Spilnota Detector Media

Manipulation Ukrainian refugees in Riga will be evicted in July

Russian propaganda media spread such information. Reports claim that refugees from Ukraine have been expelled from hotels in Riga since July 1. In such messages, propagandists refer to the statement of the mayor of Riga.

They said that from this day on, the authorities plan to terminate contracts with hotels for the free accommodation of Ukrainian refugees, so they will have to find a roof over their heads and pay for it on their own. However, it is manipulation. In fact, the Mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis, said that from July 1, there might be problems with the resettlement of refugees, but now the authorities are actively looking for ways to solve these problems. According to the mayor of Riga, the municipality provides part of the housing for refugees. Currently, about 2,080 Ukrainians are living in the city. Some of them were moved to more modest accommodation a few weeks ago. More details.

Manipulation Ukrainian refugees in Riga will be kicked out on July 1

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

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

Fake All Ukrainian men under 60 in Poland will be mobilized to participate in the war against Russia

The Government Security Center of the Republic of Poland has found a fake letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland with a request to provide information about all Ukrainian men under the age of 60 who are in Poland. According to the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, this letter is supposed to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine mobilize them to participate in the war against Russia. The fake letter first appeared on the Russian news agency "Krasnaya Vesna" website on February 3, 2022. On June 17, the same fake was repeated by the DNR Joker telegram channel.

In this way, the enemy tries to obtain personal information about Ukrainians abroad for further information and psychological operations to reduce the general trust level in Ukraine.

Fake Pensioners who went abroad because of the war in Ukraine will not receive pensions, and if they do, they will have nowhere to get them abroad, and the money will be lost

The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine denied the fakes about receiving a Ukrainian pension abroad.

Pensions are accrued to all retirees! The bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine and the social protection of the population carry out monthly accrual of pensions and social benefits for both internally displaced persons and citizens who went abroad due to the war in Ukraine.

The funds of those who received a pension from Ukrposhta will not be lost. If you still want to receive payments abroad, you need to change the method of receiving funds and transfer the charges to the card.

Manipulation Germany transfers billions of euros to Ukraine while German pensioners are "starving"

This manipulative thesis is spread on Facebook to foreign audiences. German-language reports claim that while "at home [German] pensioners are starving," the government has provided 22 billion euros to Ukraine and plans to pay even more.

Fact-checkers discovered this manipulation from the German publication Correctiv. According to a government spokesman, Germany has allocated about 1.83 billion euros to Ukraine since 2014, about 1.6 billion euros for various aid programs since February 2022, and about a billion euros for military purposes. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that since 2014, Germany had supported Ukraine for more than two billion euros. "Comparing assistance to Ukraine or refugees with the situation of pensioners in Germany, as they are presented in a Facebook post, is not new. It has only recently been rumored that Ukrainian refugees can receive a pension ten years earlier than Germans, which is not true," Correctiv added.

Fake In Spain, Ukrainians receive 50 euros in aid from any business simply by showing their Ukrainian passport

Russian propaganda continues its attempts to turn citizens of other countries against Ukrainians. This time, information was spread on the network that Ukrainians in Spain could show their passports at any institution in the service sector and receive 50 euros in aid. As confirmation there is a photo from one of the supermarkets where this allegedly happened is added to the posts. However, it is not valid. The refutation was published by Spanish fact-checkers concerning official information from the relevant Ministry and the Red Cross. As it turned out, in Spain, there is an established procedure of targeted assistance to refugees from other countries and low-income segments of the population (both Spaniards and foreigners) by providing special cards (cheques) that can be used, in particular, in stores. Through the Red Cross, aid is allocated to those who need it, not only to Ukrainians, and for different reasons. At the same time, the supermarket chain, one of which was in the illustrative photo, explained that they donated 1.5 million euros to support the Ukrainian people to "cover basic costs." They also explain that the "La Caixa" fund will use this money in Spain and the Red Cross in Portugal and will distribute aid in the form of €50 cards that can be exchanged at Mercadona stores in these countries.

However, such a project is still only in the plans and will be implemented from June to December 2022. Approximately 5,000 people can receive assistance in the form of cards.

Fake Those Mariupol residents who remain in the city are criminals, so they will be detained by Ukrainian law enforcement officers while trying to cross the checkpoint in Ukraine

Such messages are spread on social networks and state that people captured in the temporarily occupied territory will be recognized as criminals in Ukraine. So that they will be detained at checkpoints immediately; however, it is a lie. As Mariupol Mayor's Adviser Petro Andryushchenko explains, Mariupol residents are citizens of Ukraine and are not prosecuted. "We are fighting every day for a general evacuation for all Mariupol residents. And our big house in Ukraine is waiting for everyone with gentle hugs. In addition, four municipal centers, "YaMariupol," are already working separately for each Mariupol resident to provide the full range of assistance and adaptation during the temporary evacuation, "Andryushchenko wrote. Russia needs such fakes to shake up the situation in the city further and convince Mariupol residents not even to try to evacuate to the unoccupied part of Ukraine.

Fake The UN and the Red Cross are evacuating Mariupol for money

The fake telegrams are spreading a fake that the evacuation is being carried out from Mariupol under the auspices of the UN and the Red Cross, but it is necessary to pay for it. In fact, no evacuation is planned from Mariupol at the moment. "No evacuation from Mariupol is planned for now. There were no reports about it - the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko told. - This information is a deliberate deception aimed at obtaining money for transportation from the occupied territories without providing services. In fact, it is a fraud. Phone number of phone scams: +380683279596 ».

In recent times, fraudsters have often manipulated the issue of war in their schemes, the most common of which is alleged financial aid from the state, banks, other organizations, or countries. Hackers also use this topic during phishing attacks. Information on evacuation or financial assistance should be checked on the websites of the organizations that are to provide it or on the resources of local authorities. We warn that fraudsters often create clones of social networking sites, banks, and other institutions. To avoid problems - do not visit these sites by following the link; search for official sites through a search engine and pay attention to their addresses.

Fake Uber refuses to transport Ukrainian refugees around the world

 The Kremlin media spread "news" that the American company Uber is no longer transporting Ukrainian refugees after the high-profile case about the beating of local taxi drivers in Vienna. It is allegedly happening in different countries around the world. As evidence, social media users and Russian propagandists show a screenshot allegedly taken in the Uber application, which states that "we do not serve Ukrainian refugees," "no Ukrainians," etc. The source of such "news" was, among others, the propaganda "correspondent" Alexander Kots, who published a "screenshot" of the application program and stated that "Uber refuses to carry guests from Ukraine." It is noteworthy that this screenshot was distributed only by dubious sites and some social media accounts. The image analysis showed that the phrase about Ukrainian refugees was added with the help of a photo processing program, StopFake writes. Uber has not made such decisions. In fact, Uber has been providing all possible assistance to Ukrainians since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion - for example, launching the Uber Aid Shuttle service, which allows you to get to the border with Poland and back. 

Fake Bulgaria has admitted that it was a mistake to give up on Russian gas and plans to change its mind

Russian propaganda media spread the news based on an interview with Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov, who allegedly complained that the decision to refuse to pay in rubles for gas was too ill-considered and hasty, and now Bulgaria wants to overturn its decision. He also complained that the gas Bulgaria bought from the United States was too expensive.

According to Russian fact-checkers, Nikolov did not say this in an interview. On the contrary, the Minister of Energy stated that Bulgaria bought American gas cheaper than Russian. He also spoke about the use of gas as a tool of influence and the prospects for resuming negotiations with Gazprom on gas purchases:

At the same time, firstly, Russia is at war and an aggressor in this war; secondly, a particular company "Gazprom" is used as a political tool to create tension, and thirdly, in the commercial part, the most unpleasant - the fact that Russia is unpredictable partner, I do not think it makes sense to comment on whether to hold further negotiations with the company, " said Nikolov. It is not the first time Russian propaganda has deliberately lied about Bulgaria. Earlier, she had spread a fake that Bulgaria had decided to evict Ukrainian refugees.

Disclosure Content that discredited Ukrainian refugees and promoted Russian narratives was broadcast on 27 Polish-language telegram channels

Givi Gigitashvili and Esteban Ponce de Leon, specialists from the Digital Forensic Research Laboratory (DFR Lab) of the Atlantic Council, identified 27 Polish-language Telegram channels that disseminated misinformation about refugees from Ukraine. It is reported that several channels initially published content in Russian but eventually switched to Polish. According to experts, the promoted content is unfounded because of anti-refugee, pro-Kremlin and anti-vaccination theses. According to researchers, the purpose of the channels is to influence public opinion about people who come to Poland from Ukraine. Read more.

Fake The Bulgarian government has deported more than 30,000 Ukrainian refugees

Information about this appeared on social networks, and Russian-speaking users spread this message. The posts said that "the Bulgarian government has deported more than 35,000 Ukrainian refugees recently." The video, added to the post, shows a small group of people standing on the street with luggage. However, this is a fake. The Bulgarian government has not deported 35,000 Ukrainian refugees. According to the fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project, according to the new system of reception and accommodation of refugees in Bulgaria, Ukrainian refugees were relocated to hotels and government agencies in different country regions. The Ukrainian media broadcasted the video attached to the post, and instead of expelling Ukrainians from Bulgaria, it illustrates the work of the new accommodation system.

The fact is that the first three-month stage of receiving Ukrainian refugees in Bulgaria ended on May 31. Under this system, the Bulgarian government paid 40 levs a day to hotels hosting refugees. In a statement issued on May 13, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Kalina Konstantinova described the details of a new phase of refugee resettlement. According to her, the information that the first stage will end on May 31 was known from the first day of its launch. As the tourist season approaches, the Bulgarian government has decided to relocate Ukrainian refugees to government offices in various parts of the country rather than deport them. We will remind you earlier that a network already distributed a similar fake on this subject. However, at the time, it was said that Ukrainian refugees were being evicted from hotels in Bulgaria for misconduct rather than the deportation of 35,000 people.

Fake Ukrainian refugees are being expelled from hotels in Bulgaria

Russian propaganda media spread reports of this content. They claim that the Bulgarian authorities are allegedly removing Ukrainian refugees "on the street" from those hotels in resort areas. According to StopFake, some users of the network claim that Bulgaria has allegedly announced the beginning of the procedure of eviction of refugees from Ukraine "because of their bad behavior and disrespect for the local population." However, this is not true. According to fact-checkers, the Bulgarian state program, which covers free accommodation and meals for Ukrainian refugees in hotels, expires on May 31. After that, refugees in need of asylum will be relocated to state, municipal, or departmental bases or to private hotels, which under the new conditions, participate in the New State Humanitarian Program to accommodate displaced persons from Ukraine. 

Fake Ukrainians in the EU are alleged "massively tested" for tuberculosis "because they know about NATO's biological activities in Ukraine"

Russian media spread another disinformation statement by Maria Zakharova about "the activities of American bio laboratories in Ukraine," which allegedly "engaged in activities aimed at enhancing the pathogenic properties of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases using synthetic biology." That is why Ukrainian citizens are allegedly being "massively tested" for tuberculosis at the entrance to the European Union.

According to StopFake, this Russian fake is designed to frighten and sow distrust of Ukrainian citizens in European countries. After arriving in the EU, Ukrainian citizens do not undergo any medical tests, including tests for the presence of tuberculosis. Due to Russia's aggression, European countries have lifted all restrictions on Ukrainians entering the European Union. The European Commission explains that "the absence of travel or medical documents (e.g., vaccination certificate, COVID-19 test) will not prevent you from entering the EU". The European Union has also weakened customs and veterinary controls for Ukrainians: “Ukrainian citizens are free to enter the EU with their belongings and pets.”

The European Commission's information bulletin states explicitly that even with the absence of a biometric passport for travel abroad, a regular passport, or any other identity document, Ukrainians have the right to enter the European Union on humanitarian grounds. In this case, the undocumented Ukrainian should remain available to local authorities in a safe place in the EU. Learn more about "biological weapons" from fleas, mosquitoes, and lizards.

Fake Three million Ukrainians want to flee to Russia

Russian media spread a fake from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that allegedly three million Ukrainians "want to flee" to Russia. This is not the first time that Russian propaganda has spread the manipulative thesis that Ukrainians want to "flee to the Russian Federation from the arbitrariness" of Ukraine. Data from the Ukrainian government and international organizations show that Russia has forcibly removed 1.2 million people from Ukrainian territories and forced them to pass through filtration camps. There have also been numerous cases of deported Ukrainians escaping from Russia to EU countries. "A huge part of the Ukrainians recorded in Russia are people who were illegally deported to Russian territory by the Kafirs. The Kremlin, while promoting the narrative of "peaceful Russians" toward Ukraine, deliberately substitutes the concept of "voluntary refugees" and "forced deportation. The illegal removal of Ukrainian citizens from the seized territories is not an evacuation of refugees, but the forced relocation of Ukrainian citizens to the territory of the aggressor country," writes StopFake.

According to a sociological survey by the "Rating" group, 93% of Ukrainians believe in Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia, and 89% support the recognition of the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine as "genocide of the Ukrainian people." "This is why the Kremlin's narrative about 'Ukrainians dreaming of fleeing from arbitrariness to Russia' is based on speculation rather than facts," the fact checkers added.

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Manipulation Poland is tired of Ukrainian refugees, so the local police started supporting Russia and gluing "Z" on their cars

A video of a Polish police car with a sticker - a blue "Z" sign - is spreading in social networks. In such messages they write that Poland is supposedly tired of Ukrainian refugees, so it started supporting Russia. The message of fatigue or dislike for Ukrainians who left the country has been promoted since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Thus, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit Ukraine's allies and provoke conflict within Ukrainian society.

Manipulation Britain deports Ukrainian refugees to Africa.

Russian media write that the British authorities, which is "the main beneficiary of the long and destructive confrontation with Russia for Ukraine," intend to deport all refugees from Ukraine to eastern Africa, to Rwanda.

"This possibility is linked to a new asylum policy that allows for the deportation of refugees to former British colonial countries like Rwanda (a country in East Africa - Ed.)," propagandists wrote.

The information that Ukrainian refugees arriving in Great Britain will be sent to Rwanda is a manipulation.

In order to suppress smuggling routes across the English Channel, the UK can expel to Rwanda people who arrived in the country illegally, failed to pass British security checks or made unnecessary secondary movements from countries that are considered safe. Currently, there are two safe and legal routes for refugees from Ukraine to enter the UK - the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Home for Ukraine Scheme. Read more.

Manipulation . Ukrainian refugees beat a Pole to death.

Russian propaganda media and telegram channels spread claims that Ukrainian refugees killed a Pole. The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council writes, that there is no mention of this case in the Polish media. However, the killing of a man in the center of Warsaw on May 8 was widely reported in the national and local Polish media. The man tried to fend off women and then killed in a group of people. A video of the murder, where the Russian and Ukrainian words of the person recording the video can be heard, is being circulated on social media.

Warsaw police are now investigating the case and are not releasing information, but prosecutors have already said, that at this point the investigation has no evidence that "any foreigners" were involved in the murder.

Fake Germany has begun the procedure for filtering Ukrainian refugees.

Information about this began to spread actively in social networks. Such messages spread a video in which a man states that Germany has finally started filtering refugees from Ukraine, and that now they will have to report all of their property. And if, for example, the value of the car will exceed 7,500 euros, in which case it will have to sell it and live on these funds, or the Ukrainians will face criminal liability for concealing information.

According to StopFake, the video has already garnered millions of views from both Meta and TikTok. However, such a claim is not true. According to StopFake, Germany does not do any filtering of Ukrainian refugees. "Still Germany accepts all refugees from Ukraine. Ukrainians do not have to apply for asylum, but they are given temporary protection, which includes all social benefits under Article 24 of the Residence Act. After registration with the authorities, this protection will be valid for one year and can be extended up to three years," the fact checkers wrote.Read more

Disclosure Fraudsters are sending out a fake chatbot E-support.

According to the Center to Counteract Misinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, they spread a link to a fake bot online with the following text: "ATTENTION! The Center to Counteract Misinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine clarifies in which areas, according to the government decision, IDPs can receive state support". According to the Center, at the end of the message adds a link to a simulated chatbot leading to a fake "PrivatBank" page.

"We inform you, in all of its messages about payments, the Center did not provide a link to any chatbot, emphasizing that payments will be made only through the app "Action". In turn Action" no Telegram bots "Epitrumka_bot", explain in the Center.

Fake A Polish-Lithuanian contingent was introduced in Ukraine.

Russian propaganda channels spread a letter about "the introduction of a Polish-Lithuanian contingent into Ukraine," which the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly sent to the head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. This fake is part of the narrative about Poland's alleged plans to seize Ukrainian territory.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine objected that they sent a similar letter to the Border Guard Service. The administration of the State Border Service of Ukraine also said, that it had not received such a letter. The agency specified that in Ukraine such correspondence is carried out only through electronic document flow. "In addition, in the letter propagandists made a number of both grammatical errors and concerning the Ukrainian border. It is possible that the text of the content of the letter in Ukrainian was translated with the help of an online translator, - said in the State Border Service. - We consider the appearance of the falsified document in the information space to be another dirty provocation of Russian propaganda."

Fake Ukraine has banned journalists from publishing footage of the aftermath of missile strikes in order to hide the truth.

The Russian media is spreading a fake that in Ukraine journalists, especially foreign journalists, are banned from filming and publishing the aftermath of Russian airstrikes to allegedly conceal the truth and "prevent the spread of accurate information about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian propagandists write that this "ban" is due to the fact that foreign media footage may confirm their thesis that "the Russian military only strikes military targets. In fact, there are thousands of photos and videos online, from Ukrainian and foreign media, confirming that Russia is striking civilian infrastructure.

As for journalists: they can publish photos and videos of civilian objects 3 hours after the end of hostilities, and of military objects 12 hours later. The Ministry of Defense did ask Ukrainians not to publish photos and videos of the movement of Ukrainian equipment, faces and other military data not to report on military equipment of the AFU with reference to settlements, and not to show the consequences of Russian airstrikes live on air. Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar said, that Russia monitors Ukrainian social networks, press, official pages - 80% of intelligence information is taken by the Russians from open sources. It is then used to adjust fire or select new targets for attack. Read here what exactly should not be reported and shown in the media during the war and why. . Moreover, Russian propagandists manipulate the idea that the work of foreign journalists is more restrictive than that of Ukrainian journalists. In fact - on the contrary. Read more about this here.

Fake Three Ukrainian banks will pay Ukrainians two thousand hryvnias each.

This information is distributed in local anonymous telegram channels. In particular, those in Volyn and Rivne. The messages say that each user of "PrivatBank", "Monobank" and "Oshchadbank" will be paid 2,000 hryvnia. As the factchecker of the project Brekhunets write, the text adds that the aid can be received as a lump sum, and to arrange only until May 10. "They add pictures with the logos of banks to the message, which immediately attract attention. In order to "register" for the money, you need to click on the name of the bank and, of course, follow a link to another telegram channel. On the official pages of the banks, we could not find information on payments to customers of 2,000 hryvnias until May 10. The press service of PrivatBank confirmed to us that this information was untrue. By the way, we also came across identical messages in the chats of all-Ukrainian telegram channels," the fact checkers wrote.

Fake The U.S. refused to accept Ukrainian refugees.

At the beginning of May, the Conservative Movement group, in particular, published information on Facebook that the United States allegedly refused to accept Ukrainian refugees and queues of Ukrainians were already gathering at the borders, whom Washington did not care about. The reports also added that Zelensky does not respond to such actions by the U.S. However, as Myth Detector Project fact checkers write, the claim that the United States has refused to accept Ukrainian refugees is false, and the manipulation is reinforced by the fact that since April 25, the United States changed the rules for accepting refugees from Ukraine, which caused a temporary delay at the border. "Ukrainian refugees need to fill out a special application, considered on a case-by-case basis, and find a sponsor to fund their stay," the fact checkers wrote. However, this is not a refusal to accept refugees from Ukraine. As a reminder, Russia has already repeatedly spread a similar thesis that Ukrainian refugees are refused to be accepted in EU countries. In particular, in Poland and Germany. Propagandists also spread fakes about Ukrainian refugees allegedly committing crimes in those countries. Thus, by reporting that the U.S. and other countries are refusing refugees from Ukraine, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit allies in the Russia-Ukraine war. Read more.

Fake The Russian army "entered the Luhansk Oblast frontier near Popasna.

This information is spread by Russian propaganda media with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, according to Luhansk OVA chairman Sergei Gaidai, this is not true. "The Russian ministry of assassins has again reported. This time in their fantasies they "went out to the Luhansk Oblast administrative border near Popasna." Also flew to Mars and captured it. There are no victories, and from the zombie TV you need something to tell your citizens, so imagination becomes a help. Our troops withdrew from Popasna to more fortified positions. The defense is strong. There are no breakthroughs," Sergei Gaidai wrote.