Spilnota Detector Media

Fake The National Defense University of Ukraine allegedly asked for a luxury car

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that the National Defense University of Ukraine is asking the Porsche Ukraine car dealership to transfer a 2022 AUDI A8 Long car to complete a military unit. Like, it needs a luxury car to interact with foreign delegations. As proof, they are distributing an image of a “letter” with a request. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the National Defense University of Ukraine denied the existence of such a “letter”. In addition, the “document” has errors; there is no seal, date or signature, which indicates that it is false. TSN journalists called the number indicated in the letter and confirmed that the person indicated in it did not make any relevant requests.

According to representatives of the National Defense University of Ukraine, propagandists created this fake news to discredit their activities. Since the educational institution is directly related to the training of personnel for the Ukrainian army, in this way propagandists are also trying to discredit the Ukrainian army as a whole. They say that it is corrupt, and therefore it is not worth risking one’s life in it.

Fake In Ukrainian schools, they are allegedly campaigning for Zaluzhnyi as President of Ukraine

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that in Ukrainian schools there is campaigning for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi for the post of President of Ukraine. They say this is confirmed by photographs where schoolchildren write on sheets of paper “Zaluzhnyi is our president” in classrooms with similar inscriptions on the board. However, this is fake.

The StopFake project specialists conducted an investigation and found that the photographs used for the fake were taken from the pages of Ukrainian users on social networks. However, they have been edited to add the necessary false inscriptions. One of the photographs was published on the volunteer page “Olia Olkyna” a few days before propaganda began distributing fake materials. In her message, she talked about volunteer activities in one of the schools, but nowhere did she mention Zaluzhnyi or campaigning for him. The real signatures on the photo, as it turned out, were in support of Ukraine, and not the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Propagandists spread such fakes to strengthen their false message about the conflict between individual representatives of the Ukrainian government. They say that a fierce struggle for the presidency has begun in Ukraine. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted a number of other fakes and manipulations aimed at personally discrediting Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Fake A banner allegedly appeared in New York depicting that the war in Israel is more important than in Ukraine

Pro-Russian resources began to disseminate information that supposedly on one of the buildings in New York there is a banner hinting at the darkening of the topic of the war in Ukraine by the situation in the Middle East - the war in Israel. They say that on the banner the slogan “Stand with Ukraine” is gradually being replaced by another: “Stand with Israel”.

This case was analyzed by experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They found that the information was not true. Outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoors, which has the right to place materials in the mentioned location, said in a comment to Reuters that the banner is fake.

This is not the first time that Russians have fabricated banners at different places around the world with the aim of weakening support for Ukraine from its partner countries. Previously, we refuted the information that an advertising banner was placed in New York with the inscription: “No Zelenskyi - no war”.

Fake In Kyiv, to support the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, they are allegedly recruiting extras for a rally

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric are disseminating information that protesters are allegedly being recruited in Kyiv for a rally in order to support the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. As proof, the manipulators share a fake screenshot, which was allegedly taken on a Ukrainian website for searching for various services. It's fake.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to this case. They point out that there are no such announcements on Ukrainian websites, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or anyone from the military leadership does not gather extras for events. Such statements are a series of falsehoods aimed at discrediting Valerii Zaluzhnyi, an attempt to create the erroneous impression that there is a split in the Ukrainian military-political leadership, and President Zelenskyi is trying in every possible way to get rid of the commander-in-chief because of the latter’s disloyalty.

A week ago, a deepfake was spreading on social networks, allegedly Valerii Zaluzhnyi called on the population of Ukraine to take to the squares of their cities, and the military not to obey “criminal orders of the authorities”. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine really did not make such an appeal and did not call for a military coup. At the same time, fake news appeared that the current Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umierov, recently proposed the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi. In response to this, Umierov responded that this was a fake. Shortly before this, swindlers created a fake telegram channel for Valerii Zaluzhnyi and sent out discreditable messages.

Disclosure Ukrainska Pravda did not publish an article about the death of officers of the 128th brigade, who were suspected of selling weapons to Hamas

Anonymous Telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing a screenshot of an alleged article by the media Ukrainska Pravda with the headline “Officers of the 128th Brigade, suspected of selling weapons to Hamas, have died”. Also, Russian propaganda reports about 50 dead servicemen and hints that it was not an accident. It is not true.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation. In fact, such an article does not exist in the publication Ukrainska Pravda. As a result of the Russian attack, 19 soldiers of the 128 separate mountain assault brigade died, not 50, as the propagandists wrote.

In this way, the Russians are trying to discredit the Ukrainian military and continue to spread fakes that Ukraine is selling Western weapons to Hamas. Earlier, we refuted the fake that Hamas representatives recorded a video in which they thanked Zelenskyi for the weapons provided.

Fake Ukrainians demanded money from the family of a dead Hamas hostage

Pro-Russian resources claim that allegedly “swindlers from Ukraine” blackmailed the family of German and Israeli citizen Shani Luk, who was kidnapped by Hamas militants. After it became known about the girl’s kidnapping, the Ukrainians began calling her family on behalf of Hamas and demanding a ransom of 500 thousand euros. The police who investigated the case of the already deceased Shani Luk seemed to come to this conclusion. Propagandists referred to a screenshot of “news published by the German newspaper WDR”. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project began to analyze the information. After independently searching for this news on the website of the German publication WDR, they found out that such material was not published on this news resource. A Google search also did not yield any results about the alleged ransom demand from “Ukrainian scammers”. In addition, there was no mention of a police investigation into this case in reputable German or other media.

Russian propaganda, using the author's style of a German newspaper, tried to justify the actions of Hamas and denigrate Ukraine. The Kremlin is trying to demonize Ukraine in the eyes of ordinary Russian citizens in order to justify the war crimes of its army in Ukraine. Also, by spreading these types of fakes, propagandists hope to weaken international support for Ukraine so that it will not be able to finance defense needs. Previously, we denied information that allegedly former porn actress Mia Khalifa thanked Ukraine for helping Hamas.

Fake A Ukrainian charitable foundation is looking for a preacher of “LGBT propaganda”

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels disseminating pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the Ukrainian charitable foundation BF Free is looking for a person who preaches “LGBT ideology”. The authors of the message report that the fund’s employees allegedly published such a vacancy on the Ukrainian job search site Work.ua. Photo evidence is added to publications - a screenshot of the vacancy. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Georgian Myth Detector project began to analyze the case and found out that the charitable foundation did not create such a vacancy and was not looking for a single “LGBT preacher”. They wrote about this on their pages on social networks. In their posts, the organizations emphasize that the main purpose of the fake news is to discredit their activities. The specialists also checked whether the vacancy actually existed on the job search site. According to the search results, they did not record this. It is most likely that the screenshot was compiled using Photoshop.

There is simply no LGBT propaganda. In our Newspeak section, we explained why a terrorist country is horrified by diversity and cherishes exclusively “traditional values” among its citizens. In short, Moscow shows how being part of the LGBTQIA community is considered unacceptable, discrediting a person or why a person is considered “wrong”. Consumers of propaganda may be under the false impression that everything related to LGBT people is negative. Homosexuality is as natural as heterosexuality.

Russian propaganda presents any attempts by Ukraine to create a tolerant environment as a direct threat to people. Allegedly, they will suffer from the dominance of “Sodom”, which is why, according to the Kremlin’s conclusions, Ukrainians are being turned into homosexuals. We described the horrors of Western “homodictatorship” and how Europe influences Ukraine in a large study about homophobia on social networks.

By the way, read how Russia is trying to protect children from the “undesirable influence of LGBT people” here. Find out how it also justifies its invasion as an “LGBT invasion” in a study based on the results of an analysis of messages during the year of a full-scale invasion.

Fake In New York, they show an advertisement for a runny nose spray with Zelenskyi as an animated character

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that VICKS allegedly launched an ad for a nasal spray in New York City featuring an animated character who “looks like Volodymyr Zelenskyi”. The authors of the message add a video where the hero strongly inhales air and then explodes. The video ends with the slogan: “VICKS helps increase the capabilities of your nose!”. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck fact-checkers analyzed the case and found that the VICKS company reported that they did not run this advertisement, but rather a compiled video. After all, no media came out with this news, and the video was only distributed on social networks in the Russian segment. In fact, experts used a reverse search on Google to discover the location of the likely advertisement. The fake video also contains other advertisements: for example, on the screen nearby they advertise the Amazon Freevee platform, where one can watch the series Jury Duty. Although the film was still released in April 2023. It is unlikely that it will be advertised 6 months later.

We have repeatedly documented hoaxes involving fake graffiti or covers on foreign magazines, newspaper columns or advertisements. Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. So it may seem to readers that the public is really dissatisfied with Ukraine. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, hinting that people are mocking the situation in Ukraine, and that the Ukrainian agenda for Europe is a reason to laugh.

Message The military ID of a fallen American soldier - the Russians found confirmation of the presence of “foreign mercenaries” in Ukraine

Anonymous telegram channels in the Russian segment are distributing a photo of an allegedly Ukrainian military ID of “foreign mercenary” Brian Boenger. The document contains the fighter’s personal data, and also contains a separate photograph: a photograph of both guys kissing. This is how the authors convince that this is a photograph of an American. They also add that this ID was found in the Zaporizhzhia direction and that “his beloved friend waits in vain for the military” hinting at the probable destruction of the American military man.

The analysts from the VoxCheck project began analyzing the case and found that the photos of the military ID were partially compiled. The figure of the American fighter Brian Boenger is real, and he fought in Ukraine. Using a reverse search, the fact-checkers found that the image of an American soldier’s military ID was indeed published in journalistic materials back in 2016.

And to create a fake photograph, propagandists superimposed on the image of a real military ID a photo of a stranger and a photo of two guys kissing.

Moreover, Brian Boenger is not a “foreign mercenary”; in April 2016, he entered into an official contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At that time, the decree allowing foreigners or stateless persons to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine was signed by the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko back in November 2015.

Russian propaganda systematically fuels the narrative that professional military personnel from other states - the so-called “foreign mercenaries” - are fighting in Ukraine. Thus, Russian propaganda also tries to justify the failures of the Russian army. They say they are not fighting “weak” Ukrainians, but “specially trained NATO members” or Americans. Moreover, Russian propaganda spreads fake news about hiring students, the unemployed, and they like to show that in Ukraine there is no one left to fight and they are recruiting “everyone in a row”.

By the way, in our Newspeak section we talked about Russia that recruits mercenaries, in particular, Wagner group representatives. This is essentially a terrorist organization within the Russian army.

Fake Ukrainian McDonald's offers McPie that “may contain the bones of Russian babies”

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ukrainian branch of McDonald's allegedly released a cherry McPie, the packaging of which states that the product “may contain the bones of Russian babies”. Photo evidence is added to publications. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck fact-checkers analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that the note about “Russian babies” was added in a photo editor. At the same time, McDonald’s did not change the packaging and recipes of the products; such information was not published either on the company’s official website or on their pages on social networks. Experts add that most likely the original source of the stuffing was Ukrainian users who jokingly distributed the photo on the social network X (formerly Twitter). But propagandists picked it up and passed it off as real McDonald's products.

At the same time, the photo itself has been edited. The checkers checked this fact using a special tool called FotoForensics. Moreover, the original font and the inscription “may contain bones” differ from the phrase “of Russian babies”, so it was simply superimposed using a special photo editor.

Fake A rally of Ukrainian refugees with “F*ck Israel” posters was held in Spain

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that a rally of Ukrainian refugees took place in Spain, allegedly holding signs saying “Hands off military aid to Ukraine” and “F*ck Israel”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They checked the photo distributed by the propagandists through an online image search tool and found out that the real photo was taken at the Israeli Friends of Ukraine rally in support of Ukraine, which took place in the summer of 2022. In the original version, the protest participant holds a poster with the inscription “Russia is a terrorist country”, but there is no poster with the inscription about Israel at all.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees abroad and create artificial competition for receiving military assistance from the West. Detector Media wrote how Russian propaganda is also manipulating the topic of Israel’s war against Hamas.

Fake The head of the National Bank of Ukraine Andrii Pyshnyi bought an article from The American Insider

The network of propagandists began to distribute allegedly screenshots of an article allegedly published in the American publication The American Insider about the head of the National Bank Andrii Pyshnyi. The material seems to contain information that there are no grounds for the dismissal of the head of the NBU and no favorable reviews of his work. Enemy resources claim that Andrii Pyshnyi ordered an article from an online resource for money. It's fake.

Colleagues from the Center for Countering Disinformation analyzed the original source and found out that the site to which the propagandists refer was registered as recently as October 2023. That is, it is fake. Another confirmation of this is that the first publications on the same site are dated September 2023. It can be argued that at least one of the purposes of creating this resource is to spread misinformation for one's own purposes.

It should also be noted that in the United States there is a publication called America Insider, which has a similar name, but it uses the “org” domain, while on the fake site one  can see the “live” domain.

In this case, Russian propaganda uses discrediting tactics, that is, it undermines the authority of Andrii Pyshnyi in order to reduce the population of Ukraine towards him and the institution he heads. At the same time, propagandists hope to provoke panic among Ukrainians and reduce international support for Ukraine in order to weaken our state's ability to finance defense needs. This fake is a continuation of the information campaign against the National Bank of Ukraine, which Russia began back in March 2023.

Fake “This time there won’t be enough candies for everyone”, the German publication Titanic published a cover with Zelenskyi

Russian information resources, broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, are distributing the cover of the supposedly German satirical publication Titanic, which depicts the President of Ukraine and people wearing Zelenskyi masks, with the headline “This time there won’t be enough candies for everyone”. This is a hint that the world's attention is focused on Israel, and not on the war in Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. They determined that there was no actual issue of Titanic magazine with such a cover. On the publication's website one can find the latest issue for October, number 10, with a different cover. On the cover, which is distributed by Russian propaganda, the number is indicated - 11, the magazine itself is published once a month, so this is another confirmation that it is fake.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to promote the message that the West is tired of the war in Ukraine and has reduced support and will supply less weapons. All this is to sow panic among Ukrainians. Previously, we refuted the fake that the French magazine Charlie Hebdo dedicated its cover to the Hamas movement.

Fake Turkish magazine Le Man published a cover with Zelenskyi “enraged at the whole world”

Russian telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are allegedly distributing the cover of the Turkish magazine Le Man with the image of Volodymyr Zelenskyi “furious at the whole world”. The President of Ukraine is irritated allegedly because the attention of the world media is focused on the conflict between Palestine and Israel, while there is also a war going on in Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Center for Strategic Communications and the BezBrekhni (No lie) project. They found that there was no such cover either on social networks or on the official website of the publication. Moreover, the last issue of the magazine was published on October 11 (No. 1646), and the date on the fake binding is October 16 (No. 1647).

Thus, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi and create the illusion that the whole world is tired of the war in Ukraine, and therefore has switched to the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Previously, we refuted the fake that the French magazine Charlie Hebdo dedicated its cover to the Hamas movement.

Fake In Ukraine, a Polish military serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is wanted for murder

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media and social networks claim that Mazur Mecheslav, a Polish citizen serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has been put on the wanted list in Ukraine. He is allegedly suspected of committing a number of crimes, in particular “arbitrary escape from a military unit, murder, causing harm to health and bullying of minors”. As evidence, they are distributing a photo of a wanted notice for this person. It's fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They noticed a number of grammatical errors in the “announcement”, which are not typical for native speakers of the Ukrainian language and representatives of government agencies. For example, the official abbreviation of the police agency, the proper word “police”, the use of the Russian word “department” and the phrase “poses a threat”. They also tried to find this person in open databases of all people wanted in Ukraine on a separate website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Among the persons found on the site there is no Mecheslav Mazur, and other persons with the same surname do not match the parameters specified in the “announcement”.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to once again discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They say that only criminals fleeing responsibility abroad serve them. Detector Media has already refuted a number of fakes and manipulations of Russian propaganda about the “Foreign Legion”.

Fake A famous pastry chef from Tel Aviv baked a cake with Zelenskyi hanging on the gallows

An alleged report from the Israeli publication The Jerusalem Post began to spread online, in which Avi Melamedson, a pastry chef from Israel, accuses Volodymyr Zelenskyi of the fact that, due to corruption in Ukraine, Ukrainian weapons fell into the hands of Hamas militants. Thus, the President of Ukraine “undermines the trust” of the Israeli people and seems to be handing over weapons to the enemy. As a sign of protest and “punishment”, the pastry chef baked a cake with Zelenskyi on the gallows, and also published an angry video on Instagram about this. It's fake.

Users of social networks and authoritative publications are discussing where Hamas got such a large number of weapons from the Russian-Ukrainian war. Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation analyzed the cake report and found that The Jerusalem Post did not actually create such a story. Yes, Avi Melamedson recorded a video and distributed it on Instagram, but its subject was not Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the accusation against him of Ukraine’s support for Hamas, and in the publication the pastry chef spoke about hate speech against Jews.

In this case, Russia uses discredit tactics - undermining the authority of an institution or person to reduce trust and legitimacy. Previously, we also wrote about how Russian propaganda systematically uses the topic of corruption in Ukraine to achieve its goals. Russia is trying to maintain the image of Ukraine as “the most corrupt state in Europe” and emphasize that the anti-corruption policy of the Ukrainian government is more like an imitation of pro-Western reforms.

Fake French magazine Charlie Herbo dedicated its cover to Hamas

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the French magazine Charlie Herbo dedicated a cover to the Hamas movement with the caption: “Forgive us, Israel! We believed that our weapons would remain in Ukraine”. That is, the authors hinted that Ukrainian weapons allegedly ended up in the hands of Hamas. It is not true.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council investigated the case and found out that a magazine with such a cover simply did not exist; it was created using Photoshop. There are also no mentions of this particular cover on the pages on social networks and on the official website of the publication. Moreover, the false cover is dated October 12, 2023, although the last available issue was published on October 11, number 1629.

The Institute for the Study of War said in a statement on October 7 that the Kremlin is actively using the Hamas attack on Israel for information operations aimed at weakening US and Western support for Ukraine. This includes promoting the thesis of a “black market for the sale of weapons”.

And Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, stated that it was the Russians who transferred infantry weapons to the Hamas group, which they managed to conquer in Ukraine.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists once again want to show Ukrainians as ungrateful provocateurs who want to destabilize the situation in the world and incite armed conflicts. They say that Ukrainians resell weapons on the black market and they fall into the hands of criminals. Thus, the authors undermine the authority of the Ukrainian authorities and try to disrupt future supplies of armed assistance from NATO countries. After all, such fakes previously target Western audiences and leaders in order to inspire despondency towards Ukraine’s actions.

Fake In Munich, they created graffiti with Zelenskyi, where Elon Musk beats him and forces him to “no longer whine for money”

This information was disseminated by pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that in Germany they created graffiti with Zelenskyi, where Elon Musk beats him and forces the Ukrainian president to “no longer whine for money”. Photos are added to publications. It is not true.

The fact-checkers from the Myth Detector project investigated the case and determined that such graffiti does not exist. They identified the likely location of this graffiti and first analyzed the location using Google Maps. There was no graffiti in the photographs, although the last photographs were taken two years ago. But based on the results of an on-site inspection on October 11, 2023, analysts came to the conclusion that there was no graffiti at this place. They add video confirmation to the refutation.

We have repeatedly documented hoaxes involving fake graffiti or covers on foreign magazines, newspaper columns or advertisements. Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. So it may seem to readers that the public is really dissatisfied with Ukraine. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, hinting that people are laughing at the situation in Ukraine, and that the Ukrainian agenda for Europe is a reason to laugh.

Fake The West revealed the map of its plans, Ukraine is almost absent there

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that the West has admitted that Ukraine may disappear from the world map because it is “tired and no longer wants to deal with the catastrophic consequences caused by the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive”. They refer to an article by the author of Al-Ayyam Abdel Majid Swailem and distribute an image of a “map” according to which Western partners allegedly conduct their policies. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of The Insider project drew attention to it. They found out that the author of the article is not an employee of the famous Moroccan magazine with this name, but of the Palestinian publication of the same name. Swailem did not indicate in his material a single Western politician who spoke about the possible disappearance of Ukraine from the world map, but refers only to the statements of one person, namely Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmytro Medvediev. Statements by Western politicians about the disappearance of Ukraine could not be found online. Project specialists also analyzed other materials from the author, in particular about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Poland, and discovered a bunch of unreliable information.

Propagandists spread such fakes to cause panic and despondency among Ukrainians in supporting Western partners. They say that the West abandoned Ukraine to its fate, so it is necessary to “fraternize” with Russia. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes regarding support from Western countries.

Fake The Russian website Avito is selling parts of the destroyed Challenger 2 tank

This information was disseminated in pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that the Russians have already begun selling the first captured parts from destroyed equipment in Ukraine. But they explain that on the Russian classifieds website Avito one can supposedly purchase parts from the British Challenger 2 tank. A screenshot of the advertisement is added to the publication. However, this is fake.

The fact-checkers of VoxCheck project managed to refute the case, because they determined that there was no such announcement on the Russian website. Moreover, propagandists compiled a screenshot of the ad, posting a photo of the Challenger 2 tank, destroyed in 2003 during the Iraq War. Using a special tool - FotoForensics - analysts found that the fake screenshot showed signs of editing.

But it is impossible to say that the Russians did not destroy Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield, because this was more than possible during the war. Propagandists deliberately exaggerate the significance of “destroyed” equipment on the battlefield, hinting at the allegedly low combat capability of the Ukrainian army. And the fact that parts from the equipment are subsequently sold as trophies is how they mock Ukrainian fighters.

Moreover, in general, the information about the destruction of Challenger 2 in Ukraine is true. On September 5, 2023, on the social network X (formerly Twitter), OSINTtechnical specialists, who write about military analytics based on analysis of open sources, published a video of a downed Challenger 2. Subsequently, the British Minister of Defense also confirmed the destruction of the tank. The further fate of the technology is unknown.

That is, there are real cases of destruction of equipment and they cannot be denied. But propagandists are systematically trying to discredit the Ukrainian Defense Forces by creating fake news about the deployment or destruction of some equipment. Read our latest cases: for example, we documented a fake that Russia “destroyed” five Patriot launchers. Another fake was also spread where Moscow allegedly destroyed a Leopard tank with German troops in Ukraine.

And also, in our Newspeak section we described the Russian phenomenon of “irresistible technology”. In short, this is how the Russians try to convince the domestic audience of constant victories.

Fake In Europe, they created graffiti “Glory to urine”

This information was disseminated by pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that in Europe, people began to massively create graffiti with the words “Glory to urine” - with allusions to the Ukrainian agenda. So propagandists publish three photographs from European cities where such graffiti is supposedly found. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers of the Brekhunets (Liar) project examined the case and found that all three photos were edited using photo editors. And with the help of a special tool - FotoForensics - they found out that the fake pictures showed signs of editing. The fact-checkers also decided to establish a correspondence between the photograph and the probable location of graffiti in European cities. The experts determined that none of the locations contained such graffiti.

Let us remind you that we previously documented a case where a billboard with the inscription “Glory to urine” was allegedly installed in New York.

At the same time, we have repeatedly analyzed fakes related to fake graffiti or covers on foreign magazines/newspapers. Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. The presence of a collective belief creates the impression of the truthfulness of all theses. Therefore, consumers of disinformation are more likely to believe such cases that demonstrate the “true cross-section of thoughts” of society. And subsequently they get the impression that the public is really dissatisfied with Ukraine.

Fake In Rio de Janeiro, they put a Ukrainian embroidered shirt on the statue of Christ the Savior

In the Ukrainian segment of the social network Facebook, photographs and news are being circulated that in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the statue of Christ the Savior was allegedly dressed in a giant embroidered shirt. It seems that this was done as part of an action in support of Ukraine. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the VoxCheck project. They found the original photo of the statue, as well as an edited photo on the social network X (formerly Twitter), which appeared back in August 2022. It was posted by the user Metreveli Nugzar, ridiculing pro-Russian politicians.

Neither the website nor the pages and other resources of the Embassy of Ukraine in Brazil and the Embassy of Brazil in Ukraine wrote about the act of dressing the statue in embroidery.

Previously, we refuted the fake news that ants carried an icon of Jesus Christ from a destroyed house in Makiivka.

Fake Before Zelenskyi’s arrival, a billboard with the inscription “Glory to Urine” was installed in New York

Russian publications broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mariia Zakharova, distributed a video with the Fox News logo, where allegedly during Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s visit to the United States to participate in a meeting of the UN General Assembly, he was greeted with a billboard in yellow and blue and the inscription “Glory to Urine”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the MythDetector project. An NBC investigative journalist determined that there is no such billboard in Times Square, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, where the billboard video was allegedly filmed. This inscription was added in the video editor, like the Fox News logo. Opposite the billboard is a McDonald's, which is not visible in the video. So, the propagandists used an old fake video, filmed in 2022, when there was no McDonald's in this place.

Fox News confirmed to Reuters that the video was not posted on its platform. And Erin Watkins, the chief lawyer of the Big Outdoor media company, which owns and manages part of the billboards in Times Square, commented to Reuters that photographs and videos with a banner and the inscription “Glory to the Urine” are 100% fake.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the West and humiliate Volodymyr Zelenskyi, saying that his Western partners do not respect him and the whole world is against Ukraine. Previously, we refuted the fake news that an advertising banner with Zelenskyi was installed in New York with the inscription that “he earned more than the Barbie movie”.

Fake In Crimea, Russians found Olena Zelenska's Russian passport

In the Russian segment of Facebook and in the media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, they are spreading information that the Russian passport of First Lady Olena Zelenska was allegedly found in the villa of the President of Ukraine in Crimea. It is as if it was issued, as indicated on the document, on April 9, 2014. Russian propaganda distributed a video showing a man taking money and a passport from a Louis Vuitton purse. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the MythDetector project. In fact, the passport displayed by Russian propaganda is a fake. Olena Zelenska posted a photograph pasted into an allegedly Russian document published in 2014 on Instagram and on the website of the President of Ukraine on March 20, 2023. The photo was probably taken in February 2023, when Zelenska recorded a video message to the people of Australia in an identical image: with the same hairstyle, outfits and jewelry.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit First Lady Olena Zelenska and cause her to be disdained among Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake news that Olena Zelenska received an Israeli passport.

Manipulation Chinese scientists have discovered psychotropic substances in Ukrainian consumer products

This information was disseminated by pro-Kremlin media. The reports say that, according to a study by “Chinese scientists”, they found microdoses of psychoactive substances in Ukrainian products. They explain that the research was allegedly carried out in the Tsinghua laboratory in Beijing. The publications refer to material from the Chinese publication Global Times. And a screenshot is added to publications. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up the case and determined that the Global Times media workers did not produce such material. Instead, there is material in which the date and time of publication, as well as the author, completely coincide with the propaganda screenshot. In the original text, the author Hu Yuwei writes about espionage activities in China, not about Ukrainian food products. That is, the authors of the false publication distorted the context of the material and, moreover, resorted to compiling it using photo editors.

As for conducting possible research, there is no mention of research on Ukrainian food products on the official website of the institute affiliated with the laboratory. It conducts research and development in the fields of energy, environment, natural resources and nuclear science.