The network quotes the representative of the Russian foreign ministry Mariia Zakharova. She believes that the world is “demonizing Russia”, carrying out “forced Ukrainization” and supporting the culture of abolishing everything Russian that exists. Zakharova calls the report on crimes against Ukrainian culture an attempt to “shield the Kyiv regime” and “infringe on the rights of Russian speakers”.

According to the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News”, in this way Zakharova reacted to the statement of UN experts regarding the destruction of Ukrainian identity by the Russians, published on the eve of the anniversary of a full-scale war. UN experts published a report in which they note that Russia continues to “denigrate the history and identity of the Ukrainian people to justify war and hatred”. It says that among the important cultural sites of Ukraine affected by the shelling are museums, libraries and churches.

From February 24, 2022 to March 1, 2023, UNESCO registered 245 cultural heritage sites of Ukraine that were damaged or destroyed due to the war unleashed by Russia. There are 106 religious sites, 20 museums, 88 historical and/or artistic buildings, 19 monuments, 12 libraries among them although they add: according to other sources, there may be about a thousand damaged objects.

According to the report, in Mariupol, Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne, historical buildings were destroyed for 90%. More than 10 thousand works of art were taken out of the Kherson Art Museum. In the Donetsk region, the invaders use burial mounds as field fortifications. The report also reminds that Russians have destroyed important cultural monuments in the temporarily occupied Crimea since 2014.

Thus, the Russians are trying to deprive Ukrainians of their historical and cultural heritage. Also, such messages feed the Russian narrative about the inferiority of Ukrainians. And the words of Zakharova are an example of the substitution of concepts: they say they destroy and devalue Russian culture, and not Ukrainian. Earlier, propagandists said that Ukraine was striking at its own cultural heritage, and the Kyiv totalitarian regime was waging a cultural war against Russia.

Reports are circulating on social media that a sculpture in the shape of a nose has been installed in Milan, around which white powder is scattered. Like, the Italians called the sculpture “Zelenskyi's nose” because it reminds them of the Ukrainian president. This is not true.

In Milan, indeed, they placed a sculpture in the shape of a nose, but it has nothing to do with Volodymyr Zelenskyi. A sculpture with a nose and cocaine is located in the Corso Como shopping mall in Milan. It was created by the Italian activist and artist Christina Donati Meyer. The activist sought to use the sculpture to protest the increase in drug trafficking in Milan, especially cocaine. MythDetector fact checkers note that this sculpture is actually called Bianco Natale, Milano-Medellin (White Christmas, Milano-Medellin).

Russian propaganda systematically creates fakes to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi both in Ukraine and abroad. To do this, propagandists use cartoon graffiti and fake covers of satirical magazines.

Russian propaganda is spreading messages that the actions of the Ukrainian authorities are comparable to the Taliban. They say that the demolition of the monument to Catherine II in Odesa, which was a “sacred symbol” for many Ukrainians, is reminiscent of the destruction of Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley by the Taliban in 2001. The fact-checkers of EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of the message.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the theme of a “single Russian-Ukrainian cultural space” and universal history. Also, propagandists systematically use comparisons of Ukraine or Ukrainians with criminal regimes for manipulation and emotional pressure. The dismantling of the monument to Catherine II in Odesa was repeatedly used to spread messages about russophobia and create a destructive image of Ukrainians. In fact, the monument was dismantled after a long public discussion, that is, in a democratic, not totalitarian way.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC - MP) spread a fake that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allegedly did not receive permission from the administration of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve to hold a service on January 7. The UOC-MP calls Epifanii's intention to hold a service in Lavra an “attempt to seize by force”.

The UOC-MP also said that Oleksandr Rudnyk, the reserve's acting general director, told them on January 5 that he had not received any requests from the OCU regarding the use of the Uspenskyi (Assumption) Cathedral and the Refectory Church for worship.

In fact, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine granted OCU permission, and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra national reserve concluded a corresponding agreement. This, in particular, is confirmed by the acting general director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve Oleksandr Rudnyk, who said that he gave permission to the OCU and concluded an agreement to hold a service on January 7 from 8:00 am to 12 pm.

He explained that the conversation with the UOC-MP took place in the morning of January 5, and in the evening of the same day he received an appeal from the OCU and a corresponding permit from the Ministry of Culture. The representative of the press service of the OCU provided Ukrainska Pravda with a document confirming that the ministry had agreed to hold the OCU service in the Uspenskyi (Assumption) Cathedral.

Telegram channels from the Russian intelligence-controlled network began to spread the message that the Office of the President allegedly “made a list of monuments” that need to be dismantled in Ukraine. That is why in different cities, including Dnipro and Odesa, monuments to Oleksandr Matrosov and Empress Catherine II have recently been dismantled. At the same time, Russian propaganda channels, such as the “Kremlin washerwoman”, Volodymyr Soloviov’s channel and others, spread the thesis that russophobic orders to dismantle monuments to Russian and Soviet figures in Ukraine are given directly in London and Washington. And that is why, supposedly, the US-controlled and UK-protected UNESCO does not make statements about their dismantling.

Firstly, none of the dismantled monuments was protected by UNESCO. Moreover, the monument to Catherine II was generally restored only in 2007, since it was demolished in 1917. Restoring it was an initiative of Odesa officials, which immediately caused a lot of criticism from local activists. Secondly, the dismantling of monuments does not mean their destruction as they are gradually transferred to museums, where they will be stored if they really have artistic value. And thirdly, the list really exists: back in August, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy compiled the top 10 most common toponyms associated with Russian or Soviet figures that really have nothing to do with Ukraine. The list includes Yurii Haharin, Oleksandr Pushkin, Ivan Michurin, Valerii Chkalov, Maksym Horkyi, Mykhailo Liermontov, Oleksandr Suvorov, Volodymyr Maiakovskyi, Oleksandr Matrosov, Volodymyr Komarov. The Ministry of culture and information policy of Ukraine expert council on overcoming the consequences of russification and totalitarianism recommended, first of all, to rename streets, squares, metro stations, squares and other names associated with these people. Monuments to these people from the cities of Ukraine are also gradually dismantled.

Before the start of a full-scale invasion, all these toponyms and monuments existed in hundreds of thousands in Ukraine. And the process of “de-russification” of Ukraine has a simple explanation: it is a military aggression against Ukraine, which was committed by Russia on February 24. Now no one, neither the authorities nor the inhabitants want to have anything to do with the aggressor. This is evidenced by the data of opinion polls: in May, 98% had a negative attitude towards Russia.

This was reported in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. It recommends using Ukrainian swearing instead of Russian obscenities on TV channels.

To create a fake, they used the old emblem of the Ministry of Culture, which has not been in Ukraine since 2019 (the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy was created in 2021). The authors of the “memo” used the Russian word “mat” (swear word), which is not in the Ukrainian language (there is “cuss words”, “curse words” or “dirty words”).

The list of “recommended terms” includes both samples of Ukrainian swearing and literally translated Russian swear words. Such a selection appeared in Runet in the early 2010s, it can be found in the archives of Pikabu and other entertainment sites.

Russian propaganda systematically distributes fake documents on social networks and instant messengers on behalf of various authorities: the Cabinet of Ministers, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, and regional administrations. Thus, they are trying to undermine the credibility of the authorities.

In Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-na-Amuri, as well as in social networks, posters of Vierka Serdiuchka’s concerts performed by Ukrainian artist Andrii Danylko appeared. Like, performances will be called “For my own people”. According to the announcement, the concerts should take place on December 28 and 29.

Andrii Danylko ridiculed this Russian fake: “Are you really there?”.

Later, this information was refuted in Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-na-Amuri, saying that the announcement was a fake, there would be no concert.

In the fake announcement of the performances, it was noted that Vierka Serdiuchka continued to sing in Russian and therefore had problems after the performance in Lviv. Vierka Serdiuchka is touring Europe now.

At the beginning of a large-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, Danylko changed the words in the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai, with which he took second place at Eurovision 2007. Since then, he only sings “Russia goodbye”.

The allegedly new cover of the Turkish humor magazine LeMan is being circulated online. The cartoon depicts a skeleton symbolizing the President, and the inscription: "It is important to take to your heels on time". However, this is not true.

According to VoxCheck specialists, the magazine did not publish an issue with this cover. Fact checkers compared the magazine number and publication date and found that the real cover looks different.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this in the context of the decision to demolish the monument to Catherine II in Odesa. Like, now in Ukraine there is a “cleansing” of the remnants of Russian culture. Further, there will allegedly be a “change in reality”: renaming cities, replacing monuments and names of heroes, the Russian language will be banned “everywhere”, moreover, people will be fined for its use.

In fact, Russia (USSR) has been rewriting history and continued Russification for many years. Now Ukraine is restoring historical truth and Ukrainian culture. Due to Russian aggression, Ukrainians voluntarily refuse to use the Russian language, associating it with the language of the occupier. Russian propaganda manipulates the language issue and uses the "inferiority complexes" of Ukrainian culture and Ukrainians imposed by the Soviet period.

This information was disseminated by Russian TV channels. Like, the students told reporters that it was hard for them to study when the teachers spoke to them in Ukrainian. Now teachers explain in class that Ukrainian language is inconvenient and how Ukrainians themselves get confused with it.

As an example, the TV report shows one of the schools in the temporarily occupied Melitopol, which has been under the control of Russian troops since February 25. Since then, the inhabitants of Melitopol, who stay in the city, have been persecuted by the Russians. For a blue and yellow ribbon or the Ukrainian language, Russian invaders can shoot them, and if, while checking the phone on the street, they find Ukrainian content in instant messengers or somewhere else, they punish people with a fine or imprisonment.

Schools in the Zaporizhzhia region continue to work online. In schools that began to work offline in the occupied territory of the region, children are taught according to Russian textbooks, where history is rewritten according to the KGB manuals, many teachers are brought from Russia, as the locals refused to cooperate with the occupiers. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that all schools in Zaporizhzhia have switched to Russian standards; rather, operating schools have been forced to switch to Russian standards.

On the other hand, to date, about 80% of the Zaporizhzhia region has been occupied by Russians. The city of Zaporizhzhia has never been under occupation, so no one has taught schoolchildren of Zaporizhzhia city and is not teaching now according to Russian standards.

Such information was disseminated by pro-Russian users of social networks and Kremlin propaganda media. Reports said that an accident occurred during the dismantling of a monument to Russian poet Oleksandr Pushkin in Zhytomyr, Ukraine.

Like, one of the activists who advocated the removal of the monument, the bust of the monument fell on his head and the man died. Propagandists added vivid quotations to their texts. For example, they claimed that the bust "smashed the head of the leader of Russophobes like an egg". However, this is fake. Analysts of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case.

In fact, the information about the injury and death of a person during the dismantling of the bust of Pushkin is untrue. From the photo and video materials released by various media, it is clear that no one was injured during the dismantling of the monument. Although the monument itself in Zhytomyr was indeed dismantled on November 11. The video of the incident was published by the press service of the Zhytomyr City Council on Facebook.

The video shows how local utilities remove the bronze bust and erase the name of the Russian writer from the pedestal. The video shows that the bust, transferred to the truck, is not damaged. And the person who participated in the dismantling descends from the stairs and pushes the stepladder to the side. The footage shows that the man was not hurt.

The language issue is one of the key reasons for the manipulation of Russian propaganda. More often, messages in the Ukrainian language are promoted with a negative emotional connotation. Like, the Ukrainian language is “funny”, “village”, “artificially created”, etc.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation has published a number of the most common fakes in the Ukrainian language. Particularly, Russian propaganda often writes that the language allegedly does not matter, that Russian and Ukrainian are the most related languages. Allegedly, speech does not affect national and cultural identity.

In fact, linguistic oppression has been one of the main instruments of Russia's struggle against Ukraine for centuries. The Ukrainian language is an original, natural Slavic language. It has never been artificial, moreover, when forming the literary Ukrainian language, they tried in every possible way to avoid artificial constructions. Dialects of the Ukrainian language have never been dialects of Russian.

According to a survey in February 2022, 56% of Ukrainians named the Ukrainian language of everyday communication, and almost 68% named Ukrainian as their mother tongue. Russian aggression against Ukraine has contributed to the fact that more and more Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine are abandoning Russian and switching to communication in Ukrainian.

This thesis was spread by Russian President Volodymyr Putin, after which it was replicated by Russian propaganda media. Putin is convinced that Mariupol is an ancient Russian city. He also claims that the city was founded by Peter I and created his first military flotilla there. However, it is not so. In fact, in Russian historiography, Mariupol as a city in the Russian Empire was founded in 1778, already under Catherine II. Then the city was called Pavlovsk. However, this was preceded by the existence on this territory of the Kalmius settlement - the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Cossacks - with the settlement of Domakha with the Kalmius fortress as the center. The fact-checkers of The Insider project write about this. In 1778-1779, the Russian authorities evicted the Christian population from there to the Crimea and settled Russians there.

Anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. The message is confirmed by the alleged decision to dismantle the monument to Catherine II. Reports claim that the decision was made on the basis of a "fictitious" vote. Like, the Office of the President gave a clear instruction to the mayor of Odesa, Trukhanov, to demolish the monument, so that the latter is allegedly doing everything possible for this.

In fact, the monument is called the monument to the "Founders of Odesa", and not Catherine herself. However, it is the figure of Catherine whose stone statue is the central figure of the monument that Russian propaganda manipulates the most. The Russian myth about Catherine II as the “founder of Odesa” is spread by Volodymyr Putin among other things.

There is no decision on dismantling yet. On the website of the President of Ukraine, several petitions have been registered regarding the future fate of this monument. Some of them got the required 25,000 votes. According to the current legislation, Volodymyr Zelenskyi submitted a petition to the Odesa City Council with a request to consider it in accordance with its competence.

According to the order of the Odesa Mayor No. 404 dated September 20, 2022, the townspeople had the opportunity to express their opinion on this issue for a month. There were seven options to choose from. About 8 thousand inhabitants of Odesa took part in the voting. About 1800 more votes were blocked, most likely due to problems with identification. The voting results were transferred to the Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Odesa city council for further development and preparation of a draft decision of the city council.

Telegram channels are circulating reports that supposedly Twitter has begun to use special marks not only for Russian, but also for Ukrainian state media. Thus, it is hinted that the Ukrainian state media are just as propaganda-oriented as the Russian ones. This is manipulation. In August 2020, Twitter, indeed in order to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda, began tagging and downsizing accounts controlled by the Russian authorities. In 2021, the social network expanded the list of countries and accounts that it restricts and designates. It also included Belarusian state media.

Now, according to the company's rules, tags appear in accounts from China, France, Russia, Great Britain, USA, Belarus, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates. Thus, they designate accounts: government agencies and organizations; state media, the editorial policy and content of which is influenced by the state; persons (journalists, editors) associated with the specified media. At the same time, Twitter notes that such designations are not used in state-owned media that have an independent editorial policy, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US.

Russian media and pro-Russian social media accounts are circulating videos with the Euronews logo and a similar style of English subtitles. The story says that supposedly the auction house Bolland & Marotz is holding an auction where participants will be able to purchase Dostoievskyi's letters, Chaikovskyi's handwritten notes, a series of Vrubel's sketches and other exhibits. Moreover, after the sale, all these exhibits will allegedly be destroyed, because Russia has discredited itself in the war with Ukraine. So the destruction of the Russian cultural heritage is a logical consequence. It is not true.

According to the Georgian fact-checkers of the MythDetector project, the story spread on behalf of Euronews is fictitious. The video is modified with computer software, the media did not prepare such a story. Auction house Bolland & Marotz also denied the organization of such an auction. The company also said that the idea of ​​such an event is contrary to internal policy.

Russian media are quoting Volodymyr Putin and calling Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a "civil war." According to Russian "experts", Russia's attack on Ukraine is not a foreign intervention, but a "civil battle between two parts of the Russian people".

This message has been promoted since 2014. Thus, earlier they tried to hide the presence of Russian troops on the east side of Ukraine. Now propagandists continue to deny the aggressive policy of Russia against the Ukrainian people. Propagandists use the tactics of substitution of concepts and call the occupation of Ukrainian territories the theses of “reunification of Crimea with Russia”, “civil war in Donbas”. To replace the concept of war, the "special military operation" phrase is used.

There is no “brotherly” and “single Russian people”, this is a Russian myth. According to StopFake, after the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine became the only state that approved its independence by popular vote. The All-Ukrainian referendum on the independence of Ukraine was held on December 1, 1991. The Ukrainian people confirmed their desire to live in a free state - 90.32% of the referendum participants voted for the independence of Ukraine. The turnout in the referendum was 84.18% of the population of Ukraine. After the All-Ukrainian referendum, the worldwide process of recognizing Ukraine as an independent state began - in particular, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 5, 1991.

By showing aggression towards Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, Russia continues to violate international law and a number of international agreements in the field of security, in particular, fundamental treaties guaranteeing the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states, as well as the rules of law governing the basic principles of warfare.

Some of these stories are published under the hashtag "Russian Whisper," which is used for the stories of the residents of Kyiv, which they allegedly tell propagandists. Propagandists published the story of Olya, who allegedly lives in Kyiv without electricity and writes to Russian propagandists that "not everyone here is abnormal," that she is "very much waiting for the Russians" and cannot talk about it because otherwise, she will not live to " of your victory." The fake checkers of the NotaYenota project drew attention to how the Russian letter "ы" is written in the message - the Ukrainian soft sign and the letter "I"- this writing indicates the fakeness of the message. The Russian letter "Э" was also used in the text. Another of the posts under such a hashtag promotes "historical scraps" about a girl whose passport was written that she is Ukrainian, although she has a Russian surname. The post also talks about "Ukrainization in the 20s and 30s", which was allegedly carried out by force, and it was in the USSR that Ukrainians were created. This message is related to the thesis from the article and the speeches of the Russian president. This girl's friend wrote in her passport that she is "Russian," and now she allegedly fasts with Ukrainian symbols. It is how Ukrainian propaganda supposedly "washes the brain."

With the help of so-called "eyewitness accounts," propagandists promote messages about "Ukrainian Nazism" and "discrimination against Russian speakers" and create the illusion that the Russian army is expected in Ukraine "as liberating heroes."

Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin tried to motivate Russians at a "holiday" concert on the occasion of the illegal "accession" of temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia. For this purpose, he suggested reviving the "originally Russian" battle cry "hayda." As it turned out, the cry is not Russian; its etymology dates back to the times of Kyivan Rus. As the fact-checkers of the "Brekhunets" project write, such a word doesn't exist in any "canonical" Russian dictionary. Experts explain that "hoyda" is an exclamation used as a predicate in the meaning of "hoydáty" (swinging). It is the meaning of this word in the dictionary of the Ukrainian language. Also, "swing" was a characteristic of a thin, tall girl in Bukovyna.

Modern Russia has no direct relation to this exclamation. It is an example of another "borrowing" by Russians of someone else's and passing it off as their own. Earlier, propagandists wrote that Ukraine didn't have "historical rights" to the "Northern Black Sea Region" and that the residents of Zaporizhzhia were allegedly "declared" Ukrainians without their knowledge, "in fact," they "have always been Russians."

With such a message, pro-Russian Telegram channels are distributing videos of people, allegedly, trying to get into a shelter during an alarm, but they are not allowed to go. The video is accompanied by comments that "repositories for the chosen ones" have appeared, and Ukrainians, instead of helping in times of need, are "pushing each other under bullets." The posts also say that "there is a mess in the country," and officials only "record videos as if everything is fine."

In fact, the video shows how a group of people forcefully breaks into the premises shouting, "we are in the shelter." However, it becomes clear from the words of the institution's employees that it is a school shelter, and there are children. The girl who posted the video claims that she "knows the law"; therefore, she and other people are "obliged" to be allowed to shelter during the air raid alert.

Following regulatory requirements and recommendations, outsiders may not use the school shelter. The school shelter must be organized so that children can stay safely and comfortably during an air raid, even for a long time. The area of ​​the school shelter, water and food supplies, medicines, ventilation system, and other vital things are regulated by regulations. Therefore, there is no allowance for outsiders to go into the school shelter, so the institution's employees acted by the requirements and took care of the children's safety first of all.

Such news is spread by the pro-Kremlin propaganda media, as well as by anonymous telegram channels. Reports say that Ukrainian children did not learn Russian despite their great desire. Allegedly, the Ukrainian authorities discriminate against the Russian language at the state level. However, this is not true.

According to StopFake fact-checkers, in the Kherson region and in general on the territory of Ukraine, the study of the Russian language was not prohibited. According to Ukrainian legislation, at the request of representatives of national minorities, it is possible to organize a separate class for teaching in the desired language but Ukrainian as the state language should be a priority. In the Kherson region it was not only possible to study the Russian language as a subject, but there were also schools where studies were generally held in Russian.

In fact, according to the law "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language" the language of the educational process is Ukrainian, but no one forbade learning Russian.

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation, pro-Russian telegram channels spread information about holding a large-scale "holiday concert" on the occasion of the completion of the "people's will" in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions and their reunification with Russia. The concert is scheduled for September 30th.

However, in order to create a picture of “enthusiastic” spectators who will publicly “rejoice” at the occupation, the Russians will use the “administrative resource” - the lists of spectators are pre-approved, and attendance at the “celebration” is mandatory. Also, according to the results of the "celebration", men will be granted a respite from mobilization.

Thus, the Kremlin propaganda is trying to impose on the world community the illusion of popular approval of the occupation of the sovereign territories of Ukraine and to legitimize it. In a similar way, Russian propaganda tried to convince that in Kupiansk they rejoiced at the occupation and celebrated the Day of the Russian flag, while temporarily occupied Mariupol allegedly celebrated the Day of the Metallurgist.

In social networks, an alleged video from the Vilnius metro is being distributed, where posters in support of Ukraine were installed, scornfully illustrating the Russian army. The video also allegedly shows discriminatory inscriptions against Russians. It is not true.

There is no subway in Vilnius. In 2018, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania passed a law allowing the construction of the metro. However, the President of Lithuania, Dalia Hrybauskaite, vetoed this law at that time. As the fact checker VoxCheck investigated, most likely the Hong Kong subway is on the video. To create a fake, a clip from the Mexican band Montez De Durango was used. Photos distributed on social networks are edited through special programs.

Russian propaganda uses fake videos and photos to promote the narrative of Russophobia in Western countries. Earlier, propagandists wrote that because of Russophobia in Latvia, it was forbidden to sing “Katiusha” at family feasts.

Like, they were simply “handed Ukrainian passports”, so now they only want to return “to their roots”.

This message is spread by the Russian media in the context of holding illegal referendums in the occupied territories and the narrative about primordially Russian territories.

According to the fact-checkers of The Insider project, in 2001 almost 1 million 927 thousand inhabitants lived in the Zaporizhzhia region, of which 70.1% were Ukrainians and 24.7% were Russians. Ukrainian was named as their native language by 73.6% of the respondents, and Russian - only 24.6%.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has manipulated ethno-national issues. Previously, they said that Ukraine does not have "historical rights" to the "Northern Black Sea" or that the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region have the right to self-determination under the UN Charter. Thus, they are trying to justify the invasion of Ukraine

Anonymous telegram channels and Russian media write about this. Allegedly, the Investigative Committee of Russia will open criminal proceedings on the arrest of teachers in the Kharkov region. The fake got into the Ukrainian information space because of the pro-Russian media and bloggers. They allegedly referred to a comment by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk that the detainees would be tried under Article 483 of the Criminal Code (violation of the customs and laws of war). Like, the punishment for them provides for up to 12 years in prison and they are not subject to exchange, because they are not prisoners of war. Some telegram channels also hinted that not all teachers would live to see the trial. It is not true.

As journalist Iryna Romaliiska reported with reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ukrainian police did not detain Russian teachers in the de-occupied territories of the Kharkiv region. Information about the detention was not confirmed in the office of the President of Ukraine. Subsequently, the Russian authorities denied the information about the detention of Russian teachers in Ukraine.

Most likely, this news was deliberately spread by pro-Russian resources in order to demonstrate the “ruthlessness” of the Ukrainian authorities, and subsequently its “absurdity”. This fake also echoes the Russian propaganda narrative about “Ukrainian Nazis.” Previously, fakes were spread that schoolchildren in the temporarily occupied part of the Kharkiv region were choosing Russian as the language of the studies process.