Such news is spread through pro-Russian telegram channels, in particular, it was spread by the Politika strany channel. The messages say that no restrictions have been introduced. Like, despite the requirements of Ukraine on restrictions, the EU did not give in and did not introduce anything. In fact, the authors substitute facts and hide the most important thing: there are significant limitations.

According to Reuters, EU foreign ministers have decided to make it harder for Russian citizens to obtain visas. The visa facilitation agreement has already been suspended. This will significantly reduce the number of visas issued by the European Union. The procedure will be more picky and long.

However, so far we are not talking about a general ban on tourist trips of Russians. Among the countries that opposed visa restrictions for Russians are Germany and France. At the same time, the countries of Eastern and Northern Europe strongly support the ban.

Ukrainian and Russian media spread the news with reference to Russian Defense Minister Serhii Shoihu. He said this at a meeting of the so-called First International Anti-Fascist Congress, which is designed to become a platform for upholding the historical truth about the decisive contribution of the USSR to the defeat of fascism during the Second World War, as well as to counteract the spread of Nazi ideology.

According to the Russian minister, the Russophobic idea is being actively promoted from the high European stands to ban all Russian citizens from entering the EU countries and this is a vivid manifestation of Nazi policy.

Anonymous Telegram channels and Russian media are spreading the news that allegedly the six largest European countries have not made new "war promises" to Ukraine for the first time since the beginning of the "special operation". They said that military aid could weaken precisely when Kyiv announced a counteroffensive. Allegedly, this is stated in an article by Politico.

As StopFake writes, the Politico article does not contain any information that European countries have abandoned their promises. The article deals with two problems: the reduction of weapons stocks at the moment in those countries that have actively helped Ukraine since the beginning of the war, as well as the delay in the supply of weapons from Germany and France. The article emphasizes that Germany and France should better fulfill their promises and help more actively.

False information is spreading on Facebook that supposedly Ukrainian orphans were secretly taken to Turkey without the permission of relatives or guardians, where they are now in the Larisa Beach Club hotel. The author of the post offered to come to the hotel with "gifts" - sweets or fruits. "Satanists from Britain paying for orphans to stay in a hotel will see that the people know about the children and therefore will be afraid to do something bad to them." The Georgian publication Myth Detector drew attention to the post.

The editors turned to the hotel administration and found out that Ukrainian children do live in the hotel, but not by themselves, but with teachers and guardians. At the moment, there are 1,000 children and 500 adults in two hotels of the chain - and they can live in hotels until the end of the war thanks to the Childhood Without War charity program. This program is supported by the Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey and the Ukrainian Consulate in Antaliia at the expense of large Ukrainian companies that finance the stay of children, especially orphans and children in difficult circumstances.

Propagandists say that today's behavior of Europe is reminiscent of the behavior of Nazi Germany. This seems to be similar to the case when signs “Juden sind hier unerwünscht” (“Jews are not welcome here”) appeared in Germany after 1933. Today's discussion about visas is like a European sign "Russians are not needed here."

According to EUvsDISINFO project fact-checkers, the decision to ban Schenhen visas for Russian citizens has not yet been made. The solution will be discussed at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague at the end of August 2022. The ban on visas for Russian citizens was initiated by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who believes that "visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right." These words were spoken in the context of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The idea of ​​a visa ban was supported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. He said Russians "should live in their own world until they change their philosophy."

Otherwise, gas prices in winter will be record high and exceed $4,000 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Russia uses energy prices as leverage to blackmail European countries. As the Center for Counteracting Disinformation writes, propagandists voice various arguments to convince. They argue that it is likely that Europe will not be able to fill the gas storage facilities in time as a result of “problems” with Nord Stream. Allegedly, in the event of a cessation of Russian gas supply, the available gas will last only 2.5 months. In anticipation of a difficult winter, the Germans bought up all the electric heaters, stock up on firewood and insulate their houses. Europe should be encouraged to engage in dialogue with Russia by the fact that "the Europeans will not survive the winter." Propagandists are also trying to convince Europe that energy sanctions are a mistake, because attempts to replace Russian energy supplies have failed. Like, for Europeans, the rise in the cost of life and energy prices is more important than the support of Ukraine.

This is not the first time Russia has used blackmail and intimidation to achieve its goal. Previously, propaganda spread the thesis of Putin's press secretary Peskov that the countries of Europe, trying to "punish" Russia, are already actively paying for it. The propagandists also argued that the sanctions were preventing Gazprom from supplying more gas to Europe.

This is reported by the Russian media. Allegedly in Germany, journalist Alina Lipp and her parents were blocked from accessing bank accounts. Allegedly, this is how the German authorities reacted to the fact that Lipp shows the truth about the Donbas. As propagandists write, "the family is being hounded, persecuted and threatened." This is manipulation.

Alina Lipp is a German blogger who claims to be an "independent journalist" but in reality spreads Russian propaganda narratives. Lipp is included in the "Peacemaker" database for propaganda of Russian Nazism, informational support of the "special operation", etc.

According to the fact-checkers of The Insider project, the German prosecutor's office did block the account of the "journalist" because she collected donations in Germany in support of her propaganda activities, and then transferred the funds to a personal account in a Russian bank. Paypal closed the account of Lipp and her father, who lives in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Fact-checkers suggest that Lipp's mother's account may also have been blocked due to participation in a scheme to finance illegal activities. However, this information has not yet been verified.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to pass off punishment for the criminal activities of its colleague as an attempt to put pressure on “independent media” and “independent journalists”.

Russian media and anonymous telegrams write about this. They say that British instructors are preparing units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for small arms battles in cities, and are not preparing aviation, artillerymen and tankmen. It seems that no one in the West is preparing the Armed Forces of Ukraine for an offensive, because this requires completely different resources and scales. It seems that the British consider preparation for defensive battles necessary, because they plan to “gradually give each part of the Ukrainian land destroyed and at the lowest cost for themselves, but at the maximum cost for Russia”, because then the Russians will need to “restore devastation and beggarism”.

In fact, foreign instructors teach the Ukrainian military not only to shoot small arms, but also to use all types of weapons provided by Western partners. According to Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, today the Ukrainian military is being trained in the UK, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, France and Germany. The main focus is on the training of application specialists:

artillery systems of large caliber; multiple launch rocket systems; means of artillery reconnaissance; air defense means; different types of wheeled and tracked vehicles; demining systems, including underwater; different types of ships and their weapon systems, including anti-ship ones.

The shooting training, which the propagandists write about, is allegedly included in the basic combined arms training course for the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which has recently begun with the support of the UK.

The Russian propaganda machine has alleged that Ukraine ships commercial cargo to European ports, while African countries manage to make ends meet. In other words, the West allegedly lied, stating that the unblocking of Ukrainian ports is vital to the world's food security.

16 ships that deliver agricultural products to nine countries of the world left Ukrainian ports according to data provided by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. It has been reported that more than 438 tons of grain have already been delivered to the ports of Turkey, Ireland, Great Britain, China, Iran, Italy, and Korea, according to the UN, which monitors each Ukrainian ship. These are deliveries under pre-war contracts, StopFake fact-checkers learned.

At the same time, on August 15, a ship with 23 tons of grain as part of the World Food Aid Program left Djibouti. In total, they plan to send 30 tons of grain from Ukraine. UN experts approve the renewal of trade with Ukraine and note its impact which reflects in low prices. At the same time, Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports, in their opinion, has significantly increased the threat of famine in African countries, which are currently suffering from a decade-long drought.

Russian media spread the image of the restaurant's alleged billboard, where a Japanese sushi chef covers the mouth of a Ukrainian woman with the call: "Let's change the subject - let's talk about delicious sushi."

The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security Council together with the Embassy of Ukraine in Japan turned to the Sushinomidori company management for an explanation regarding the provocative billboard.

The refutation of the fake appeared on the official website.

The company said it does not support discrimination against any country or nationality, and the image shared is not related to it.

Russian propagandists launch such messages to say that the situation in Ukraine is no longer of interest to anyone in the world, people want to live an ordinary life and are ready to silence Ukrainians who will try to prevent them with their protests, etc.

Russian media spread this message with reference to American journalist Ben Swann. In social networks, Swann also spreads other messages that resonate with Russian propaganda: the Russian ruble is the most stable currency this year; American sanctions have a positive effect on the Russian economy; the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) are ready to face the economic war of the West. He also claims that for the stability of food prices, the US leadership in private urges foreign companies to buy Russian fertilizer. Swann previously denied Russia's responsibility for the downing of the MH17 plane.

This was reported by the Russian media and the official account of the Russian Embassy in Spain. Allegedly, in one of the centers for refugees, Ukrainians were forbidden to hang their national flag. This is evidenced by the photos, which allegedly show graffiti with the inscription "no Ukrainian flags" on the wall of the building next to the center. Pro-Russian telegram channels spread these messages in the Ukrainian infospace. This is a fake.

Graffiti photos are another photo montage. This was pointed out by Twitter users in the comments under the publication of the account of the Russian Embassy in Spain. Twitter users geolocated the location on the photos. The building in the photo is actually in Benalmadena, it belongs to the EpicGym gym. The owners of the hall confirmed on August 5 that such an inscription was never on the wall and provided a video of the facade of the building - it does not contain any graffiti. An analysis of photos circulating online indicates that the "graffiti" was painted over the gym's logo - the edge of the "graffiti" features the letter "E", which corresponds to the first letter of the gym's name, "EpicGym". On social networks, "EpicGym" published a message in which they called the fakes "disgusting and unacceptable" and emphasized that the information on the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Spain is not true. The owners also reported that the people involved in their business do not support Russia in the war going on in Ukraine.

StopFake fact-checkers verified the published photos using the Forensics image verification tool. The check showed a different level of compression at the location of the graffiti - this may indicate that the image has been edited.

This was said by the Russian president's spokesman Dmytro Peskov. Like, sooner or later these countries will ask whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy is doing everything right.

In fact, in response to Russia's unprecedented and unprovoked military attack on Ukraine, the EU imposed seven packages of sanctions. The European Commission also proposed to extend all current sanctions until the end of January 2023.

As Josep Borrell says, such a quick rejection of Russian energy carriers creates serious difficulties for many EU countries, as well as for several sectors of the economy. But this is the price that, according to the politician, must be paid for the protection of democracy and international law, and the EU takes the necessary measures to solve these problems in the spirit of full solidarity.

Such fakes are distributed in the network. They said that the UN primarily helps young people, and then retirees. Allegedly, such assistance is provided for pensioners who have the status of internally displaced persons. However, social insurance for pensioners is issued in the regional center, so a pensioner from the occupied territories will not be able to get there and will not receive payments. It is not true.

Russian media spread a distorted quote from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba. They said, there will be no "new Hague" — the European Union "refused" to create a tribunal, and the International Court of Justice "does not want" to recognize the Russian "special operation" as aggression. It is not true.

During the interview, Dmytro Kuleba answered questions about holding a special tribunal over Russia. The diplomat said that today there is a discussion about the legal format of the investigation and punishment for Russia's war crimes in Ukraine — the creation of a tribunal or the sessions held by the International Criminal Court. Discussion of the legal subtleties of the future process continues, there is no mention of Europe's refusal to recognize Russia's war in Ukraine as aggression or don’t investigate and prosecute those responsible for the war. Ambassador-at-large Anton Korinevych explained that currently there is no international court or tribunal that could judge crimes of aggression, from which genocide, crimes against humanity,d war crimes are derived.

In mid-June, the EU, USA, Great Britain, Japan,d other countries supported Ukraine in opening a criminal case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly,d the OSCE Parliament supported the creation of a special tribunal. According to StopFake, three possible models for conducting such a tribunal are currently being discussed.

 Anonymous Telegram channels write about this with reference to The Guardian article. Allegedly, the Western publication "without mincing words" describes "all the weakness of the remnants of the Ukrainian army." Like, the Western military is trying to teach Ukrainians at least something. This is manipulation.

Ed Rahm's article for The Guardian makes no mention of "anti-Russia". Messages that the West wanted to create an "anti-Russia" out of Ukraine are spread exclusively by Russian propagandists. The article is devoted to the story of how a "Mozart Group", volunteers, former foreign soldiers, conducted training for the Ukrainian military in the use of Western weapons. Ed Rahm is indeed talking about separate problems regarding financial support and insufficient training of Ukrainians. However, the article talks about this not as the "weakness of the remnants of the army", but in the context of the fact that people from various professions joined the army and stood up to defend their country. The author notes that only every tenth of the current defenders was a soldier before this war, but due to Russian aggression, they had no other choice but and took up arms. Speaking to the journalist, foreign instructors say that Ukrainian troops lack experience, but they make up for it with enthusiasm and determination. They respect the Ukrainian military, who, despite the circumstances, study, train, and do not lose their sense of humor. Russians systematically use out-of-context and distorted quotes from Western media to spread manipulative messages. 

Russian media are manipulating about the transfer of T-72 "third generation" tanks to Ukraine, Insider writes. They said that they are transferring scrapped equipment from the 70s to Ukraine.

The T-72 tank was developed in the USSR in the 1970s, but it has undergone at least 14 modifications that are still relevant today. Modified T-72s are still in service in more than 40 countries of the world (among them Serbia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, Uzbekistan, Syria, and others).

North Macedonia announced plans to dispose of its 31 T-72 tanks but linked it not to their unsuitability, but the transition to NATO standards. Ammunition for the main armament of the T-72 — 125 mm guns — is not produced in NATO countries. 

Russian media wrote that Egypt canceled contracts for the purchase of 240,000 tons of Ukrainian grain, which were supposed to be delivered in February-March, but was never shipped due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Allegedly, this was decided after the visit of the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, to Egypt. The reason, they say, is Ukraine's unreliable information about the volume of grain storage.

According to Reuters, Egypt canceled the contract because Ukraine did not fulfill its contractual obligations in March-April 2022 due to the blockade of the ports by Russian troops. Egypt officially assured the Ukrainian ambassador that it does not refuse cooperation and is ready to continue purchasing grain, writes StopFake.

"Egypt will conclude a new contract with Ukraine for the grain supply, as the Ukrainian side was unable to fulfill its contractual obligations in March-April, 2022, due to the blockade of the ports by Russian troops," said Mykhailo Nepran, the first vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He added that the previous agreement did not provide for a force majeure clause, so they canceled the contract, which cannot be fulfilled, to conclude a new one and make the purchase under it. 

Anonymous Telegram channels write a lot about the US involvement in China's conflict with Taiwan. Propagandists write that the USA has been "pumping Taiwan with weapons" for a long time and that it was the same with the "Ukrainian crisis". This generalized and manipulative message is probably designed to shift the emphasis once again, blaming the USA for starting a major war in Ukraine and not mentioning that Russia started the offensive. 

Russian media with reference to the Ukrainian edition "European Truth" write that the new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Aji Lyabib, was banned from entering Ukraine due to a trip to Crimea. At the end of July 2021, Aja Lyabib, being a TV journalist at the time, went to the "Global Values" festival, which was held in Sevastopol under the supervision of Putin's daughter Kateryna Tikhonova.

The article in "European Pravda" entitled "The Dodon Effect. How the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium refuses to apologize for a visit to the occupied Crimea" is not about the fact that Ukraine does not allow Aja Lyabib to visit Ukraine. However, Ukraine expects an apology from Lyabib for his illegal visit to the occupied Crimea.

The author, Serhiy Sydorenko, notes that Lyabib flew to Crimea via Russia, thereby violating Ukrainian legislation. This visit was financed by the host country - Russia. After returning to Belgium, Aja Lyabib also resorted to statements that cast doubt on Crimea is Ukraine. At that time, almost no one paid attention to this event. However, after the former TV journalist became the new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, the fact of an illegal visit to Crimea cannot remain unnoticed. More details.

In the German segment of Facebook, an image is shared: "Shocking survey: 11 million Germans will fight for Russia and Putin against NATO in case of war!" The posts with this image reported that the German channel ARD conducted such a survey.

It's a fake: German fact-checkers from Correctiv contacted the broadcaster, and ARD denied ever conducting such a survey.

The German segment of Facebook regularly spread fakes discrediting Ukraine, the Armed Forces, and slandering Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

It was said by the European Police Office (Europol) spokesman, Jaap Op Gen Oort. His comment was spread by German, Ukrainian, Russian, and other mass media. According to the spokesman, investigators from EU countries have found "signs of trade in heavy military weapons" on the black market and "a risk that the weapons will end up in the hands of organized criminals or terrorists." His statement caused a significant response.

A few hours after the information "dump," Europol clarified that they were discussing a potential threat and not specific cases. "Europol works closely with Ukrainian officials to reduce the threat of arms sales to the European Union. We have full confidence in them as they implement new measures to monitor and trace these firearms," ​​Europol said in a statement.

According to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mary Hakobyan, information about the potential risks of arms smuggling from Ukraine against the background of the war may be a fact of dishonesty or unprofessionalism of the media or deliberate action of the Russian special services.

Telegram channels spread the news allegedly about the call of the youth group of the "Polish Crown Confederation" party to tear down Ukrainian flags around the city with the slogans "we do not want to make Ukropoliya out of Poland," "Ukrainians go to Ukraine," "there is no common future with Ukraine in Poland." Reports say that this protest allegedly spread to Warsaw and border cities. It is not true.

In fact, in Wroclaw, four guys organized a press conference at the "City Transport Company" headquarters due to dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian flags that the company displayed on Wroclaw's buses and trams and offered to submit a petition to replace them with Polish flags. Young people talked about Ukrpolia, but in the context of the party rhetoric of the Confederation of the Polish Crown, a Eurosceptic party that advocates for a "traditional" Poland. "We want a Polish, not a rainbow, left or serf Poland under the dictates of Brussels Eurocrats. We also do not want to turn Poland into Ukropolia, and we will not allow those in power to do so," the message reads.

According to the fact-checkers of "On the other side of the news," the company president, Krzysztof Balawejder, came to the young people and informed them that the mayor of Wrocław had agreed upon the initiative. He added that the blue-yellow flag is a meaningful gesture of solidarity, and the Polish flag is a reason for pride. The company's office also has the flags of Ukraine and the European Union. After that, the "rally" ended. There is no information about similar protests in Warsaw or other cities. Reporting protests over Ukrainian flags in Poland is a manipulation of pro-Russian Telegram channels to worsen Ukrainian-Polish relations.

Posts of this content are distributed on social networks. They are accompanied by an image purporting to be a social ad in Germany, urging people to wash only four areas of the body "to annoy Putin."

The picture also shows a child with the indicated body parts, the flag of Ukraine, and the inscription: "Wash only these four body parts if you want to annoy Putin. Water should also be saved for the sake of freedom." However, it is a fake. In Germany, they did not create social advertising that encourages people to wash less to spite Putin.

According to Stopfake, an extended search of this picture on the Internet shows that it appeared on a German-language Twitter profile as early as April 24 of this year with the caption: "For two years, you had to wash your hands so as not to endanger your grandmother! Four body parts in the soul are enough to annoy Putin and influence the war! (…) It's amazing how simple this world has become!". Commenters on Twitter asked the author to provide the source of this image, but there was no response. A further search for this picture only leads to publications on social networks on pro-Russian accounts. In mid-July, it began to spread information that "in Germany, Germans are offered to wash less for the sake of Russia."

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation, the Russian media spreads such a message concerning Russian politicians' statements. According to the Center, such information by Russia arose after Ukraine began calling on the world community to recognize Russia as a terrorist state due to war crimes committed in Ukraine.