Anonymous telegram channels write about this with reference to the global rating agencies S&P and Fitch. They say that only "official default" awaits Ukraine, that is, "bankruptcy". It is not true.

Ukraine has not declared a default. Due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there have indeed been significant changes in the state budget of Ukraine. This is stipulated, in particular, by the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law”. The main priority during this period is the defense industry. According to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, after negotiations, the investors agreed to defer payments.

“Thanks to the solidarity with Ukraine of the private investor community, together with the official public sector, we will be able to meet the needs of the country’s state budget at war and keep our public finances stable,” said Ukraine’s Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.

According to Bloomberg, the restructuring process is supported by Ukraine's key allies, including the United States and the International Monetary Fund. The international community understands that Ukraine is now defending itself against a much larger and richer aggressor, so it needs substantial financial support and assistance.

This information is spread by pro-Kremlin and some Ukrainian media. They said that because the Armed Forces of Ukraine are shelling the Kakhovka HPP, it is operating in an emergency mode and this may allegedly affect nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

"This information is not true. The Armed Forces are working as carefully as possible, and exclusively for military purposes and logistical points," Yuriy Sobolevskyi, the First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, said in Telegram.

The other day, the Ukrainian military disabled a bridge near the Kakhovka HPP. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are striking bridges in the Kherson region to complicate logistics for the Russian army, which is based on both banks of the Dnieper in the region. In order not to admit defeat, Russian propagandists launched "news" about a possible nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhya NPP due to the shelling of Ukrainian military bridges in the Kherson region.

Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Ukraine of this at the UN Security Council meeting held on August 11.

He voiced four propaganda messages.

1. The Armed Forces fire at the ZNPP. Russian troops protect it. Russia does not use civilian infrastructure facilities for military purposes.

The statements of the Russian Federation that the Ukrainian army is constantly shelling the ZNPP do not correspond to reality. The Russian army repeatedly tried to pass off its shelling of Energodar residential quarters as shelling of the Armed Forces.

2. Russian military personnel at the ZNPP provide assistance to the station's employees and guard it.

The fact is that the Russian military has set up a military base at the ZANP where the personnel is being held, hostage. In mid-July, gunfights took place on the territory of the station. The risk of making a critical mistake in such working conditions is very high. Russian specialists cannot replace Ukrainian ones, as the ZANP has been modernized in recent years.

3. Ukraine obstructs the IAEA's access to the ZNPP.

The danger for the visit of the IAEA mission to the nuclear power plant is created by Russia due to the constant shelling of the station territory and nearby settlements. Nikopol and Margarets, which are under fire from the Russian military, are only 8 km from the station.

Ukraine sabotaged the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and forced personnel to work without shifts.

4. Ukraine sabotaged the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and forced personnel to work without shifts.

The units of the Russian armed forces, which carried out the forceful seizure of the facilities of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, committed an act of nuclear terrorism. Ukraine did not commit any provocations at its nuclear power plants - this fact was confirmed by international organizations for the regulation of nuclear safety.

The Center for Combating Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council has refuted three fakes about the dismissal of workers during wartime.

1. If an employee doesn’t show up for work and his phone is turned off, he cannot be fired.

Such information is incorrect because Article 36 of the Labor Code was supplemented by clauses 8-3 and now "the grounds for dismissal are the employee's absence at workplace and information about the reasons for more than four consecutive months". If the employee does not answer the phone and does not go to work, he will still be fired.

2. The owner of a non-working enterprise cannot fire anyone due to a lack of raw materials.

This is not true, because according to Clause 6 of Article 41 of the Labor Code "the impossibility of providing an employee with a job is an additional reason for terminating the employment contract at the initiative of the employer." An employee can be fired if he does not have a job.

3. If a person has not received a copy of the order within a certain period, then he/she is dismissed illegally.

Russian propagandists called the Ukrainian attempt to trade from the Odesa port a crime against Ukrainians, who "could get a real Holodomor-2". At the same time, they are distributing a video that allegedly shows a queue of several hundred Odessans for bread. In other videos, the queue is mistaken for the Mykolaiv queue, writes the project "On the other side of the news".

On August 1, for the first time in more than five months, a ship loaded with Ukrainian food (26,000 tons of corn) left the port of Odesa. The export of Ukrainian grain is, first of all, another step towards preventing world hunger. Unblocking the ports will provide at least a billion dollars in foreign exchange earnings for the economy and an opportunity for the agricultural sector to plan next year's sowing, fact-checkers write.

Secondly, export is an annual routine, and Ukraine is among the top ten grain exporters. In the ports of Odesa, 16 more ships blocked by Russia are waiting for their turn.

Russian media wrote that Egypt canceled contracts for the purchase of 240,000 tons of Ukrainian grain, which were supposed to be delivered in February-March, but was never shipped due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Allegedly, this was decided after the visit of the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, to Egypt. The reason, they say, is Ukraine's unreliable information about the volume of grain storage.

According to Reuters, Egypt canceled the contract because Ukraine did not fulfill its contractual obligations in March-April 2022 due to the blockade of the ports by Russian troops. Egypt officially assured the Ukrainian ambassador that it does not refuse cooperation and is ready to continue purchasing grain, writes StopFake.

"Egypt will conclude a new contract with Ukraine for the grain supply, as the Ukrainian side was unable to fulfill its contractual obligations in March-April, 2022, due to the blockade of the ports by Russian troops," said Mykhailo Nepran, the first vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He added that the previous agreement did not provide for a force majeure clause, so they canceled the contract, which cannot be fulfilled, to conclude a new one and make the purchase under it. 

The occupiers distribute invoices with allegedly new details of the water utility and send them to the heads of condominiums. Screenshots of tariffs and requisites were published by the Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevskyi. These accounts do not exist, writes the "Nota Yenota" project.

"The information stated in the material regarding the opening of accounts in rubles does not correspond to reality. It is forbidden to open accounts in rubles in Ukraine. We checked the details indicated in the material. Such does not exist. Details are fake. We ask you to remove the mention of Alfa-Bank from the material and use only verified information, not to mislead readers," Alfa-Bank's press center replied to Kavun.City journalists. In addition, the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) account format is not used in Russia and for the Russian ruble.

Fact-checkers assumed that the goal of the occupiers was either to discredit the utility company or to assure the people of Kherson that "Russia is here forever." We will remind you that earlier propagandists tried to discredit Khersonoblenergo. 

Russian propagandists continue to talk about Russia's invincibility in the war, including because of its economic power. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes that Russia is a mediocre player in the international market. In particular, more than 75% of Russian exports are raw materials, more than 53% are energy carriers, and only 8% are high-tech products. A raw economy is a feature of a colony, not an empire, the Center summarizes.

Russian propaganda will spread the news that The New York Times (NYT) has stated the failure of anti-Russian sanctions. He said, "the West's attempts to stifle the export of Russian oil are returning to him with a boomerang." But it is manipulation, writes VoxCheck. In July, the NYT published an article analyzing the effect of anti-Russian sanctions. In reality, they have not worked as well or as quickly as Western governments had hoped. But this does not mean that the sanctions do not work at all or will not affect the Russian economy in the future. The authors of the NYT article admit that it has not yet been possible to stop the war, as hoped in the West. But not all sanctions have already started to take effect, and the action of some will be effective in the future. Therefore, the thesis of Russian propaganda about the "recognition of defeat" of the sanctions policy is another manipulation.

At the same time, Russian publications spread the news that it is claimed that three companies - Vanguard, Blackrock, and Blackstone, the main capital of which belongs to American funds, bought 17 million hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine. But it is a fake.

All Russian publications refer to the news of an unknown Australian site called Australiannationalreview.com, which does not provide any evidence to prove these claims. The news on the Australian website refers to material on the Auckland Institute, which is devoted to changes in legislation in Ukraine regarding the sale of agricultural land. However, in the report, there is no information about any of the three companies that allegedly bought a third of the land in Ukraine. Moreover, the material of the Auckland Institute appeared on August 6, 2021, and already the news with the names of these three campaigns and the thesis about "a third of the land sold" was published on May 27, 2022, on the Australian website. But it was reprinted in the Russian mass media only on July 26.

According to the State Service for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre write StopFake, 0.26 million hectares were sold in Ukraine during the year of operation of the land market. This figure is about 0.8% of the area of ​​agricultural land (32.6 million hectares) entered into the geocadastre. Thus, the data on 17 million hectares operated by Kremlin propagandists is 65 times greater than the area of ​​agricultural land actually sold in Ukraine.

The Russians have created a "Handbook for Ukrainian citizens on organizing resistance to the Kyiv puppet leadership," in which they advise to sabotage work in socially significant areas - in administrative positions, office workers, employees of government bodies, in the medical and educational fields, law enforcement activities, etc. It is reported by the HUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The manual has 14 pages, which repeatedly use terminology that reinforces the propaganda of hatred towards everything Ukrainian: "Kyiv hunta," "puppet leadership," etc.

The Main Directorate of Intelligence the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine claims that the "tips" encourage people to promote the Russian language (pretending not to understand Ukrainian), slow down the pace of work of state organizations, send various incorrect requests to state structures, make mistakes in the documentation and use more materials, including the number of medical, than required.

Such a thesis is spread on Russian social networks and the Kremlin's propaganda media pages. The reports claim that panic has allegedly started in Europe after Gazprom announced a cut in gas supplies.

Propagandists draw such conclusions after reading columnist Jacob Paul's column for the Express publication. But it is manipulation. In fact, there is nothing in the article on the Express website that there is panic in Europe due to the reduction of Russian gas supplies. As StopFake writes, the author of the material describes Russia's current situation with "gas blackmail" and writes about the European Union's plan to reduce dependence on Russian energy carriers gradually. The article analyzes the case of Germany, which received 55% of its gas from Russia. Still, at the same time, the article discusses ways to get the country out of energy dependence.

The Russian media spread this thesis after the occupiers restored power lines between the Kherson region and Crimea, blown up in 2015 during the energy blockade of the occupied peninsula. Petro Kotin, president of the national energy generating company Energoatom, said that Ukrainian electricity, particularly from the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP, does not reach occupied Crimea. "If there is a threat of stealing electricity from the Ukrainian power system or supplying it from the Zaporizhzhia NPP (to Crimea), appropriate measures will be taken in advance and will need to be carried out by our Armed Forces so that this never happens," he explained to Radio Svoboda. Kotin specified, "Crimea is connected to the Russian energy system; its frequency does not coincide with the Ukrainian one, so the automatic connection is impossible without additional expensive equipment."

In addition, Russian propaganda calls the restoration of power lines "an important step towards the economic integration" of the occupied territories of southern Ukraine in the Russian Federation. The representation of the President of Ukraine in Crimea reported that despite the statement of the occupiers about the readiness of Crimea to "become a transit region" for the supply of electricity to the captured territories of southern Ukraine, the situation would likely be the opposite. "The energy system of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula was never self-sufficient and always required the supply of electricity from other regions. It is extremely likely that in the conditions of the occupation of certain territories of southern Ukraine, particularly the city of Energodar and the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the restoration of high-voltage power lines between the Kherson region and the occupied Crimea can be used precisely to meet the needs of Crimea at the expense of the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP," the Representation noted and added that the theft of electricity by the occupiers could create a shortage of electricity for the needs of the population of the region.

Anonymous Telegram channels promote the message of Ukraine's inability to rebuild, showing how the Russians are allegedly repairing the Melitopol-Berdyansk highway and building houses "even without a referendum."

The purpose of such a message is likely to be psychological pressure on the residents of the occupied territories, as well as to spread the message that Ukraine will not have enough funds to rebuild the country.

Russian media spread information that the Germans are demanding the launch of Nord Stream 2 by the German authorities. Russian propagandists note that the demands of German citizens are caused by alleged fears after Vladimir Putin's statement that the freezing of the gas pipeline took place at the initiative of the German side. This article consists of comments on a German newspaper Die Welt report.

In fact, it is manipulation and one of the tactics of Russian propaganda - to publish comments under foreign publications articles for society's " opinion. " In 2021, Cardiff University's Institute for Crime and Security Research investigated this operation of the influence of Russian propaganda and concluded that the comments of readers who published pro-Kremlin content showed signs of "inauthenticity and coordination." So, the work of the commentators is organized and supervised. This study shows that Russia uses provocative pro-Russian or anti-Western comments in response to articles in Western media, including Die Welt, for its propaganda. "Then these comments are used by many Russian-language mass media, which take them as a basis for materials about politically controversial events. "Marginal mass media" and websites with experience spreading disinformation and propaganda also write about them. This influence operation was uncovered as part of an investigation into online activity amid tensions between Ukraine and Russia in early 2021. But researchers believe that the use of this tactic has been spreading since 2018," the Institute said.    

The Center reported it for Combating Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council in a telegram.

"On the fake Facebook page "Ukraine 24", which has visual features of the official Facebook page of the "Ukraine 24" TV channel, an edited video of one of Zelenskyi's speeches was posted with a call to transfer the person's data; transfer of the bank card number," the message reads.

As noted in the fake video, "all this is necessary for a guaranteed payment of UAH 8,000 to every citizen who has registered."

Such messages and video materials are elements of fraudulent schemes aimed at acquiring personal data and funds of trusting citizens.

Such information is distributed on social networks by blogger Serhii Gula. He published a video that warns Ukrainians not to apply for humanitarian aid from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). For example, the organization does not request permission to process personal data, does not set restrictions on the transfer of collected data to third parties, and does not provide data security guarantees. It is not true.

To apply for assistance from UNICEF, Ukrainians must consent to process personal data. UNICEF has the right to share this data only with other humanitarian organizations, the Ministry of Social Protection of Ukraine, and banks for making payments under the program.

The monetary aid program from UNICEF "Together" is additional support during the war for Ukrainian families with many children (three or more minor children) or families with at least one child with a disability under 18 years of age. As VoxCheck fact-checkers have investigated, to receive financial assistance under this program, it is necessary to provide family members' personal data to check compliance with the program's criteria. Received UNICEF will store personal information for no more than five years from the moment of its last use. The organization claims to store information on a secure server using data encryption methods.

Such information is distributed on social networks. However, it is not true.

PJSC "Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo" denied the report about the disconnection of energy supply in the temporarily occupied territories. The company emphasizes that there are currently no planned power outages in the Zaporizhzhia region, and there will not be any. A similar message was published by the press service of "DTEK Donetsk Electric Networks." The enterprises confirm that there are problems with energy supply in certain territories. Still, they are connected exclusively with damage to power grids due to military actions or difficult weather conditions. However, if there is an opportunity, energy workers have been working around the clock since the first days of a full-scale invasion and restoring electrical equipment as soon as possible.

Earlier, propagandists spread fakes about the disconnection of gas supply in the temporarily occupied territories. In this way, they try to convince the residents of the temporarily occupied territories that they have been "abandoned" or "forgotten" in Ukraine and the occupiers "care" about their well-being.

On Facebook, messages about a fake raffle from the "ATB" supermarket chain were spread, supposedly for the 29th anniversary of the chain for residents of Volyn.

The participants of the so-called raffle were promised several HP laptops and iPhone 13. Fact-checkers of the Brekhunets project discovered another fraudulent scheme.

Fraudsters offered everyone to register to participate in the draw through a special form. Moreover, you need to select "free gift card" and download a document with unknown content, probably a virus or other software tweaks that attackers use to gain remote access to personal devices and their information.

The information about the fake raffle was denied on the official Facebook page of the "ATB" trade network. "ATB" representatives call for vigilance and attention, not to participate in fraudulent promotions, and advise to look for trustworthy information about promotional offers on the company's official website and official pages on social networks.

Previously, we wrote about a fraudulent scheme that allegedly guaranteed Volyn residents payments of UAH 9,800 from the European Union, but instead, criminals tried to steal bank card data.

The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine refutes the main fakes about the return of customs duties and taxes on imports.

The Center explains that cars from the EU do not become more expensive, but customs clearance costs return because many people have abused the "zero" rate. That is why the Verkhovna Rada returned customs duties and taxes on car import and customs clearance.

Information about products from Europe. In connection with the restoration of logistics systems, from July 1, the Verkhovna Rada resumed taxation for goods imported by taxpayers of the single tax's first, second, and third groups. This step will help cheaper goods from domestic producers to compete in the consumer market.

They are spreading a fake that returning customs duties and import taxes will do nothing but corruption. In fact, it is expected that the return of the customs duty will allow replenishment of the budget by at least UAH 3.5 billion every month. These funds will support the Armed Forces and create new jobs for citizens who lost their jobs during the war.

Mykhaylo Onufriyenko, a pro-Russian journalist and blogger from Ukraine, said this on the TV channel of Kremlin propagandist Volodymyr Solovyov "Solovyov Live." He believes that "the Anglo-Saxons, of course, are ready to fight to the last Ukrainian, but Europe does not want to fight." And allegedly, the West does not want to help Ukraine because it thinks about the heating season and whether there will be gas. However, it is not true. Even though the EU is preparing for a complete gas blockade by Russia, support for Ukraine does not stop. Western countries help Ukraine defend itself against Russia and provide humanitarian aid. In addition, the other day, Ukraine received a German grant of 1 billion euros. On July 7, the European Parliament supported the provision of European macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for 1 billion euros.

Such a statement was made by the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council and former President of Russia, President of Russia Dmytro Medvedev.

It follows from Medvedev's words that the previous history of post-Soviet Russia was not taken seriously in the West. He gave the example of the meeting of the leaders of the states in the G8 format turned into the G7 because Russia was not invited there.

"If they ignore you, things are bad as in childhood, when neighbors came to fight in your yard. If you get scared and run home, you are nobody and will not be called anywhere else. And if you hit first, the chances of defending your position become significantly higher," wrote the former president of Russia.

Russian mass media cite the statement of Thierry Mariani, a member of the European Parliament, who is known for his pro-Russian views and visits to the occupied Crimea as part of a fake EU delegation that wrote the StopFake project. Fact-checkers drew attention to the fact that a different position does not reflect the position of the entire European Parliament and the EU, and generalization is a technique for manipulation. Since the beginning of the Russian aggression, the EU has mobilized about 4.1 billion euros in emergency aid. In addition, in May, the European Commission offered to provide Ukraine with additional macro-financial assistance: 25-year loans with a 10-year grace period for the return of the principal amount, writes Bloomberg regarding three EU officials. EU funds will also cover the interest on these loans. More details.    

In social networks, a manipulative thesis is being spread to a foreign audience that the British are allegedly being deceived about the increase in fuel cost after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. As an "argument," they use a comparison of the price of fuel in Ukraine and Britain, and they also call to "wake up and do something."

Fuel prices in Ukraine are lower than in Britain. However, according to Reuters Fact Check, it is due to fuel taxes. At the same time, in both countries, retail fuel prices rose after the outbreak of the Great War. Head of the research department of The Global Economy Project Neven Valev, RAC spokesperson Simon Williams, and Wood Mackenzie chief analyst Isabelle Gilks ​​explained that countries with lower excise taxes on fuel have lower prices. Williams added that Ukrainian gasoline "currently has no excise tax and only 7% VAT." According to Gilks, taxes on petrol and diesel in Britain "include 20% VAT and fuel duty of almost 53p per liter". So the difference in the cost of fuel in Ukraine and the UK is affected by taxation, which does not prove that the public is being deceived about the prices in the UK. This manipulation is being spread to fuel the message of "general war fatigue" and cause the British to mistrust their government, and in the future to encourage them to oppose the government's initiatives to support Ukraine.    

The first deputy chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, Yuriy Sobolevsky, said that the Russian occupiers were dispersing such "news" in the region. However, it is not true.

"The Orcs are spreading misinformation that Ukraine has refused pension provision for the Kherson region. It's fake! All pensions will be accrued," Sobolevsky wrote on Facebook.

He noted that all pensions would be transferred: Ukraine has fulfilled and continue to fulfill all social obligations to its citizens in the Kherson region.

"The problem of issuing money to pensioners who do not have bank cards has not been physically solved because the occupiers have refused the practice of allowing humanitarian convoys from Ukraine from the first days, and now they have suppressed the work of Ukrposhta in the region," explained Sobolevsky.

On June 30, the Kherson City Council confirmed that the Kherson Directorate of "Ukrposhta" ceased its operations in the occupied territories. Resumption of work is possible only under the Ukrainian authorities.

"Ukrposhta survived for four months under the conditions of occupation. Pensions and social benefits were paid to people. From the first days of the occupation, we stopped receiving monetary support for the payment of pensions. It became increasingly difficult to collect money at the expense of paying utility bills and remittances," says a representative of the Kherson directorate of JSC "Ukrposhta."

The City Council stressed that pensions will not be canceled but will be accumulated in accounts at Oshchadbank, and they can be obtained in the controlled territory at any branch of this bank.