Spilnota Detector Media

Manipulation Mykolaiv may be in the zone of an epidemiological disaster due to the disconnection of the central water supply.

This is the thesis disseminated by Russian propaganda media, claiming that in Ukrainian Mykolaiv utilities are not working yet and there is no water supply. In such reports, Russian media and telegram channels refer to sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense. In fact, the water situation in Mykolaiv is not yet the best, but the propagandists' claim of an epidemiological disaster is a manipulation. According to the Mykolaiv city council, as a result of Russian bombardment since the beginning of the war, the CCP " Mykolaivvodokanal" suffered damage of almost 12 million hryvnia. The sewage treatment facilities, the water pipeline and three sewage pumping stations were damaged. From the shelling of the Russian marauders seriously injured the employee of the enterprise, the team works daily in a high-risk environment to restore the comfort of the citizens. That is, the water problem in the city arose not because of the negligence of Ukrainian utility workers, but because of the shelling and bombing of the Russian army, which is doing everything to destroy the Ukrainian infrastructure. According to the city council, in Mykolaiv, residents are distributed water to different districts of the city, so we are not talking about a catastrophe yet.

Manipulation May 9 was cancelled in Ukraine.

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

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

Manipulation European buyers have begun to pay Russia for gas in rubles - according to a new scheme.

This is the information spread by the Russian propaganda media. In particular, the publication RIA-news, as well as - pro-Russian telegrams on channels. The reports say that the euro exchange rate "fell" and the Russian ruble "strengthened" because Europeans seem to pay for gas in rubles. The Center for counteraction to disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council denies such information.

"The new scheme that Putin tried to sell to the EU countries provides for the buyers to open a new foreign currency and ruble account with Gazprombank. That is, European countries have to pay for gas to a "passthrough" company, which would convert the currency into rubles and transfer the "wood" to Gazprom's account. Most EU countries refused to participate in such a "scheme. In particular, Italy and Germany - the largest consumers of Russian gas in Europe - refused to pay in rubles, arguing that it contradicted the terms of existing contracts. Among the "European buyers," Hungary and Moldova agreed to the Kremlin's gamble," according to the Center.

Manipulation Ukrainians are forbidden to cross the border with internal passports.

Information about this is actively spreading in social networks. They say that since April 18, Ukrainians to cross the border with the countries of the European Union in the war must have a foreign passport. They say that, except in rare cases, they will no longer be able to travel with their internal Ukrainian documents. As the fact-checkers of the "Lozhnik" project write, such messages are spreading in particular in the Volyn segment of Facebook. Information that Ukrainians will now cross the border only with a foreign passport and indeed appeared in the media, however, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the possibility of crossing the border by citizens of Ukraine on internal passports continued. "This decision was made, given the situation on the territory of Ukraine during martial law, when the citizens of Ukraine can not quickly and timely issue a passport of a citizen of Ukraine to travel abroad (foreign passport)," - assure the Ministry. They add that it is due to humanitarian circumstances and the previously reached agreements with neighboring countries, the employees of the border department will pass citizens of Ukraine, including with the internal passport document. This applies to all citizens, regardless of the regions from which they are coming. That is, as of April 20, Ukrainians can travel abroad without a passport.

Manipulation The U.S. is unable to replace Russian gas supplies to the EU.

This information is spread in the propaganda media and telegram channels. Propagandists claim that the U.S. will not be able to replace Russian gas supplies to the EU if Russia stops doing so. However, this is manipulation. According to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, the total volume of liquefied gas production in the USA makes 120 billion cubic meters a year, and by 2025 it will increase by another 70 billion cubic meters. Projects with a combined production of 206 billion cubic meters of gas have already received federal permits in the U.S. Last month, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen announced an agreement with Joe Biden under which the U.S. will increase additional supplies of liquefied gas to the EU to 50 billion cubic meters a year. These supplies will gradually replace EU imports from Russia, which last year totaled 155 billion cubic meters of gas. The task set by Europe to eliminate dependence on Russian gas is designed to level out the intentions of the Russian leadership to use energy supplies to the EU as leverage," the Center said in a statement.

Fake The Ukrainian military was receiving data to correct fire from OSCE cameras.

This is the information spread by the Russian propagandist media. The reports assure that the OSCE SMM was involved in transmitting military data to the AFU about the location of enemy forces and correcting strikes on their positions. The media claim that the data was transmitted from OSCE surveillance cameras. According to StopFake, accusations against the OSCE of providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with coordinates of military targets through video cameras are unfounded. "StopFake studied the Russian media stories and found obvious inconsistencies. "The evidence shown in the stories does not indicate that the OSCE was involved in correcting the fire of the AFU on the positions of the Russian troops. The video footage shown as confirmation was made in another area before the OSCE cameras were capable of shooting video at long distances - the OSCE used long-range UAVs for this purpose," the fact checkers wrote. Read more.

Manipulation Ukraine will be worse off when Russia begins to do to Ukrainian infrastructure what Ukraine did to Crimea.

Messages with such content are distributed in pro-Russian telegram channels. In particular, such messages can be found on the "Skooy Woman" channel. The authors of the text seem to be asking what awaits Ukraine and the Ukrainians, when Russian troops start bombing thermal power plants or power lines, or destroying coal reserves. Thus, the authors lead to the idea that the enemy has not yet done the worst in Ukraine, because so far he allegedly does not destroy infrastructure facilities, but only "" Ukraine itself undermines its own bridges. There is also an element of intimidation in such reports, saying that Russia's real war against Ukraine has not even started yet, and that you "dread to think" what will happen when Russia does to Ukraine what we did to Crimea. For example, cutting off electricity and spicy water." In fact, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, February 24, Russia has been striking Ukrainian infrastructure facilities: these include oil towers, TV towers, airports, railway stations and tracks. The enemy is targeting facilities not only in those cities where combat operations are ongoing, but also in conditionally peaceful ones in the west of the country. In addition to the enemy destroying Ukrainian facilities, the Russian military also massively abuses civilians in Ukraine. Another claim regarding Ukraine's bullying of Crimean residents is crude manipulation like the messaging that the war began as a result of "'the Ukrainian government has been bullying the inhabitants of Donbass for eight years. Read more about such messages in the text of Media Detector.

Fake Azov attacked a humanitarian convoy.

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

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

Fake Russia rescued Turkish citizens who were held captive in Ukraine in Mariupol.

Russian propaganda media have been spreading information about this for several days in a row. Reports say that the Russian army in Mariupol "freed Turkish hostages from Ukrainian captivity" in a mosque in Mariupol. it is reported that the "special operation to rescue Turkish citizens" was carried out at the personal request of Turkish President Erdogan, who asked Russian authorities "to release people held by militants in the building of the mosque.

According to StopFake, the mosque in question is that of Sultan Suleyman Magnificent and his wife Roksolana in Mariupol, which in March served as a shelter for Turkish citizens and Muslims of other nationalities from Russian shelling.

Fact checkers note that the head of the Suleyman Magnificent Mosque Association, Ismail Hacioğlu, denied Russian statements about "rescuing Turkish citizens from Ukrainian captivity." According to him, there were no Turkish citizens in the Mariupol mosque and there was no one to "rescue" there. "Hacioğlu also said that a total of 24 Turkish citizens with their families are in the city, all of whom have been held in temporarily Russian-occupied areas of Mariupol for more than four weeks," writes StopFake.

Disclosure Fraudsters swindle money from Ukrainians by assuring them that every Ukrainian can get a refund of value-added tax from 7,000 hryvnias.

Reports that Ukrainians can get back the value added tax they paid are spreading in social networks. In particular in Facebook. Messages of such content appear in the network not for the first time. In a message advertised on Facebook, a page called UA News with stolen branding TSN informs that "every resident of Ukraine can get a refund of value added tax from 7000 to 90 000 hryvnia". And in order to get the money, you need to follow the link and click "get compensation." "Next, you are assured that you are on the official website of the authorized unit for financial protection of the population - EKC PNGK. Probably, you mean the Unified Compensation Center for the Return of Unpaid Monetary Funds, which does not exist in Ukraine! Scammers engage in phishing, because they ask you to specify an email and the last six digits of the bank card number you use most often (!). Of course if you use it often, there is most likely money on it. The purpose of such scheme is to trick you into giving out your personal confidential data. Most likely, having specified this data, the next step is to enter the card expiration date and CVV2 code. Thus, the attackers will get access to all the funds in the account", - write the fact checkers of the project "Brekhunets".

Manipulation Greece Refused to Supply Arms to Ukraine.

The Russian media have been reporting en masse over the past two days, April 14 and 15, that Greece has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine. On April 14, they referred to a statement by Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panayiotopoulos, and on April 15 to a statement by government spokesman Yanis Oikonomos. Both statements are interpreted in favor of supporting Russia, but this is not the case. First, Greece has already supplied Ukraine with weapons - Kalashnikov assault rifles and mobile anti-missile systems - and has no plans to do so in the future. Secondly, the defense minister explained that because of tense relations with Turkey, Greece could not supply Ukraine with additional weapons without risking weakening its own defense capabilities. Finally, Oikonomou's statement is related to publications in the Greek press, which claim that Greece has supplied weapons to Ukraine six times, and started doing so before the war began. It seems that Greece transferred "Stingers" and other weapons to NATO bases in Europe, and from there the weapons were already supplied to Ukraine. Oikonomou, answering questions from local journalists, stressed that Greece provided weapons to Ukraine once, after the start of the war - and actually refuted the inaccurate information.

Greece has also repeatedly stated that although no further arms supplies to Ukraine are planned, the country is trying to reduce its need for Russian gas as soon as possible. That is, statements by Greek officials do not indicate that their government supports Russia and its wars in Ukraine.

At the same time, both Ukrainian and Russian media selectively quote the results of a survey of Greek citizens, citing only the figure indicating that 66% of them are against arms supplies to Ukraine. But they don't cite other figures: 70% support Ukraine in this war, 60% support sanctions against Russia, 52% are in favor of creating an EU armed force.

Message The Russian warship was not damaged, and if it was, it was not severely damaged, and if it sank, it was due to the storm.

For two days, on April 14 and 15, after the news of the damage to the flagship Moskva surfaced, Russian media and government officials persistently promoted the message that the ship was okay. And if it was not, the reason was an accident. First there were reports that a shell had detonated on the ship, but the fire was localized, the ship was afloat, and the crew had been evacuated. The cause was said to be an accidental explosion or even smoking by the crew. On the evening of April 14, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the ship sank - but this was due to a storm during towing, although it was previously reported that the damage to the cruiser was minor.

Today, the Russian media, quoting State Duma deputy Zatulin, already reported that an unknown number of the crew "went with the ship," possibly including the captain of the Moskva among them.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military immediately reported that the cruiser was hit by a Ukrainian Neptun missile. The Pentagon found it difficult to say why the cruiser died, but said that other ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet had withdrawn at a distance from the Ukrainian coast. The Washington Post also confirmed today, citing a Pentagon official, that the ship had been hit by an anti-ship missile.

Despite the fact that Russia has not officially acknowledged that the Moskva was let down by the Ukrainian military, Russian telegram channels are spreading messages en masse about the "cruiser's death during the battle" and promising "revenge for the cruiser." Why it is necessary to take revenge for the ship, I on which someone had an unfortunate smoke, the messages do not explain. The reports also promote the thesis that the ship was not hit by a Ukrainian-made missile, but was hit by an unknown foreign-made NATO missile. Thus, the Russian media and propagandists, Alexander Kots among them, are spreading the narrative "Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but against NATO.

The Center for Strategic Communications of the ICMP reports that by constantly changing messages, Russian propaganda is trying to reduce the psychological effect of the defeat of the cruiser.

Fake Romanian Red Cross refuses to supply humanitarian aid to Odessa due to corruption.

The Russian media and users of social networks write that the Romanian Red Cross allegedly refuses to supply humanitarian aid to the Odessa region because of "received facts" of embezzlement of humanitarian aid by the military administration of the region, including the head of the region, Maxim Marchenko. The publication StopFake contacted the Romanian Red Cross and the organization denied the fake. "The Romanian Red Cross cooperates with the Ukrainian Red Cross on the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid in the Chernivtsi, Odessa and Zakarpattia regions and plans to cooperate further to organize permanent aid," writes StopFake citing a Romanian Red Cross official.

Also the extension of humanitarian supply is evidenced by the organization's report of April 12, which reports on further assistance to victims of the war in Ukraine.

Message The attitude toward refugees from Ukraine is worsening in European countries.

This was the thesis recently circulated by pro-Russian telegram channels. The messages said that "attitudes toward Ukrainians have already turned cold everywhere. They say that the attitude towards refugees from Ukraine will now significantly worsen, as well as the amount of support they receive. "Three to four more months and the situation will become even worse towards Ukrainians," the reports say. However, their authors do not specify the bad attitude in which countries they are talking about and draw their conclusions referring to some anonymous sources. The reports also add that it is now very difficult for Ukrainians to find work in the West, although there are seasonal jobs in the agricultural sector, but there are "hellish conditions" and low pay. In fact, such information is spread in order to discredit countries that are allies of Ukraine and to devalue their assistance to Ukrainian refugees. In fact, in many EU countries Ukrainians can receive state aid as refugees. Moreover, Ukrainians are also helped by residents of those countries. As a reminder, during the month, Russian propaganda had already spread several fakes about "bad refugees" from Ukraine, which were refuted.

Disclosure Fraudsters hide behind the name of Ukraine's ambassador to Germany and collect funds allegedly to save children in Ukraine.

Information about a new fraud scheme with an international scope under the guise of an American foundation and the name of the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany is spreading on the net. As factcheckers from "On the Other Side of the News" write, a fake fundraiser was announced to save poor children in Ukraine.

According to the reports, on March 26 Andrii Melnyk, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, posted a profile on Facebook and on the 28th he started obsessively asking for money to support Ukrainian refugee children. The messages use emotional triggers like "urgency," "hunger," "disease," "human trafficking," etc., and there is also a link to a "rescue fund" page." It's all a scam, however. ""There is only an official page of the Ukrainian embassy in Germany on Facebook. The ambassador's account is actually only on Twitter. Through his profile Mr. Melnyk mostly appeals to world leaders, sanctions, embargoes and military support for Ukraine, but he does not collect donations from users of social networks and does not advertise any foundations.

As for the fund itself, it, like the ambassador's page, looks real, but in fact is fake. If the con artists used the ambassador from Germany for the deal, the foundation was stolen in the United States. The foundation page is carefully copied from the Save the Children organization. The logo, tabs, addresses, photos - everything imitates the real organization, which is now engaged in, among other things, helping children affected by war in Ukraine, Afghanistan and other countries where military conflicts are ongoing or may arise," the fact checkers report.

Fake Germany offers to expel the Ukrainian ambassador. 

This claim is spread by Russian propaganda media. The reports refer not to official sources, but to a petition on the change.org website, which can be created and signed by anyone anywhere in the world. According to StopFake, there is no official talk about the expulsion of Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Melnyk from Germany. On April 4, the German Federal Government declared 40 Russian diplomats persona non grata. "This is yet another way for Kremlin propaganda to distort the position of residents of a particular country - to present a petition on publicly available websites as an official opinion of the majority or an official call to action. For example, the Russian agitprop said that Germany allegedly "proposed expelling the Ukrainian ambassador," StopFake wrote.

Fake The Russian military discovered unmanned aerial vehicles of the AFU to spray chemicals.

This was reported by Russian propaganda media and disseminated on social networks. The reports say that in one of the remaining Ukrainian units, Russian kafirs allegedly discovered combat drones with sprayers for liquids. According to StopFake, none of this is true, because the videos published by Russian media in the news about drones for spraying chemicals do not show combat drones, but an agricultural multicopter DJI AGRAS T30. These aircraft are known to be used in agriculture to spray crops. Agras T30 is indeed equipped with a large 30-liter tank of liquid, this very figure allows the multicopter to process fields up to 16.2 hectares per hour.

Fake The AFU was replacing the chlorine tanks in the Bilohorivka water supply system.

Information about this is spread in social networks and Russian propaganda media. Such reports refer to the data of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly "were replacing the chlorine tanks at the water supply plant" which are planned to explode "when the occupation troops approach the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk Region. However, this is a fake. In fact, the threat of chemical attacks exists not from the AFU, but from the Russian army. Therefore, in order to avoid a potentially dangerous situation, the specialists of the utility enterprise "Popasnyansk district vodokanal" no longer have stocks of chlorine To disinfect water in the area during military operations use another substance - safe under the threat of explosion. local vodokanal, on the possibility of provocation by Russian occupants. At present, the reagent is stored in Dnipro. As already reported by the "Detector Media", three days ago there was information that the enemy is preparing information provocations on the so-called chemical crimes of the Ukrainian army. In particular, then it was also reported about a possible provocation about the settlement of Bilohorivka.

Fake Former MP and pro-Russian politician Oleksandr Rzhavsky spoke out against Ukraine's accession to the EU.

Russian propaganda media wrote about it. In particular, RIA Novosti. The reports said that journalists received an audio conversation by Rzhavsky, in which he tells why, in his opinion, Ukraine does not need to join the EU. One of the reasons is that Ukraine, in his opinion, means nothing to the EU. However, Rzhavsky, a pro-Russian politician, died on March 27 in his home in Bucha when he was shot by a drunken Russian soldier demanding alcohol. Russian media publications do not mention Rzhavsky's death or his circumstances.

Ukraine has come to terms with the fact that Russia is occupying Kharkiv.

Information with this assertion is spread in social networks, in particular in numerous telegram channels. The reports say that Ukraine does not allocate money to the Kharkiv region as part of the first package of assistance to the territories freed from the occupiers. According to propagandists, this is how Ukraine allegedly "wrote Kharkiv off, accepting that it will be taken by Russia. However, this is not true. The fake has already been refuted by a fact checker from StopFake. "Statements about Ukraine allegedly "writing off" Kharkov or other regions of the country are an attempt by Russian media and publishers to wishful thinking. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said in an interview with CNN that he does not consider any compromises related to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," the report said.

Fake Borrel advocated a "military solution" to the war in Ukraine.

Russian media are spreading reports that EU chief diplomat Josep Borrel allegedly "wished for a military solution to the conflict. StopFake writes that Russian propagandists spread part of his tweet about the results of his trip to Ukraine: "This war must be won on the battlefield. In fact, the full version of the quote is: "This war will be won on the battlefield. We will allocate an additional 500 million euros. Weapons supplies will be tailored to Ukraine's needs." In the following tweet, Borrell explains that the reason for the increased support for Ukraine is Russia's war crimes, in particular the shelling of Kramatorsk by Russian troops. Borrel sees sanctions as the main means of "pressure on Russia." "We need to continue to increase the pressure on Russia. We have already imposed large-scale sanctions, but we need to do more in the energy sector, particularly oil."

Fake Ukraine is preparing an action of mass extermination of civilians in order to blame it on Russia.

Russian propaganda media are spreading reports that the Ukrainian authorities, with the support of Western countries, are allegedly "preparing an action with mass extermination of civilians" in the occupied areas of Luhansk Region, "preparing a shooting provocation with shooting of ambulances" in Severodonetsk District, "blowing up the reserve area. This is all allegedly to accuse the Russian military and Russian-controlled militants. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security noted that Russia is again trying to shift responsibility for the crimes committed to Ukraine. "Given that during the 8 years of war in eastern Ukraine not a single Ukrainian government has considered the military option of returning the temporarily occupied territories, accusations of provocations by the Russian Federation are meaningless. Russia will have to take responsibility for the extermination of the civilian population of Ukraine, as the International Courts are already working on the investigation of the crimes committed by the occupiers on the territory of our state," the Center added.

Fake The serial number proves that the missile fired at the train station in Kramatorsk belongs to the AFU.

Russian media and pro-Kremlin telegram channels spread reports that the serial number of the 9M79-1 missile fired at the train station in Kramatorsk on April 8 "clearly indicates that the projectile belongs to Ukraine. The propagandists use footage from an Italian TV channel TG La7 story about the Russian attack on Kramatorsk. StopFake writes that the marking on the 9M79-1 missile means that the missile belongs to the Tochka-U class, and the number Sh91579 can in no way identify the missile as belonging to a Ukrainian military unit. This is a factory marking that was put on all missiles at the Votkinsk Machine-Building Plant, where these missiles were manufactured during the Soviet era. The Tochka-U is currently in service with eight countries. Russian media also say that the Sh915 missiles were already allegedly used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the shelling of Alchevsk on February 2, 2015. However, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission at the time did not confirm the use of Tochka-U by the Ukrainian military against Alchevsk. The Russian-controlled militants in Alchevsk were unable to provide the OSCE experts with the missile itself or its wreckage.

Message "Europeans, thank the Ukrainians for the rise in food prices."

The message spread by anonymous wiretaps after the UN reported a record 12.6 percent increase in food prices in Europe, especially for grain and oil. The price spike is clear, as Ukraine and the Russian Federation provided about a third of the world's exports of wheat, 20% of corn, and nearly 80% of sunflower oil. Trade was mainly through the Black Sea, now blocked. So the price increase is true, but the cause is not the Ukrainians, but the war started by Russia.

Manipulation In Ukraine 80% of humanitarian aid is stolen.

Reports from anonymous telegram channels about the "catastrophic" level of theft of humanitarian aid inside Ukraine are increasing.

According to volunteers' insights, there are indeed private cases of "redistribution" of goods; this will be dealt with by law enforcement officers. The origin of the data about 80% theft is unknown, so we assume that this is a random number, designed to reflect the desire of foreigners to help Ukraine.

There are many time-tested charitable and volunteer initiatives in Ukraine. They have formed a network of personal contacts and send aid without intermediaries to minimize the risk of theft.

An example of a report from the Pills Foundation since the beginning of the war.