The BBC Disinformation Team found that the UK-registered publication Yala News has Syrian roots and distributes content that reflects the theses of the Russian propaganda media.

BBC analysts tracked Yala News's most popular videos over the course of a year and found that many of them resonated with Russia-sponsored disinformation. Thus, Yala News reported on the US plans to use birds as a biological weapon to carry diseases to Russia, the staging of massacres of civilians in Bucha, Zelenskyi’s video message to Ukrainians allegedly intoxicated, and the flight of the Ukrainian military from the front line. All this news was first published in the Russian propaganda media, and after a few hours such videos appeared on Yala News.

The analysts also said that the Yala Group (the parent company of Yala News) is registered in central London at an address shared with more than 65,000 other firms. There are no physical offices or Yala Group employees there.

With the help of geolocation tools, the BBC team was able to find photos of employees and offices of the Yala Group on Facebook. They are located in the suburbs of Damascus. Most of the employees' social media profiles also show they are based in the Syrian capital. This information was confirmed by one of the former employees of the company.

The founder and CEO of Yala Group, Syrian businessman Ahmad Moemna, lives in Dubai. When asked by the BBC team about the presence of pro-Russian videos on Yala News, he replied that the content provided on this news resource is objective and impartial.

However, specialists in the study of Russian disinformation told the BBC that the timing of the distribution of news videos and their similarity to the Kremlin theses may indicate that Yala News is likely serving as a tool for disseminating Russian propaganda through foreign media, so as not to look like these theses come directly from the Kremlin.

Russia often tries to spread misinformation to international audiences. For example, Detector Media investigated what kind of disinformation narratives Russia is spreading in Eastern Europe in order to achieve political goals.

Finland is a neutral state, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it radically changed its status and became the 31st member of the largest military-political alliance. Now Russia borders NATO on the entire western border (except for Ukraine and puppet Belarus) and the Alliance controls the vast majority of the coast of the Baltic Sea. If Ukraine's desire to join NATO supposedly forced Russia to launch a preemptive strike through an invasion (first in 2014, then in 2022), then the real accession of neighboring Finland to the Alliance caused a much weaker reaction. Putin said that Moscow does not have such problems with Helsinki as with Kyiv. That is, there are no territorial disputes or other types of confrontations, which is why the reaction to Finland's entry into NATO is so soft. Such statements by the Kremlin sound like attempts to justify themselves and smooth things over. Russia reacted to Finland's accession to NATO with a number of propaganda messages, we have highlighted some of them.

1. Russian propagandists made a number of “strict remarks”. Allegedly, Finland has become a state unfriendly to Russia, so the Kremlin will “take military-technical measures” in response to NATO expansion. This message is intended to assure the domestic audience that Russia is ready for different scenarios. Allegedly, Russia is making a symmetrical (actually rather symbolic) retaliatory step. And although the border between NATO and Russia has doubled, if necessary, the Kremlin can fight back. But does a change in the geopolitical vector really mean an “anti-Russian turn”? Joining NATO is about own security and the security of the region, and not about hostility towards Russia.

2. Propagandists claim that Finland's membership in NATO means the loss of Finnish sovereignty and geopolitical weight. According to them, Finland has become one of the weak world players, which does not decide anything in international affairs. In fact, joining NATO means strengthening the defense capability, and collective security only reinforces the synergy and complementarity of the forces of the allies. Such remarks on the part of the Kremlin propagandists are an attempt to shift the attention and present the biggest problem of Moscow: the entry of a neighboring state into an unfriendly (according to Russia) military-political union is a problem of Finland itself.

3. Joining the Alliance will be costly for Finland. The key indicator of allied military spending reaches 2% of GDP, so the state’s economy will barely “pull” the defense budget, this will hit the pockets of ordinary Finns, Russian propaganda assures. After the start of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, NATO countries faced the need to increase defense spending, so the next summit in Vilnius may agree on a minimum level of defense spending for NATO members at the level of 2%, which was previously considered a desirable indicator. In fact, in 2022, Finland’s defense budget has almost reached the coveted mark of 1.96%, so the manipulation of the Russians looks unconvincing. Rather, this is another attempt to divert attention from the main issue - the fact of entry - from the topic of economics.

4. NATO does not plan to deploy its troops in Finland. Propaganda is trying to reassure that Russia has everything under control, and the actions of the Alliance on its eastern flank will be coordinated with the Kremlin. Again, this is a game for the domestic audience and an attempt to reassure the discouraged Russians, who were told that the next wave of NATO expansion to the east was unacceptable, but when it took place, the propaganda began to assure that nothing terrible had happened, because NATO soldiers in Scandinavia will not approach the Russian border.

5. Finland is in NATO, and Ukraine is led by the nose with promises. Like, Finland easily joined the Alliance, while Ukraine is on a thorny path because of the war, huge losses and unpopular reforms. Thus, Russian propaganda wants to devalue the Euro-Atlantic course of Ukraine and convince that Kyiv's hopes of joining NATO are useless. In reality, a state that is at war cannot be accepted into the organization, because this will automatically mean the activation of the fifth article of the Washington Treaty (an attack on any ally is regarded as an attack on the entire Alliance). In 2018, Ukraine was recognized as an aspiring country (a state intending to become a member of the Alliance). And in 2022, Ukraine announced that it was applying to join NATO, however, this document is purely political and has no legal significance. Despite this, Ukraine is a candidate for membership, and we have every chance to realize our intention after the final victory of Ukraine in the war.

On April 4, former US President Donald Trump was formally arrested in order to be charged in court on 34 paragraphs in criminal proceedings for financial fraud. They are talking about the manipulation of funds intended for the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The case was the first in history criminal proceedings opened against the President of the United States. This information drive interested the authors of anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric. Detector Media singled out the main theses from their messages.

Trump's arrest should be regarded as US interference in the presidential election

Propagandists claim that the arrest of Donald Trump is a trick of the Democrats in power. They say that the opponents are afraid of a stronger competitor, and it is no coincidence that the process fell precisely at the beginning of his new election campaign.

Thus, the authors of such messages play along with the message of Trump himself that the results of the American presidential elections are easy to rig. This he claimed during his loss in the 2020 elections, calling them rigged. As of 2021, Donald Trump appeared in a number of criminal cases not only as a witness, so the new criminal proceedings against him cannot be called sudden. In particular, we are talking about cases of financial fraud in the Trump Organization fund, fraud with tax documents, neglection of the US Constitution during the presidency, abuse of power, sexual harassment and fraud during the distribution of family heritage. However, American law does not prohibit campaigning even with suspicion in a criminal case, which Donald Trump is now using.

If Trump wins the next election, Joe Biden should be arrested for his son's machinations in Ukraine and sanctions should be lifted against Derkach and Dubinskyi.

Propagandists claim that current US President Joe Biden has many more sins than Trump. An example of this is the situation with the Ukrainian company Burisma, which was led by Hunter Biden, the son of the American president. Moreover, according to propagandists, Trump, subject to his return to the White House, must lift sanctions from Ukrainian ex-people's deputies Andrii Derkach and Oleksandr Dubinskyi, because allegedly they were right and tried to expose Biden's deals.

Thus, propagandists substitute concepts and divert attention from Trump's actions. Like, Trump is bad, but others are even worse. The details of the Burisma scandal were already actively discussed during the impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019, when he tried to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Trump has demanded a speedy investigation into the Burisma case in exchange for military and financial assistance.

Trump trial judge is incompetent

In their messages, propagandists refer to Politico materials that the judge conducting the current proceedings against the ex-president of the United States is biased, therefore the consideration of the case is unfair and cannot be recognized as legitimate. The authors of the messages draw such conclusions on the basis of the fact that the judge issued sentences that are disappointing for Trump in a number of other cases related to the finances of the ex-president and his institutions. However, they are far-fetched, since they are made purely on the basis of the above statements.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to show that the American judiciary is corrupt and cannot be trusted. Like, the United States teaches us, but they themselves have a lot of problems. However, propagandists once again take specific statements out of context. The original materials on this topic say that the judge is not biased. On the contrary, it is said that he is better suited to the case due to significant experience with cases involving Trump.

Now the US will forget about the war in Ukraine

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric claim that the Donald Trump case will attract attention in the information space of the United States, so Ukrainians can already forget about support from the United States. Like, everyone will now think about the elections of 2024 and the fate of Trump.

Thus, the authors of the messages seek to show that the United States is gradually distancing itself from the war in Ukraine. However, the next face-to-face meeting on this Trump case will take place in December this year. Accordingly, Trump will continue to attract the attention of the world only as part of his presidential campaign. The war in Ukraine is one of the main issues among the programs of potential candidates, and even Trump does not bypass it.

Even if Trump is found guilty, the maximum he will receive is a fine.

Propagandists say: no one will jail Trump, they don’t give prisoners for financial fraud, so one shouldn’t worry.

In this case, they play down the problem and leave hope for Trump's return to the White House. During the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion, the ex-president praised Putin, and now, during his election campaign, he repeats that he would end the war in 24 hours. Numerous investigations during his presidency proved Trump's ties to Russia, which influenced his political decisions. This explains the hopes of the Russians - Trump can isolate the United States from the war in Ukraine and play in favor of Russia. However, the current proceedings are criminal, not administrative, and as a result, the ex-president can really be put behind bars. However, American law does not prohibit campaigning even from there.

On the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, Russian institutions of public diplomacy in Poland, namely the “Russian houses” in Gdansk and Warsaw, distributed propaganda rhetoric on their official pages on social networks.

Analysts of the Polish project Demagog drew attention to this. In particular, they found reposts of a mini-rally on the occasion of congratulations for Russia on the “reunification of Crimea” from the Polish people on the Facebook pages of “Dom” (House). They say that the Poles really support Russia and have long recognized Crimea as part of Russia. However, the video that was distributed on these pages shows that only a few people can be found at the “rally”.

“Russian houses” is an institution aimed at spreading Russian culture and language abroad. However, since it is directly subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its rhetoric coincides with that of the department. The case involving the annexation of Crimea is not alone. Specialists from the same Demagog project also talked about how the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine were called Russian ones on the official accounts of “Russian houses” in social networks. Thus, the propagandists want to try to legitimize the violation of international law, which is in fact the temporary occupation of Ukrainian lands.

Propagandists are constantly spreading information that allegedly neighboring countries of Ukraine from its western border are preparing to attack and occupy part of it. If earlier anonymous one-time accounts were used for this, now pro-Russian bloggers are also spreading such rhetoric.

Analysts of the NotaYenota project drew attention to this tendency. They noticed that in the network of telegram channels spreading Russian rhetoric, there were more messages that Romania and Poland were already preparing to occupy Ukraine, and the local population was only happy about this. Like, why does Ukraine need evil Europe which divided it. NotaYenota specialists also claim that such activation occurred simultaneously with the launch of targeted advertising for materials with a similar message.

In this way propagandists want to again divert attention from the crimes of the Russians and shift responsibility for them to other forces. Like, Russia allegedly cares about the Ukrainians, and Europe is only looking for an opportunity to stab in the back and betray Ukraine. This is not the first time that Russians have resorted to such a message. Detector Media has already investigated the danger of the narrative that Poland is allegedly going to occupy the Ukrainian western part.

On March 18, in the Polish city of Kielce, a conference “Does war threaten us?” (Czy grozi nam wojna?) was held. The event was broadcast live on YouTube, and the speakers were those who have been spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the Polish information space for a long time. Specialists of the Polish project Demagog highlighted the most important anti-Ukrainian messages from the conference.

1 Yanukovych was stripped of power in an anti-democratic way

One of the speakers noted that allegedly the ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych was deprived of power contrary to the principles of democracy, and one should not call him a usurper or a dictator. To prove his thesis, he says that in 2010 Yanukovych was elected in elections that were held “according to all democratic standards”.

Propagandists thus again want to discredit Euromaidan and its influence on Ukrainian society. Like, this is a coup d'etat, which was organized by Washington to bring Ukraine to the brink. However, one of the reasons for the start of Euromaidan was the laws and decisions of Yanukovych, which went against public opinion, and protest is an important element of democratic processes in Europe, especially in Ukraine.

2. Ukraine will no longer return Crimea, and Kyiv started the war in Donbas

At the conference, the opinion was also voiced that the future of Ukraine was supposedly very vague, and the Russians made sure that Crimea remained “in their hands”.

Thus, propagandists want to legitimize and justify the illegal actions of Russia. Like, why does Ukraine need Crimea if it itself is falling apart? However, it was Russia that destabilized the region with its actions and illegally annexed Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories. It was Russia that also started the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, hiding behind the “protection of the Russian-speaking population” of these regions.

3. Kyiv regime forbids Ukrainians to speak Russian

The speakers of the event argued that Ukrainians from Donbas are afraid that “they are forced to learn a new language, that children will now speak Ukrainian ... They want a referendum”.

Through this message, propagandists want to demonize the Ukrainian authorities and justify Russia's crimes by “protecting the Russian-speaking population”. However, in addition to the fact that the Ukrainian language has always been the only state language, and Ukrainian legislation does not impose restrictions on the language of everyday communication, Russia arranges air attacks mainly on cities and regions where the use of the Russian language is common.

4. Everyone was silent when Ukraine bombed Donbas for 8 years

At the conference, one could also hear that “for 8 years, people living in the Donbas were often bombed, fired upon, and no one somehow wept over the fate of those children who died in schools…”. They say that this did not bother anyone in Ukraine and Poland, and Kyiv fired at these people.

This message is a classic example of Russian disinformation. Thus, the propagandists want to justify the crimes of the Russians. It seems that a full-scale war against Ukraine is revenge for the suffering of the inhabitants of Donbas. However, it was not Ukraine, but Russia that started hostilities there in 2014 and is ruthlessly destroying the territory of the region.

5. The war against Ukraine is part of a major plan of the world government, and very soon Ukraine and Poland will turn into “Ukropolin”.

The speakers of the event said that the war was started in order for Europe to start building “New Jerusalem, Heavenly Jerusalem, Crimean California, New Khazaria, Ukropolin”. Moreover, as proof of these words, they claim that the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has already stated that Poland and Ukraine will allegedly unite into one state.

In this case, the propagandists turn to the now popular conspiracy theories to shift the responsibility for the crimes of the Russians to someone else. Like, these are all the tricks of the world government, and we are all just hostages of political games. In the answer above, one can also see anti-Semitic overtones: according to conspiracy theorists, the world government consists of Jews and in this way they take revenge for all the bad things that happened to them before. However, if to talk about Duda’s speech, which the speakers refer to, it is about the speech of May 3, 2022, where, within the full context, one can understand that the Polish president is talking about the amount of assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. Moreover, in this speech, he even emphasizes that Poland will help “the restoration of Ukraine: strong, sovereign, independent”.

The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine reported that in January-February of this year, the governmental computer emergency response team CERT-UA handled more than three hundred cyber incidents and cyber attacks, which is almost half as many as in the corresponding period last year. The department explains the then high activity of Russian hackers by the preparation of Russia for a full-scale invasion.

Since the beginning of 2023, CERT-UA has recorded an increase in the number of cyberattacks for the purpose of espionage, with an emphasis on maintaining permanent access to the organization. In addition, most of the malware distributed by Russian hackers is data collection and remote access to devices.

According to specialists from the State Service for Special Communications, Russia is thus preparing for a long war and is trying to obtain any information that can give an advantage in the war against Ukraine, including data on the mobilization and logistics of Western weapons.

According to the Security Service of Ukraine, new facts have emerged confirming that even in the conditions of war, Russia attracts minors to spread disinformation in Ukraine.

In particular, the SSU exposed a group of teenagers involved in the dissemination of a series of anonymous reports about pseudo-mining in the capital and other regions of Ukraine.

According to the SSU report, teenagers “mined” the buildings of state authorities, as well as social infrastructure facilities. The investigation established that the members of the group were remotely coordinated by representatives of the Russian special services. For coordination, a specialized Internet community was created, in which teenagers from Ukraine were regularly attracted.

According to the investigation, letters about the mining were sent on behalf of outsiders and with the help of special programs they hid the localization.

The Security Service of Ukraine reported that the man justified the actions of the Russian military and denied armed aggression against Ukraine. In particular, he published comments of a conspiracy nature, referring to the theories of world government. The posts of the Transcarpathian were openly anti-Semitic and pro-Russian, and were also in tune with Russian theories about the explosions at Nord Stream 2 and the Crimean Bridge.

The man also published anti-government materials, where he denied the war in Ukraine and called the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi a dictator, saying that Russian referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are legitimate.

Propagandists often resort to conspiracy theories to justify Russia's actions and divert attention from Russian crimes. Detector Media has already written about the inventions of the Russians about the explosions at Nord Stream 2.

Such a disinformation campaign was recorded by specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. According to them, telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are reporting “high prices” for food products in Ukraine. Allegedly, food prices are skyrocketing in Ukraine, and therefore it is necessary to “surrender to Russia as soon as possible, because everything is cheaper there”. The authors of the messages also attach photos of price tags from Ukrainian supermarkets, comparing them with Russian ones.

The Center for Strategic Communications explains that it is because of Russia that food prices are rising in Ukraine and in the world. Due to the occupation of a part of the south of Ukraine, where farmers are not allowed to work fully, as well as due to the blocking of the “grain corridor”, the world is faced with another crisis.

Since it has become much more difficult to grow vegetables under the conditions of full-scale war and continuous Russian terror, internal supplies in Ukraine are not enough. Imported goods are more expensive, because in stores there is really an increase in prices.

At the same time, the thesis about a stable Russian economy is not true. According to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2022 has been a bad year for the Russian economy. According to experts, in 2022, Russia's gross domestic product fell by at least 2.2% in the best scenario and to 3.9% in the worst case. The Russian economy will shrink in 2023 as well. GDP is expected to contract by 5.6% or 3.3% according to the organizations.

Thus, propagandists want to nourish the narrative that Ukraine is allegedly uninhabitable due to lack of electricity or high prices for utilities and food products. The authors of the messages are trying to sow panic among Ukrainians in order to destabilize sentiment and create a feeling that nothing will change.

We recall that earlier analysts of Detector Media analyzed a manipulation in which they claimed that Ukraine would soon become uninhabitable.

There is a telegram channel on the network, which, on its own behalf, sends telegram messages to users, urging them to provide information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine: coordinates, photos, videos, or even software. According to the authors of the messages, “our Ukrainian brothers have become hostages of the situation because of the confrontation between NATO and Russia”. The authors of the messages claim that “it is in their power to stop this madness, because the organization acts in the interests of the people”.

The Ministry of Defense notes that during the war it is fatally dangerous to report the presence or absence of weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and, moreover, with reference to settlements.

Thus, the authors of the messages lure information from users about the location of the AFU equipment and not only. Helping the so-called organization, which “acts solely in the interests of the people”, first of all, users harm the Ukrainian army and endanger the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state. At the same time, the funds serve only as a bait, because the punishment for such a crime can be much more serious.

We recall that the Verkhovna Rada amended Art. 114-2 of the Criminal Code, which regulates the unauthorized dissemination of information, in particular, on the movement or deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or military formations.

According to the law, the dissemination of information about the movement or location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other military formations of Ukraine, if such information was not placed in the public domain by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, or without obtaining a written permission to disseminate it, committed in a state of martial law or a state of emergency, is punishable by deprivation freedom for a period of 5 to 8 years. In some cases, the punishment can be up to 12 years in prison.

As of December 2022, law enforcement officers opened about 200 criminal proceedings for the illegal dissemination of information about the movement of weapons and the location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Analysts of the international project “Fireworks of Lies” analyzed about 18 thousand accounts (including channels and chats) related to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and identified the main trends of Russian disinformation on the Telegram of this region. Detector Media has highlighted the main points of the investigation published on investigaci.cz.

In the telegram space, the number of channels in Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Croatian, Romanian and German with pro-Russian narratives has increased. They also differ in the form of presentation of content - some of them try to provide information as seriously as possible, while the other part presents these problems subjectively or even on behalf of “clairvoyants” and “fortune tellers”. Russian propagandists are well aware of the level of trust in them among the ordinary population in the region and use this to spread their own narratives.

In particular, in such channels one can find a repetition of a number of Russian narratives about the war in Ukraine: they say that this is all the West, there will be nothing left of Ukraine, but that’s how they need it, because there are Nazis. But in addition to this, they intertwine concern about the domestic political situation in the countries of the region. It seems that this war is not our business, we do not want to suffer from its consequences.

In addition to matching Russian messages, these channels also play conspiracy theories. In particular, they contain a lot of materials on the topic of the “world destruction plan” of the “world government”, in which the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are only “stages”. According to conspiracy theorists, Russia started the war to fight “this swamp”, as the world's political and economic elites are sometimes called.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to disorient the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe and shift the responsibility for Russia's crimes to the victims of aggression and those who help it. In addition, the destabilization of the situation in Europe helps Russia to carry out its aggression and build a platform for further spread. Detector Media has already examined the disinformation on the German telegram and highlighted its main narratives.

In the Czech segment of Telegram, the number of anonymous channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric in Czech has increased. This was researched by analyst Josef Shlerka from the Czech project investigaci.cz. Detector Media outlined the main theses from his article and found out why it is so important for Russian propagandists to maintain influence in the Czech Republic.

Shlerka says that such Czech-language telegram channels usually repost content from foreign sources that are considered conspiratorial and inaccurate. They often repeat conspiracy narratives, such as the “rigged” elections in the United States in 2020 or that earthquakes in Turkey are man-made. Moreover, most of the publications coincide with the news of “Sputnik” being blocked in the EU.

In addition, these telegram channels tried to destabilize the Czech domestic political situation. For example, one of the most popular of them posted a fake video of the then-Czech presidential candidate Petr Pavel, where he allegedly talks about the need to go to war against Russia.

The researcher also divides them according to the genre of news reporting: one category tries to seriously provide information, while the other expresses its support for Russia as informally as possible. All these channels have one thing in common: they openly sympathize with Russia, repeating the narratives of its propaganda.

Some of these channels contain grammatical errors in their Czech messages. From this, the researcher concludes that the authors are probably not Czechs and use machine translation to create content. Most of these channels also do not reveal the identity of the message authors and use Czech bank accounts to raise funds to keep the channels running.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to sow doubt among the Czechs about the appropriateness of supporting Ukraine. Like, don't let the West rule you, support your state brothers. This is of particular importance if to consider the historical past of the Czech Republic and its connection with the Soviet Union.

According to the State Service for Special Communications, Russian hackers distribute malicious files through free access to torrent trackers. In particular, if such files are installed on a computer, hackers gain access to the contents of the computer and remain invisible for a long time.

The department reports that hackers use Trojans to copy passwords from different services and find out any information. They trojanize ISOs and installation files and host them for free.

According to the State Service for Special Communications, in many post-Soviet countries, system administrators use unlicensed software distributed via torrent trackers in institutions and companies of various forms of ownership. Thus, they provide Russian intelligence services with access to the contents of working machines.

The State Service for Special Communications says that ordinary Ukrainians who install unlicensed software from unofficial sources and torrents can also become victims of hackers.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” states that young people between 15 and 18 years old are prohibited from traveling abroad.

The Center for Strategic Communications investigated this case and found out that the document was fake. As analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The authors refer to Cabinet Decree No. 57, although according to this decree, such restrictions during martial law apply only to men from 18 to 60 years old;

The authors of the “document” made grammatical and spelling errors, in particular, they used russianisms.

We recall that Detector Media previously denied a fake, which said that Ukrainian underage boys were supposedly not allowed to go abroad, because “they will soon be mobilized”.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” states that Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, forbade the evacuation of the military “if they have minor injuries”.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and found out that the document is fake. As the fact-checker explains, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The “document” does not specify its type. If the text contains the phrase “I order”, this means that the main text should be preceded by the word “ORDER”, indicating the type of document - an order;

The fake document is addressed to the operational command “East”, and above it the Ministry of Defense is mentioned. However, OC “East” is a structural subdivision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, not the Ministry of Defense;

At the end of the document it says “A. Syrskyi”, although it is correct - “O. Syrskyi”, O means Oleksandr. Analysts are sure that this letter equivalent indicates a translation from the Russian language, because the Russian name Oleksandr is “Aleksander”.

According to the Center for Strategic Communications, fake information is being disseminated online, allegedly on behalf of the Red Cross. Allegedly, people can receive payments from the organization to a bank card. The information is spread from the fake website of the Red Cross.

“The fake website of the International Red Cross was created by scammers to steal money from Ukrainians and their personal data. The Red Cross of Ukraine has nothing to do with this site, does not pay such payment, and, moreover, never charges for legal services”, the organization said.

They add: all relevant programs, including those regarding financial support, are published exclusively on the official website.

Radio “Svoboda” (Liberty) journalists came to this conclusion in their study of Russian disinformation on social networks. In particular, during the study, media workers discovered fake accounts disguised as profiles of the Ukrainian military.

One of the tiktok accounts masqueraded as the personal page of a sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who actually keeps his war diary. The clone page had over 19,000 subscribers, with some videos reaching millions of views. The account, which was a clone of the profile of a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, contained real videos shot by real soldiers, but the messages superimposed on them were not at all the messages that the author of the real tiktok account had in mind. According to journalists, these messages inspired despair and mistrust. For example, such messages were promoted: “Bakhmut cannot be kept”, “We leave Soledar”, “Military are tired”, etc. Later, a real sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was found, who confirmed that his video was used by Russian propagandists.

The journalists also investigated the fake telegram channel of the 46th airmobile brigade, created back in September. The propagandists have gathered a fairly large audience on this channel, up to 15,000 subscribers. That is, it allows the dissemination of various manipulative or fake news from there that are beneficial to Russian propaganda. It was also a clone of the real telegram channel of the 46th brigade. The official authors stated that there was nothing to do with the creation of the clone page.

Journalists from a group of international publications exposed the Russian strategy of political and economic takeover of Moldova. They are talking about the document “Strategic goals of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Moldova”. According to Dossier journalists, it was developed by the presidential administration for cross-border cooperation of the Presidential administration and coordinated with the Russian special services.

The authors divided the goals in the document into several groups: military-political, trade-economic and humanitarian. However, it is precisely the realistic goals for the next ten years that the authors of the strategy consider:

• opposition to the influence of NATO and the EU in Moldova;

• forcing Moldova to participate in the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization, which includes Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan), the Eurasian Economic Union and other Russian international projects;

• settlement of the Transnistrian conflict on the basis of the special status of Transnistria (of course, with the participation of Russia);

• building up pro-Russian sentiment in society through propaganda and educational programs.

The journalists add that, according to the exposed document, by 2022 the Russian Presidential administration planned to prevent the Moldovan authorities from excluding Russia from the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and wanted to maintain the Russian military presence in the unrecognized territory. It is reported that the tasks of the Presidential administration also included the support of Moldovan pro-Russian politicians.

The document also refers to Russia's plans to exploit Moldova's dependence on Russian imports in order to neutralize the republic's policy, which is contrary to the interests of the Kremlin.

Earlier, Dossier journalists published a similar document on Belarus. It is known that both “strategies” were developed in the same department.

A group of publications worked on exposing the document: Dossier (Russia), RISE (Moldova), Delfi (Estonia), Kyiv Independent (Ukraine), Belarusian Investigative Center (Belarus), Yahoo News (USA), Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), West Rundfunk (Germany), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Germany), Expressen (Sweden), Frontstory (Poland) and VSquare (Visegrad Group (V4)).

The Security Service of Ukraine exposed eight pro-Kremlin agitators in Kyiv, Zakarpattia region, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions. In particular, they distributed materials and narratives of Russian and Belarusian propagandists, especially concerning the “church theme”. Also, some of them called for a violent seizure of state power and a change in the administrative borders of Ukraine.

Among the publications of agitators, one can find the spread of a fake about a “juvenile Ukrofascist from Aidar”, who allegedly wrote “Death to the Orthodox” on the projectile. Agitators express open support for the Russian army in the fight against the “Nazis” using this example. There is no mention of such a case in the public domain, which indicates that this is fiction. Thus, propagandists are again trying to discredit the Ukrainian army and justify their aggression against Ukraine. Like, that's who Russia is fighting against - against the Nazis, who are destroying peaceful Orthodox.

Also, agitators published articles that tried to explain the use of the symbols V and Z in the framework of the war against Ukraine with the “Old Russian alphabet”. Like, Z is a Slavic letter meaning “land” and “a symbol of unification”. In fact, the use of the symbol was primarily practical and aimed to help avoid “friendly fire” among Russian troops. The propagandists of the Russian state media did not attach much importance to the roots of the symbol.

The Center for strategic communications researched the anti-Ukrainian campaign on Facebook and identified the main messages disseminated through advertising on Facebook pages.

In particular, analysts found the following messages:

The thesis that “the battle for Bakhmut has already been lost”, as experts say, is unfounded. The Russian army does not leave attempts to capture Bakhmut, but, according to the conclusion of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, this significantly weakens the Russian army in other directions. The messages that “the West does not believe in Ukraine” and that “the Command of the Defense Forces fled, and in the Bakhmut direction “the guys are fighting back alone”” are also untrue. Analysts say the Defense Forces are firmly in Bakhmut, and the commander of the Ground Forces, Syrskyi, constantly comes to the positions. At the same time, the West continues to supply Ukraine with weapons and equipment that will soon be used during the counteroffensive.

Analysts explained that the disinformation campaign is spread through newly created Facebook pages, without a specific description and content. Usually these pages have neutral titles. According to analysts, in this way the authors avoid additional moderation by Meta, which owns Facebook. Analysts urge to complain about such manifestations of advertising.

Specialists of the Center for strategic communications are convinced that such a disinformation campaign is designed to demoralize Ukrainians, and at the same time undermine their confidence in the authorities and Western countries.

The public of Georgia actively opposes the adoption in the first reading of the law “On the transparency of foreign influence”, called the “Russian law”. It is considered analogous to the notorious ban on “foreign agents” in Russia, which actually suppressed the already weak voices of the opposition and ruled out the possibility of the presence of international monitoring missions inside the country. The law, adopted by the Georgian Parliament on March 7, 2023, provides for the creation of a register of “agents of foreign influence”. The authorities will create a special open database of organizations and individuals if the share of foreign investments in their activities is at least 20%. The Ministry of Justice will have the right to “observe” the work of potential “foreign agents” and receive the necessary information, including personal data. It is noteworthy that the voting was held in violation of the rules of parliament without public discussion. There is still a second and third reading, but since the law has the support of the ruling Georgian Dream party, the parliament will probably approve the document.

The law marginalizes key international organizations that monitor rights and freedoms in Georgia. This is exactly what happened in Russia after the adoption of the relevant law in 2012. Also, due to the adoption of the law, funding for opposition media, whose work is supported from abroad, will potentially decrease. In addition, the adoption of the law may indicate the actual departure from the European integration course, which Georgia announced together with Moldova and Ukraine (Associated Trio). The law could deal a blow to the Georgian economy. Georgian entrepreneurs are being helped by a European program to support traditional small and medium-sized businesses (for example, in the distilling industry), and the new law will put this program in jeopardy.

The state has come to the so-called “Yanukovych crossroads”, when society and the authorities have diametrically opposed visions of Georgia’s development, and contradictions peaked after the missed chance for EU membership in July 2022. Against the backdrop of these upheavals, a number of messages appeared on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric aimed at discrediting the Georgian protest movement. We consider them in more detail below.

The events in Georgia are the beginning of the “color revolution”, the “beautiful life” will soon come, as happened in Ukraine. The term “color revolutions” refers to the most civilized disintegration of the 20th century - the “velvet divorce” of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where, as a result of the bloodless and democratic Velvet Revolution, the post-communist elites of both parts of Czechoslovakia headed for independence, announced a transition from socialist relations. Currently, “colored” or “velvet” refers to peaceful protests that result in certain political changes. Despite the non-violent nature of the protests, Russian propaganda interprets such revolutions negatively, they mark a departure from the communist course, the dismantling of the socialist system and the transition to democratic governance. Propaganda uses this term in a negative sense, assuring that such protests advocate false values. The mention of Ukraine in a disparaging way reproduces the narrative of condemning the Revolution of Dignity and devaluing its positive consequences. Propaganda claims that due to the removal of Yanukovych from power and following a new pro-European course, the life of Ukrainians has worsened, so they “warn” the Georgians that if the protesters succeed, their society will expect the same thing. Yes, Ukraine had to endure a deep economic crisis in 2014, but at the same time managed to take a confident course towards Euro-Atlantic integration and strengthen its democracy. Russia is afraid of a “velvet divorce” with Georgia, because it does not want to lose it from its field of influence for a number of geopolitical and economic reasons.

Local “Sorosiata” (Soros’s supporters) are trying to prevent the cessation of foreign funding. This message discredits representatives of Georgian civil society who stood up for democracy and ascribes a far-fetched mercantile goal to their actions. The protests in Georgia are not about funding, but about protecting democracy and freedom of speech. Similar assessments were made about the events of the Euromaidan. It seems to be, in particular, a struggle for the opportunity to receive Western “handouts” and grants in exchange for sovereignty. With such statements, propagandists are trying to substitute  concepts, calling the struggle for values a struggle for money.

“Verkhniolarsivtsi” (Russins who fled to Georgia through the border crossing point “Verkhnii Lars”)  join the ranks of the protesters and chant anti-Russian slogans. With this neologism propagandists call Russians who fled to Georgia in order to avoid mobilization or to avoid reprisals for their anti-war position. In autumn, the line at the “Verkhnii Lars” checkpoint stretched for tens of kilometers, because there were hundreds of thousands of people who wanted to leave Russia. Propaganda claims that the “Verkhniolarsivtsi” have settled down well in their rented apartments, and having lost any sense of shame and dignity, these “traitors” went to the “Georgian Maidan” and chanted slogans insulting to Putin and chanted “Sa-kart-ve- lo”*. This message rather works for the internal Russian audience, forcing once again to condemn those who are hiding from the mobilization.

Local Georgian authorities are out of control. The US State Department is concerned about this fact, therefore it supports the protesters in every possible way, and wants to “calm down” the elite with their hands and direct it to the true path. This message is a classic reproduction of the “external control” narrative carried out by “Western curators” to please the US State Department and powerful international corporations. Propaganda assures: all the events of the Revolution of Dignity were orchestrated from the outside and successfully implemented by local actors from the “Soros structures”. Now Russian propaganda is convincing that the same thing is happening in Georgia: representatives of grant structures allegedly actively oppose the “legitimately elected” government, undermining its authority and the legality of its decisions. The purpose of this message is to disregard the sovereignty of Georgia, leveling the independence of decision-making and discrediting any actions of civil society.

* Sakartvelo is the name of Georgia, which is used by its inhabitants themselves. The name “Georgia” is used by Russia and 20 other states, including Ukraine; in most countries of the world, the name “George” (or its derivatives) is adopted. Against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with Russia and the Russian-Georgian war of 2008, official Tbilisi calls on other states to abandon the name “Georgia” in favor of Sakartvelo or “Heorhia”. Lithuania, Japan, Israel and South Korea have already abandoned the name “Georgia” in official documents.

There are reports on the network that Nova Poshta has launched a drawing where it offers to take a survey and win 6,000 hryvnias “as a gift for Women's Day”.

VoxCheck fact-checkers checked the messages and found out that the company never hosts such events. The official website and Facebook page of “Nova Poshta” denied the message about the drawing.

The site referred to by the fraudsters does not belong to the Nova Poshta company. To convince users to take part in the draw, theн added “joyful” comments from those who had already allegedly won money. Nevertheless, these users resemble bots, because they have uncharacteristic names for Ukraine or significant grammatical errors can be noticed in the comments.

To “win a gift”, users must answer a few questions. These questions are also misspelled. After that, the user has the opportunity to win a cash gift from 3 attempts. The fact-checkers managed to “win” the money on the first try. To “receive a gift”, one needs to share the information about the draw in 5 groups or with 20 friends and complete the registration. After that, the site prompts you to enter the code and wait for the administrator to consider the application. However, when you try to enter the code, a third-party site opens, access to which is restricted.

Detector Media has repeatedly talked about such schemes, when users were offered to “win”: five thousand hryvnias of assistance from Ukrposhta and Nova Poshta, five thousand hryvnias of assistance from PrivatBank, six thousand hryvnias of “New Year's” assistance and so on.

Fraudsters spread messages in the Ukrainian segment of social networks that supposedly the Safari special forces regiment of the National police of Ukraine was raising funds for thermal imagers and other military ammunition. The swindlers claimed that they were fellow soldiers from the Korosten region. Like, the regiment works not only at zero front, but also “behind enemy lines”, so it needs help to purchase the necessary equipment. The purpose of the collection is almost six thousand dollars.

In fact, the Safari special forces regiment does not and did not collect funds for ammunition. This was reported in the national police of Ukraine.

The department urges everyone to carefully check the messages about the fundraising, so as not to become victims of scammers.

Earlier, Detector Media talked about letters received by entrepreneurs from Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Zhytomyr and Dnipropetrovsk regions from scammers who allegedly raised funds for the alleged needs of the Ukrainian army.

Specialists of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National security and defense council have published a report on the Russian disinformation campaign aimed at the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. They analyzed the foreign and Russian segments of social networks and came to the conclusion that disinformation was spread from Russia. Some fakes originated in the Russian segment of social networks, and then they were picked up by an international audience.

In general, experts identified in the report three fakes directed against Olena Zelenska and their further distribution in social networks:

Allegedly, the first lady spent 40 thousand euros on shopping in Paris. The authors of the reports referred in their publications to the material of the French edition of La Dépêche, although this was not discussed in the material;

On the misuse of funds for the Olena Zelenska Foundation. The authors claimed that Poland was providing financial assistance to Ukraine, and the first lady was embezzling public funds. Analysts denied this information, because, as they explain, Poland does not provide a fixed amount of assistance;

About humanitarian aid, which was given to Ukrainians allegedly in bundles from Louis Vuitton Paris. The authors claimed that after a successful shopping trip, Olena Zelenska was handing over “the cheapest packaged pasta from a global brand” to those in need. Analysts denied this information, because the video was first published in the Russian segment of social networks.

Specialists of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation are convinced that such a disinformation campaign is designed to discredit Olena Zelenska, and at the same time deprive Ukraine of international assistance. In addition, they also published a report on Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

We recall that earlier Detector Media also refuted the fake, which claimed that the first lady of Ukraine spends tens of thousands of euros on accessories.