by re-posts from the channel of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green from Georgia.

According to ZMIST fact-checkers, the congresswoman accused Ukraine of torturing civilians and Nazism. In her tweets, she refers to a selection of videos in which Troy and ordinary people punish looters by tying them to poles and beating their asses. "The selection itself was presented by a propaganda account, which repeats Russian propaganda word for word and does not provide context for the video. Marjorie Taylor reiterates Russia's propaganda and demands an end to Ukraine's support. But it should be noted that Taylor has repeatedly made contradictory statements, publicly supported the most bizarre conspiracy theories, called for weapons to stop vaccinations against coronavirus - all to attack Democrats and President Biden, so do not trust her words," - said in a statement.

This information is spread by Russian propagandists, who claim that the well-known pacifist slogan "No War" is, in fact, "Nazi". In particular, such a statement was made by "expert on strategic communications" Trofim Tatarenkov.

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, he claimed that this slogan "echoes" the slogan on Nazi leaflets thrown in besieged Leningrad, and the Ossetian slogan always sounded like "We are for peace" and "No war" is that propagated by the Nazis. However, this is not true. According to the Center, the content of Soviet-era anti-war propaganda posters was based mainly on the slogan "No War." However, they were against the "wars of aggression of the US imperialists."

Russian propagandists are spreading a fake that Time journalist Brent Reno, who was killed in Irpen, worked for US intelligence and has experience participating in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brent Reno worked on the TIME Studios project on the global refugee crisis. He came to Irpen to film reports on the city's evacuation and to photograph the aftermath of the Russian shelling.

Despite the confirmed circumstances of the shelling of journalists, Russia is lying that the American journalist was allegedly killed by "Ukrainian Nazis". Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the head of the President's Office, said, that Russian propaganda was questioning Renault's status as an American journalist to reduce the tragedy and lie to Ukraine. The Center for Combating Disinformation added, that this case demonstrates that Russia is doing everything possible to prevent journalists from recording war crimes against the Ukrainian population.

Such information in the media is disseminated by Kremlin propaganda. For example, such reports say that leaflets calling for the "expulsion of Ukrainian Nazis" are distributed in Poland. According to StopFake, pro-Kremlin propaganda has been using the same illustration with the same appeal since 2016, which only confirms the systematic and purposeful approach to inciting hostility towards Ukrainian citizens.

"Agitprop assures that anti-Ukrainian leaflets are being pasted in Poland. However, the same illustration propagandists try to pass off as such "leaflets" is repeated in all reports. The message is mostly spread in anonymous groups Telegram, the Russian social network "VKontakte". The fact that these actions are planned is evidenced by the fact that dozens of profiles of seemingly ordinary users and groups publish messages of the same content. At the same time, some of the users who spread it, according to their information about themselves, are related to the Russian armed forces," the fact-checkers note.

Read more

The Chinese edition of the Global Times published an "investigative material" accusing the Ukrainian Azov Battalion (which later became a regiment) of "neo-Nazism" and the US government of financing radicals. According to StopFake, in this way, they want to demonize Azov, and this allows Russia and its apologists to fan the myth of the alleged rise of radical right-wing sentiment in Ukrainian society.

Read more

Such a statement by the speaker of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zakharova is quoted by pro-Russian telegram channels. However, this is manipulation because even at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities called it a process of so-called denazification and demilitarization, and the current leaders of Ukraine — a bunch of Nazis.

In particular, subscribers of one of such channels (“Сплетница”/the Gossip Girl) ask: "if Ukraine does not declare war on Russia, does it recognize that it is only a special operation to clean the country from the Nazis?"".

In fact, it is a manipulation. Ukraine imposed martial law and recognized Russia's aggression against Ukraine as a real war since February 24, the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion. This way, using manipulations, the aggressor seeks to shake up the situation and reduce Ukrainians’ confidence in their government.

Such reports say that only battalions of Ukrainian Nazis are fiercely opposed. However, this is another fake, because according to official data, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are fighting the enemy at all locations. Official information about this can be found on the website of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense.