Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has launched an advertising campaign on the New York subway urging homeless people to join the Ukrainian International Defense Legion. The authors of the messages also add a photo of a leaflet with the inscription: “Tired of living on subsidies? Join the International Defense Legion of Ukraine!”. At the same time, they seem to promise a monthly salary and medical insurance. It is not true.

The case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News”, who investigated that the postcard was not real. As they explain, a fake can be recognized for a number of reasons, in particular:

The advertising card does not correspond to the unified design system of advertising banners. The location and color scheme of the fake postcard differs from the New York subway design code;

The number that poor New Yorkers are advised to apply for really exists. However, this number is for Washington, not New York;

Getting into the Legion is not easy. Among the requirements for candidates is the presence of combat experience. That is, a person without a specific place of residence will not be able to be accepted into the Legion if they really do not meet certain requirements.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to convince that everything is bad in Ukraine, that no one can fight, that the Ukrainian leadership resorts to recruiting people without a home. We recall that in our new section “Newspeak”, analysts of Detector Media analyzed how Russian propaganda discredits members of the Foreign Legion, calling them “foreign mercenaries”.

This is written by Russian and pro-Russian information resources with reference to the materials of the American edition of Newsweek. Like, many countries condemned the actions of the West and supported the position of the Russian president on the “situation” in Ukraine. This is manipulation.

There is not a single mention in the Newsweek article that most countries took the side of Russia in the war against Ukraine. The author of the material writes that different countries of the world proceed from their agenda and their own interests in the context of responding to the war. Therefore, they do not always fully share the approach of the US and the EU. Many countries, for example, advocate a "diplomatic settlement" of the conflict, but do not necessarily side with Russia in this war.

As StopFake writes, Daniel DePetrice's article was published in the “Dumky” (“Opinions") section, so the author's opinion is also not necessarily shared by Newsweek. The author notes that, despite the fact that the events in Ukraine are cruel, each country primarily pursues its own geopolitical interests and does not always fully share the “approach of the West”. The article does not say that "most countries have begun to support Putin." Propagandists have distorted the idea that some countries do not want to completely lose ties with Russia and presented it as support for Putin.

This is reported by foreign pro-Russian media. They say that an operational group of officers and soldiers of the Polish special forces in Ukrainian uniforms arrived in Marhanets, Dnipropetrovsk region, to detect pro-Russian residents of the city. This unit is under the control of NATO Headquarters. It is not true.

NATO countries do not take part in hostilities in Ukraine. The fact-checkers of EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of this fake. They note that there is no evidence of the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine. Western instructors exclusively teach the Ukrainian military how to use modern weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western partners.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels and media write about this. The Russian army is allegedly opposed not by the Armed Forces, but by foreigners, "NATO armies", "battalions of Poles", etc. According to Russian intelligence, the Ukrainian army is currently filled with foreign mercenaries by 30%, and soon the number will exceed 50%. That's when the message will allegedly be made that NATO troops are fighting in Ukraine. It is a fake.

According to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers are resisting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The number of foreign volunteers is estimated from several hundred to several thousand people and can`t be "half" of the Armed Forces.

In August 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that no more than 100 foreign servicemen are serving in the Ukrainian army under contract. As StopFake writes, in March 2022, about 20,000 volunteers applied to participate in the International Legion of Terror Defense of Ukraine. The legion includes fighters from all continents. The largest number of representatives are from the USA, Great Britain, Poland, the Baltic countries, Canada, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. In general, it is 70–80% of foreign volunteers. According to the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA, more than three thousand Americans applied to join the Legion. However, the final number of foreigners is not announced by the military command for security reasons. The indicated numbers are only applications, and it is unknown how many of those who expressed a desire to go to the front actually went to fight.

Russian propaganda spreads fakes that the NATO army is allegedly opposing them in Ukraine to justify the failures of their army for the Russians. Moreover, the agitprop said that allegedly the Ukrainian military can`t reach the level of military training according to NATO standards. Furthermore, the successful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces is due to the Pentagon's direct participation in the development of the plan.

This information is spread by the Kremlin mass media. American mercenaries allegedly should participate in hostilities.

To prove it, they cite an ad on the American recruiting agency Silent Professionals website for a job search in the field of protection and security, where a vacancy has been published. It involves work in the territory of Ukraine. However, it is not related to direct participation in hostilities. The job description is titled "Extraction/Protective Agents". It states that the employer is looking for a specialist for the evacuation operations of individuals and families from rural areas and large cities in Ukraine. Moreover, the claim of a "massive recruitment of mercenaries" is a propagandist fantasy, as the vacancy says that the company is looking for several agents or an evacuation and protection team, according to Stop Fake.

The existence of such an announcement cannot be proof of the fact that mercenaries are allegedly fighting for Ukraine. Foreign citizens who take direct part in hostilities on the side of Ukraine are not mercenaries. They enter into the service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, submit to their command, and receive the same financial support as citizens of Ukraine. Those legionnaires who did not want to sign a contract with the Armed Forces joined volunteer battalions. They have no material benefit - most of them have personal, ideological reasons to protect justice and the rights of Ukrainians.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian propaganda has been promoting in the public space the thesis that foreigners who fight for Ukraine are allegedly mercenaries and are guided by the desire to receive material rewards, so Russia will not use the norms of the Geneva Convention against these "criminals". It is worth mentioning that many mercenaries in the Russian army came to Ukraine with weapons to earn money.

This information was spread by the Russian media. Allegedly, as a result of the conflict, 9 civilians were injured. The Center for Combating Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reports that this is a fake.

Russian media spread information that two battalions of the Polish army allegedly arrived in Ukraine and were sent to Pavlograd (Dnipropetrovsk region). Reports say that these Polish battalions were destroyed on the territory of Ukraine. However, it is not true.

Polish regular troops do not take part in Russia's war against Ukraine. In a comment to the Polish publication Konkret24, the General Staff of the Polish Army denied information about the participation of Polish battalions in the war on the territory of Ukraine, calling such reports another fake of systematic Russian propaganda. Poles can fight in Ukraine as part of the International Legion, which is subordinate to the Armed Forces. Therefore, Poles or any military personnel with foreign citizenship who fight in this legion are Ukrainian military personnel. More details.